Peter Noble

In October 1942, the battle for Stalingrad became the focus of Hitler and Stalin's determination to win the gruesome, vicious war on the eastern front. The citizens of Stalingrad endured unimaginable hardship; the battle, with fierce hand-to-hand fighting in each room of each building, was brutally destructive to both armies. But the eventual victory of the Red Army, and the failure of Hitler's Operation Barbarossa, was the first defeat of Hitler's territorial ambitions in Europe, and the start of his decline.

An extraordinary story of tactical genius, civilian bravery, obsession, carnage and the nature of war itself, Stalingrad will act as a testament to the vital role of the soviet war effort.
nearly four million copies.

The Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Reich in January 1945. Political instructors rammed home the message of Wehrmacht and SS brutality. The result was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known, with tanks crushing refugee columns under their tracks, mass rape, pillage and destruction. Hundreds of thousands of women and children froze to death or were massacred because Nazi Party chiefs, refusing to face defeat, had forbidden the evacuation of civilians. Over seven million fled westwards from the terror of the Red Army.

Antony Beevor reconstructs the experiences of those millions caught up in the nightmare of the Third Reich's final collapse, telling a terrible story of pride, stupidity, fanatacism, revenge and savagery, but also one of astonishing endurance, self-sacrifice and survival against all odds.

Why is the Berlin Brandenburg Airport ten years behind schedule and nearly four billion euros over budget? And what possessed Kenya's government to spend a whopping $35 million on a chain link fence just six miles long? In this hilarious, fascinating and insightful expose, industry insider Peter Smith reveals the massive blunders and dodgy dealings taking place around the world as private companies and public sector bodies buy goods and services.

A recent report showed that over 90% of procurement projects fail. So, why are so many billions wasted on ineptitude, mismanagement and, in some cases, fraud? By turns an entertaining account of some of the worst procurement scams in history and also a resounding lesson in how not to operate, Bad Buying offers clear and practical advice on how to avoid embarrassing mistakes, minimise needless waste and make sound, strategic procurement decisions on your next initiative.

1919. In the tranqil Derbyshire village of Wenfield, a young girl is found stabbed and left in woodland, her mouth slit to accommodate a dead dove - a bird of peace. Inspector Albert Lincoln is sent up from London to crack the terrible case - but with the killer still on the loose, who will be the next to die at the hands of this vicious angel of death? Book 1 of series.

1920. Scotland Yard detective Albert Lincoln is called away to a case in the North West of England. Before the War he led the investigation into the murder of little Jimmy Rudyard in the village of Mabley Ridge. Now a woman has been murdered there and another child is missing, the sole witness being a traumatised boy who lives in a cemetery lodge. Albert is determined that this time him he will find the truth - and the missing child... Book 2 of series.

Derbyshire, 1921. When an MP goes missing in a Derbyshire village, Scotland Yard detective Albert Lincoln is sent to investigate. A grim discovery has been made in a cave next to an ancient stone circle: the naked body of a middle-aged man mutilated beyond recognition. The local police assume it is the missing politician but when Albert arrives in Wenfield he begins to have doubts. Two years earlier he conducted another traumatic murder investigation in the same village and he finds reminders of a particularly personal tragedy as he tries to help a vicar's widow who claims her husband was murdered. Then there is another murder in Wenfield. Could there be a link between all of Albert's cases? Book 3 of series.

In the the small town of St Denis, a female body has been found on a boat bearing the ghastly signs of a black magic ritual. Bruno, chief of police, must track down a murderer while quelling his town's superstitious fears. He and his colleagues are drawn ever closer to a climactic showdown in the Gouffre de Colombac - the place locals call the Devil's Cave...  Book 5 of series.

Bruno, Chief of Police, is dealing with a wave of burglaries. The victims include the recently retired head of Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee, which brings old flame Isabelle back to St Denis. The next burglary ends in murder: the victim's bludgeoned body found by his lover - the prime suspect…He must now trace the links between past and present to restore peace in St Denis.  Book 6 of series.

Bruno, Chief of Police in the French town of St Denis, is already busy when the body of an undercover French Muslim cop is found, a man who called Bruno for help only hours before. Meanwhile, a Muslim youth named Sami turns up at an army base in Afghanistan hoping to get home to St Denis. Bruno must unravel these mysteries, and find a way to protect his town and its people.  Book 7 of series.

