David Hobbs

In 1950 Timothy Evans was hanged for the murder of his wife and baby daughter. This is an account of all that took place in the house in Ladbroke Grove, London, of the lives of those who lived there and the events that were to lead to a miscarriage of justice.

Timothy Evans and his wife Beryl moved into lodgings in the home of John Christie, and within a short space of time the lives of the young couple were brutally shattered and destroyed by their landlord - who had murdered before. Events simply overtook Evans, a van driver for a local firm, and who was of below average intelligence, ill-educated and illiterate. He was arrested and executed while the real murderer, Christie, went free.

The Caucasus region historically has served as a battleground between the empires of old, with a dense population of nationalities constantly vying for leverage over one another and their imperial would-be rulers. In the modern day, three major powers post-Soviet Russia, Islamic Iran and Republican Turkey are all rising to prominence at the same time, and regardless of their wishes, all are drawn to the border zone between them.

In 1954, a young television presenter named David Attenborough was offered the opportunity of a lifetime - to travel the world finding rare and elusive animals for London Zoo's collection, and to film the expeditions for the BBC. Written with his trademark wit and charm, this is not just the story of his remarkable adventure, but of the man who made us fall in love with the natural world, and who is still doing so today. This book expresses some outdated views and cultural depictions.

As a raging blizzard wreaks havoc at Lincoln International Airport outside Chicago, airline personnel try to cope with this unstoppable force of nature that is endangering thousands of lives. And in the air, a lone plane struggles to reach its destination. Over the course of seven hours, a tense human drama plays out as a brilliant airport manager, an arrogant pilot, a tough maintenance man, and a beautiful stewardess strive to avert disaster.

In 1922, a tiny group of men and women came together to found the BBC, using what had been a weapon of war - Marconi's wireless - to remake culture for the good of humanity. Twenty years later, when George Orwell famously quit the Corporation, he decided he was done 'doing work that produces no result'. Yet the BBC is now one of Britain's most beloved institutions. From Daleks to Desert Island Discs, the BBC has blazed a trail for British entertainment. Yet it has also always been at the forefront of global change, both breaking and covering the most important stories of the century on Panorama and BBC News. This is a stirring and monumental history of the British cultural stalwart which created modern broadcasting one hundred years ago.

For sixteen days in the summer of 1936, the world’s attention turned to Berlin as it hosted the Olympic Games. During the sporting events the dictatorship was partially put on hold. Here, seen through the eyes of a cast of characters – Nazi leaders and foreign diplomats, athletes and journalists, nightclub owners and jazz musicians - is a last glimpse of the vibrant and diverse life in Berlin in the 1920s and 30s that the Nazis aimed to destroy.

From his youth, through his brief but beautiful impact on the charts, to the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis that effectively ended his career, the names that define Clifford T. Ward's unique talent are as varied as they are impressive: Jimmy Page, Paul McCartney, Karl Hyde, Jeff Lynne and Tim Rice. All speak between these pages of a truly extraordinary man that the world, sadly, remembers only for an appearance on Top of the Pops in 1973. In this affectionate, exhaustively researched book, recently revised and expanded, readers will come to reconsider this amazing talent. 

Helen has been holding out for a hero all her life. Her father was a hero - but he was murdered when she was ten. Her husband is a hero - but he's thousands of miles away, fighting a war people say will never be won. And when he returns home, altered in a way she can't understand, bitter truths are uncovered. Helen must finally face her fears and the one place which has haunted her since childhood - the Black Path.

The Old Man of Hoy is a 449 foot high sandstone pillar located just off Hoy, second largest of the Orkney Islands. Highly subject to the North Atlantic weather it was carved by erosion from the nearby cliffs and will eventually, perhaps soon, collapse into the sea. It was first climbed by the crack team of Bonington, Baillie and Patey in 1966 and remains one of the premier challenges of British rock climbing.

From the moment he watched the televised ascent of the Old Man of Hoy, Red Szell knew his life would be incomplete until he too stood atop Europe's tallest sea stack. Those dreams went dark at nineteen when he learned he was going blind, and for twenty years he ignored the pangs of regret and desire every time the Old Man appeared again in his life. He was still climbing, but only indoors until he shared his dream with his buddies, Matthew and Andres, and, with an ever growing following looking on,they set out to confront the Orcadian giant.

Bride to the Mountain is teh stroy of Anna Mary who had put her heart and soul into th erunning of Rugog before getting married. But now she worked from a sense of the land, which she loved and the farm carried her husband as a passenger. Sheep were diappearing. The faithful shepherds of Rugog had their suspicionns of who the sheep-stealers were but though they kept a careful watch they could never catch the culprits. A traveller and author then came to the valley and took a hand in the affairs. Between him and the shepherds they worked together to throw some light onto the mystery. 

An authoritative and radical rethinking of the history of Ancient Britain and Ancient Ireland, based on remarkable new archaeological finds.