When Bruno is invited to the 90th birthday of a powerful local patriarch he encounters a family with more secrets than even he had imagined. When one of the other guests is found dead the next morning and the family try to cover it up, Bruno knows it's his duty to prevent the victim from becoming just another skeleton in their closet. Meanwhile, very modern battles are being fought in St Denis between hunters defending their traditions and environmentalists protecting local wildlife. Neither side, it seems, is above the use of violent tactics. At the centre of it all, Bruno must use all his cunning and character to protect his community's future from its present - and its past.  Book 8 of series.

When a local researcher turns up dead on Bruno's patch, and French intelligence starts investigating the use of classic car sales to launder money for funding Islamic terrorism, Bruno finds himself once more caught up in a case that reaches far beyond his small town and its people. With the bucolic charm and gourmet cooking that are the hallmarks of this series, Bruno's latest adventure finds him falling in love again as he races to find the murderer and to track down the fate of the most beautiful car ever made. Book 9 of series.

A rich American art student is found dead at the bottom of a well in an ancient hilltop castle. The young woman, Claudia, had been working with an eminent French art historian at his art-filled chateau. As Claudia's White House connections get the FBI involved, Bruno traces the people and events that led to her fatal accident ? or was it murder? Bruno learns that Claudia had been trying to buy the chateau and art collection of her tutor, even while her research led her to suspect that some of his attributions may have been forged. The long arm of French history has reached out to find a new victim, but can Bruno identify the killer? Bruno, Book 12 of series.

The long arm of history reaches into the present in Bruno's latest case when three sets of bones are discovered, buried deep in the woods outside the Dordogne town of St Denis. It appears that the remains have lain there since World War 2. Bruno must investigate who the bones belong to and whether their burial amounts to a war crime.

Bruno has other concerns too. After weeks of heavy autumn rain, the normally tranquil Dordogne river has risen to record levels, compromising the upriver dams that control the Vezere that flows through St Denis, bringing the threat of a devastating flood.

As ever, Bruno must rely on his wits, tenacity and people skills to ensure that past wrongs don't result in present violence, and to keep his little town and its inhabitants safe from harm.  Book 17 of series.

Pisa, May 1364. Sir William Gold is looking forward to a lucrative career as a hired sword in the endless warring between Italy's city states. But when a message comes from the Grand Master of the Hospitaliers, William is forced to leave his dreams of fame and fortune behind him.

The Hospitaliers are gathering men for a crusade, and Sir William must join them. Yet before they set out for the holy land, the knights face deadly adversaries much closer to home…

In the twisting politics of Italy, no one can be trusted. And there are those who would be pleased to see the crusade fail…

Can Sir William and his knights survive this impossible mission into the heart of the enemy?

Book 2 in the Chivalry series.

After the bloody trials of Alexandria, Sir William Gold is readying for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to ease the burden on his soul. He hopes, too, that the Holy City might allow his relationship with Emile, cousin of the Green Count of Savoy, to develop.

But the Roman Emperor of Constantinople has been taken hostage by an unknown enemy, and the Green Count is vital to the rescue effort. It is up to Sir William to secure his support, but he soon finds that his past, and his relationship with Emile, might have repercussions he had not foreseen...

Suddenly thrust onto the stage of international politics, Sir William finds himself tangled in a web of plots, intrigue and murder. He must hold true to his chivalric principles, and to his knights, if he is to save the Emperor and survive to tell the tale.

Book 3 in the Chivalry series.

1367: Europe stands on the brink of total war.

Political alliances are beginning to rupture, and no state is immune: England, France, the Holy Roman Empire, Milan Genoa, Venice, Constantinople... Every mercenary knight must sharpen his sword and prepare for battle.

But Sir William Gold has other problems. Just to reach Europe, he must capture its most unassailable fortress. He must also protect his liege lord, the Green Count, from assassins hell-bent on his death.

The balance of power in the West will change. William Gold must trust in hope, and his men, that he lands on the winning side...

Book 4 in the Chivalry series.

1368. France, Spain and England prepare for war. In Italy, the Pope and the Visconti princes are battling for bloody supremacy.

The worst years of Sir William Gold's life are about to begin.

Leaving the side of his commander, Sir John Hawkwood, William embarks on a new journey that will bring him fame and favour - until a heart-breaking personal tragedy leads him to put down his sword.

But men of war can't stay out of battle for long. Gold yearns to return to Italy and rejoin Hawkwood. Only now the game of the Italian Princes is changing and, as chaos descends, Gold must finally decide who he stands for...

Book 5 in the Chivalry series.

The Chivalry series follows young William Gold, who runs away from London to follow the Black Prince, from the killing fields of France, through life as a routier and criminal, and to redemption with the Knights of Saint John, further disillusion and an eventual career as a professional soldier and knight. Rich in the details of life in the High Middle Ages, the series also deals with modern issues about the role of violence in society, rules of conflict and war, and the price that people pay for using violence.

Book 6 in the Chivalry series.

Commandant Camille Verhoeven will break all the rules to protect the woman he loves. Drawn into a labyrinthine web with answers ever out of reach, Camille must draw on all his talent to face an enemy who threatens everything he holds dear.

Commandant Verhoeven is happily married and expecting his first child with the lovely Irène. But his blissful existence is punctured by a murder of unprecedented savagery. When he discovers that the killer has killed before – and that each murder is a homage to a classic crime novel - the newspapers are quick to coin a nickname - The Novelist.

1787. Captain Edward Brazier is on a mission: recently paid off from his frigate and comfortably off with prize money, he is headed to Deal to propose marriage to the young and lovely widow Betsey Langridge. He must navigate the bustle of the town's narrow streets that are busy with legal, illicit and depraved business flowing from and around the ships at dock. But all does not go well; between Betsey's brother and guardian, Henry Tulkington, prohibiting the match and Brazier marked out for trouble by a local smuggling gang, his plans are in disarray. And when it slowly emerges that there may have been a decades-old injustice closer to home, Brazier is caught up in more than he'd bargained for.  Book 1 of series.

When a body is unearthed in a mini-market car park Jan Fabel, Chief of the Hamburg murder squad, suspects it is a young woman, Monika Krone, who disappeared 15-years earlier. Some days later a prominent artist is murdered in bizarre circumstances. A further three bizarre murders follow and Fabel starts to suspect that they may be linked in some way to the discovery of Monika's body.

The body of a woman is found outside a cave beneath the ruined Templar chateau of Commarque in the heart of the Dordogne. She died of a broken neck. An accidental fall, or was she pushed? The victim carries no identification and her fingerprints are not known to the French Police or Interpol.

The chateau of Commarque, begun in the 11th century, was founded by a Bishop of Sarlat and entrusted to the Knights Templar. In the rocks beneath it are caves. It is one of the few Templar sites in France that has never been associated with the fabled hidden treasure of the Templars - never until now, when a local journalist publishes a sensational story around the unknown woman's death and a centuries-old mystery looks like it might finally be solved....

Book 10 in the Dordogne Mystery series.

Bruno, now Chief of Police for the whole Vézère valley, has an unusual challenge to rise to: teaching at his friend Pamela's new cookery school. It is a daunting prospect - the disappearance of one of the school's pupils almost serves as a welcome distraction.

When the woman's body is discovered in one half of a double homicide, the evidence points to something far out of the ordinary. The other murder victim is a man, covered in combat scars and with a false passport. Investigations reveal a list of enemies as long as Bruno's arm. Any one of them would have had good reason to kill him - but which group managed it? And how did they find him?

As more of their mystery man's previous life is revealed, Bruno realizes that there may be more intended victims in the vicinity. Now he must conduct the biggest manhunt in St Denis' history to find the killers before they strike again.

Book 11 in the Dordogne Mystery series.

Following the funeral of a local farmer, Bruno gets a phone call from his son. He tells Bruno that before his father's sudden death, he had signed over his property to an insurance company in return for a subscription to a luxury retirement home. Bruno discovers that both the retirement home and the insurance company are scams with links to a Russian oligarch whose dealings are already being tracked by the French police.

Meanwhile an aging British rock star is selling his home, Chateau Rock. The star's son returns for the summer with his Russian girlfriend. As Bruno pursues his inquiries into the farmer's death and the stolen inheritance, he learns that the oligarch is none other than the girlfriend's father. Bruno's talents are tested to the limit as he untangles a Gordian Knot of criminality that reaches as far as the Kremlin.

Book 13 in the Dordogne Mystery series.

For 30 years, Bruno's boss, chief of detectives Jalipeau, known as J-J, has been obsessed with his first case. It was never solved and Bruno knows that this failure continues to haunt J-J. A young male body was found in the woods near St Denis and never identified. For all these years, J-J has kept the skull as a reminder. He calls him 'Oscar'.

Visiting the famous pre-history museum in nearby Les Eyzies, Bruno sees some amazingly life-like heads expertly reconstructed from ancient skulls. He suggests performing a similar reconstruction on Oscar as a first step towards at last identifying him. An expert is hired to start the reconstruction and the search for Oscar's killer begins again in earnest.

 Book 14 in the Dordogne Mystery series.