British history is traditionally regarded as having started with the Roman Conquest. But this is to ignore half a million years of prehistory that still exert a profound influence. Here Francis Pryor examines the great ceremonial landscapes of Ancient Britain and Ireland - Stonehenge, Seahenge, Avebury and the Bend of the Boyne - as well as the discarded artefacts of day-to-day life, to create an astonishing portrait of our ancestors.

This major re-revaluation of pre-Roman Britain, made possible in part by aerial photography and coastal erosion, reveals a much more sophisticated life in Ancient Britain and Ireland than has previously been supposed.

Enjoying an overdue break in Venice, the Bishop of Rhyminster has a chance encounter with Oliver Canford; a flamboyant tour guide. Despite misgivings from his wife, Bishop Bob offers him the post of Bishop’s Lay assistant. But Canford neglects his duties in favour of flirting with the Chorister Mums and disappearing to London to sing with his refined choir. But when one of his absences extends to 48 hours, the Bishop worries. He calls in his old friend John Tedesco, who runs a bespoke detective agency with his colleague Lynne Davey.

When a body is discovered in the Rhyme Chantry, a forbidding structure known as “the Cage”, the tiny tourist city is thrust under the media spotlight. Join Tedesco and Davey as they encounter a byzantine world of rival voluntary groups, hard pressed clergy and warring choral societies.

Inspector Maigret is standing in the pouring rain by a canal. A well-dressed woman, Mary Lampson, has been found strangled in a stable nearby. Why did her glamorous, hedonistic life come to such a brutal end here? Surely her taciturn husband Sir Walter knows - or maybe the answers lie with the crew of the barge La Providence...

In the corner of the ABC teashop on Norfolk Street, Polly Burton of the Evening Observer sets down her morning paper, filled with news of the latest outrages, and eagerly waits for her mysterious acquaintance to begin. For no matter how ghastly or confounding the crime, or how fiendishly tangled the plot, the Teahouse Detective can invariably find the solution without leaving the comfort of his café seat. What did happen that tragic night to Miss Elliott? Who knows the truth about the stolen Black Diamonds? And what sinister workings are behind the curious disappearance of Count Collini? The police may be baffled, but rare is the mystery that eludes the brilliant Teahouse Detective.

There were two subjects which lonely widower Edward de Salis never discussed: his dead wife and his family home in Ireland, 'matchless Cashelmara'. So when he meets Marguerite, a bright young American with whom he can talk freely about both, he is able to love again and takes her back to Ireland as his wife.

But Marguerite soon discovers that married life is not what she expected, and that she has married into a troubled family bitterly divided by love and hatred. Cashelmara becomes the curse of three generations as they play out their fates in a spellbinding drama, which moves inexorably towards murder and retribution.

When newly qualified doctor Andrew Manson takes up his first post in a Welsh mining community, he brings with him a bagful of idealism and enthusiasm. But before long Andrew’s outspokenness makes him enemies - as well as winning him friends, and the love of an idealistic schoolteacher.

Winter, 1942. The war is turning against Germany on the Eastern Front. In Bordeaux, Superintendent Lannes - himself an object of suspicion, with one son in Vichy and another with de Gaulle's Free French - investigates the murder of a woman. It looks like a crime of passion. But the investigation will lead Lannes into dangerous territory.

Dementia is a little understood and currently incurable illness, but much can be done to maximise the quality of life for people with the condition. Contented Dementia - by clinical psychologist and bestselling author Oliver James - outlines a groundbreaking and practical method for managing dementia that will allow both sufferer and carer to maintain the highest possible quality of life, throughout every stage of the illness.

A person with dementia will experience random and increasingly frequent memory blanks relating to recent events. Feelings, however, remain intact, as do memories of past events and both can be used in a special way to substitute for more recent information that has been lost. The SPECAL method (Specialized Early Care for Alzheimer's) outlined in this book works by creating links between past memories and the routine activities of daily life in the present.

Drawing on real-life examples and user-friendly tried-and-tested methods, Contented Dementia provides essential information and guidance for carers, relatives and professionals.

Following the publication of 'I Bought a Mountain', this book describes the author's tour through Wales in the 1950's. It says something about Wales and the Welsh at a time when political moves towards the Welsh Assembly are coming to fruition.

In St Denis, a local archaeological team unearths a well-preserved skeleton. Yet it's a lot more recent than they'd hoped - boasting a Swatch on its wrist and a bullet-hole in its skull. Meanwhile, an influx of visitors makes Saint Denis unusually crowded, and the key to the body appears to lie with one of these outsiders. Bruno, Chief of Police, must think fast and keep his wits about him in order to work out how these events are connected. Especially if the answer lies a little closer to home.  Book 4 of series.

It's the moment we all fear: losing our phone, leaving us cut off from family and friends. But, for Louise, losing hers in a local café takes her somewhere much darker... Quick Reads

Writing from his mother’s diaries, this is a unique memoir, depicting the world of Nazi prison camps through the eyes of a child – a world in which the real dangers often seemed trivial and every day was a new adventure. It tells not just of the prisoners’ plight, but provides an important and poignant reminder that not every German soldier was cruel and hateful.