It is summer in St Denis and Bruno is busy organising the annual village concert. He's hired a local Périgord folk group, Les Troubadours, to perform their latest hit 'A Song for Catalonia'. But when the song unexpectedly goes viral, the Spanish government, clamping down on the Catalonian bid for independence, bans Les Troubadours from performing it.

The timing couldn't be worse, and Bruno finds himself under yet more pressure when a specialist sniper's bullet is found in a wrecked car near Bergerac. The car was reportedly stolen on the Spanish frontier and the Spanish government sends warning that a group of nationalist extremists may be planning an assassination in France. Bruno immediately suspects that Les Troubadours and their audience might be in danger.

Bruno must organise security and ensure that his beloved town and its people are safe - the stakes are high for France's favourite policeman.

Book 15 in the Dordogne Mystery series.

The event of the Périgord tourist season is the re-enactment of the liberation of the historic town of Sarlat from the English in 1370. But it all goes wrong when the man playing the part of the French general is almost killed in the heat of the action.

The immediate question for chief of police Bruno Courrèges is: was this an accident - or deliberate? The stakes rise when Bruno learns that the man, Kerquelin, was running Frenchelon, the secret French electronic intelligence base nearby, after being recruited from a brilliant Silicon Valley career.

As he investigates, Bruno discovers that Kerquelin's wound was faked, that he is alive and well and secretly negotiating a massive deal to build a semi-conductor industry in France. But then a whole new and dangerous player emerges, determined to nip the deal in the bud.

Book 16 in the Dordogne Mystery series.

One autumn morning Bruno comes across an abandoned car parked near a local beauty spot. Inside is a dead woman, Monique, an apparent suicide resulting from depression. But there are circumstances surrounding the death that raise Bruno's suspicions, particularly when disputes arise surrounding her Will.

At the same time, Bruno makes the mistake of interfering in a local marital dispute. Deputy mayor Xavier has been playing away and finds himself evicted from the family home. Old controversies about deer culls take on new life and then a second campaign begins, stating that Bruno is less of a village copper and more of a secret policeman, whose main job is working for French intelligence.

Suddenly Bruno's shiny reputation is looking a little tarnished as he battles to save his name and answer the questions surrounding Monique's suicide.

Book 18 in the Dordogne Mystery series.

A bumper collection of delightful stories featuring Bruno, chief of police and France's favourite cop, all set in the beautiful Dordogne valley and the ravishing Perigord region of the south west. Here is a landscape of meandering rivers with medieval castles overlooking their banks, of lush hillsides and spreading vineyards, of delicious local wines and world renowned cuisine.

With titles like 'The Chocolate War', 'The Birthday Lunch', 'Oystercatcher', 'A Market Tale' and 'Fifty Million Bubbles', you may be sure that champagne and gastronomy will feature as well as cosy crime in 'Dangerous Vacation'. Bruno strides through these tales, staying calm, settling local disputes and keeping safe his beloved town of St Denis.

A short story collection linked to the Dordogne Mystery series.

In February 1944, the French Resistance had been decimated by German aggression. Hundreds of its members languished in the Amiens jail, awaiting an almost certain death. What followed was a precision air attack on the prison. The bravery and skill of the pilots created a breach in the prison's walls that allowed the Nazi's captives to break free.

Forced to flee Rome, merchant Nicander meets an unlikely ally in the form of Marius, a fierce Roman legionary. Needing to make money fast, they plot a wicked plan to steal precious silk seeds from the faraway land of Seres, so must embark upon a terrifyingly treacherous journey across unknown lands, never before completed.

Lorenzo and Lucia, both from peasant families, are planning their wedding. However, after meeting the villainous Don Rodrigo, the couple are forced to flee their village. Their dangerous journey in exile takes them through one of the most dramatic eras in Italian history, filled with war, famine and plague. Will they ever be able to find happiness together?

Berlin, 1938: Newly-appointed military attaché Noel Macrae arrives at the British Embassy. Prime Minister Chamberlain is intent on placating Nazi Germany, but Macrae is less so. Gathering vital intelligence, Macrae is drawn to a Nazi bordello and its enigmatic Jewish hostess Sara Sternschein, who is a treasure-trove of knowledge about the Nazi hierarchy. Does she hold the key to thwarting Hitler?

Father and son, Landyn and Vale Midwinter, are Suffolk farmers. Times are hard as they struggle in the face of competition from big business. But an even bigger, more brutal fight is brewing: a fight between each other, about a past event they have both refused to confront, until now..

Twenty-four gripping tales told in bold, distinct voices from Brazil to Africa and from Nice to Hollywood. Funny, moving and sharply observed, these stories are confirmation of Boyd's status as one of English fiction's finest writers.