One of the greatest epic journeys of all time is bought to life in this captivating story of Captain Scott's last Antarctic expedition. January, 1912: Scott's expedition reaches the South Pole. Trapped in a blizzard, Scott and his four companions perish in subzero temperatures. The story of their incredible journey and their tragic final days, combines ambition, national pride and the kind of bravery and dignity most men can only dream of.

In the spring of 1940, a mutilated body is discovered in a street near Bordeaux railway station. When Superintendent Lannes is warned off the investigation, he suspects that there is a political motive for the murder. In defiance of authority, he continues working on the case. And then another body is found...

In Dining with the Durrells, David Shimwell has delved into the Durrell family archives to uncover Louisa Durrell's original recipes for the scones, cakes, jams, tarts, sandwiches and more that are so deliciously described by the Durrell family. From her recipe for 'Gerry's Favourite Chicken Curry' to 'Dixie-Durrell Scones with Fig and Ginger Jam', and including the family stories that accompany them, this book will transport you to long lunches enjoyed on the terrace of a strawberry-pink villa, sunshine-filled picnics among the Corfu olive groves and candlelit dinners overlooking the Ionian Sea.

In the summer of 1944, France is in turmoil. The Allied invasion, bringing the promise of Liberation, is awaited, eagerly and nervously. Superintendent Lannes, suspended from duty by order of the Boches, searches unofficially for a missing girl, and investigates cases of historic sex abuse. His marriage is experiencing difficulties and he worries about his sons, one with the Free French, the other in Vichy.

In this new mystery Inspector Chard is confronted with another murder in bustling Victorian Pontypridd. On the face of it the case appears unremarkable, even if it isnt obviously solvable, but following new leads takes Chard into unexpected places. A second murder, a sexual predator, industrial espionage and a mining disaster crowd into the investigation, baffling the Inspector and his colleagues and putting his own life at risk as the murderer attempts to avoid capture. Chard navigates a way through the clues and red herrings, and a lengthening list of suspects, towards the poisoner. Atmospheric, authentic, Chard and the reader are left guessing until the final page.

1154, Oseney Priory, Oxford. When the first performance of The Play of Adam ends in tragedy, the author is compelled to pen a grim warning for the generations that follow: 'BEWARE THE SINS OF ENVY AND VAINGLORY, ELSE FOUL MURDER ENDS YOUR STORY'. But his words are not heeded, and as the play is performed in many guises throughout the ages, bad luck seems to follow after those involved in its production.

Pontypridd, 1893. A train crashes, and in the chaos of the disaster a killer covers the trail of a violent murder, but one of the crash victims is identified by means of a pocket watch. Two years later, Thomas Chard's arrival in town to take up his post as inspector in the burgeoning police force coincides with the grisly discovery of a body in the River Taff.

In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov, deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, is sentenced to house arrest in an attic room in the Metropol Hotel. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a larger world of emotional discovery, whilst some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel's doors.

'When I was sent by the Soviet state to London to further my studies in calculus, knowing I would never become a great mathematician, I strayed instead into the foothills of anthropology ...'

It is 1950 and Nikolai Lobachevsky, great-grandson of his illustrious namesake, is surveying a bog in the Irish Midlands, where he studies the locals, the land and their ways. One afternoon, soon after he arrives, he receives a telegram calling him back to Leningrad for a 'special appointment'. Lobachevsky may not be a great genius but he is not foolish: he recognises a death sentence when he sees one and leaves to go into hiding on a small island in the Shannon estuary, where the island families harvest seaweed and struggle to split rocks.

Here Lobachevsky must think about death, how to avoid it and whether he will ever see his home again

A girl is brutally murdered picking primroses in a Kentish wood and a dangerous criminal set on revenger leads a mass break-out from a manchester gaol. These are just two problems for Gideon of the Yard

Jake Geismar, foreign correspondent in pre-war Berlin, returns in 1945 to cover the Potsdam conference, but he finds the city unrecognisable. Trawling through the illegal night clubs and the thriving black market, Jake discovers that the twilight war of intrigue between west and east has already begun and that he could quite easily be one of its first casualties.

During five sultry days, the lives of the guests, the management, and the workers at New Orleans’ largest and most elite hotel converge. The owner has four days to raise the money to save his financially ailing property. The general manager, once blacklisted from the hospitality business, struggles with one crisis after another. A rebellious heiress will do anything to attain her secret desires. The duke and the duchess in the lavish presidential suite are covering up a crime. And within one of the many guest rooms hides a professional thief.

A year in and out of lockdown as experienced by Alan Bennett. The diary takes us from the filming of Talking Heads to thoughts on Boris Johnson, from his father's short-lived craze for family fishing trips, to stair lifts, junk shops of old, having a haircut, and encounters on the local park bench. A lyrical afterword describes the journey home to Yorkshire from King's Cross station via fish and chips on Quebec Street, past childhood landmarks of Leeds, through Coniston Cold, over the infant River Aire, and on.

Napoleon escapes from Elba, and the fate of Europe hinges on a desperate mission: Stephen Maturin must ferret out the French dictator's secret link to the powers of Islam, and Jack Aubrey must destroy it. Book 19 of series.