This is a book about a poet, about a poem, about a city, and about a world at a point of change. More than a work of literary criticism or literary biography, it is a record of why and how we create and respond to great poetry.

 This is a book about a poet - W. H. Auden, a wunderkind, a victim-beneficiary of a literary cult of personality who became a scapegoat and a poet-expatriate largely excluded from British literary history because he left.

 About a poem - 'September 1, 1939', his most famous and celebrated, yet one which he tried to rewrite and disown and which has enjoyed - or been condemned - to a tragic and unexpected afterlife.

 About a city - New York, an island, an emblem of the Future, magnificent, provisional, seamy, and in 1939 about to emerge as the defining twentieth-century cosmopolis, the capital of the world.

 And about a world at a point of change - about 1939, and about our own Age of Anxiety, about the aftermath of September 11, when many American newspapers reprinted Auden's poem in its entirety on their editorial pages.

September 1, 1939 - W.H. Auden and the Afterlife of a Poem

From Beachy Head to Brighton, and from Chichester to Rye, Flaming Sussex sees our intrepid trio plunge once again into the dark heart of England

 'Beautifully crafted by Sansom, Professor Morley promises to become a little gem of English crime writing; sample him now' Daily Mail

 At about four o'clock on 5th November 1937, Miss Lizzie Walter, a teacher at the King's Road Primary School in Lewes, said goodbye to her young pupils. The children clattered out into the dark streets, preparing for that night's revelries - and Miss Lizzie Walter was never seen alive again.

 Hitler, Mussolini and Pope Paul V are on fire. Fireworks explode and flaming tar barrels are being dragged through the streets. Bonfire Night in Lewes is the closest England comes to Mardis Gras. In their fifth adventure, Morley, Miriam and Sefton find themselves caught up in the celebrations and the chaos.

 On the morning after the night before, Sefton goes for a swim in Pells Pool, the oldest freshwater lido in England - in the very centre of Lewes - where he discovers a woman's body. She has drowned. Is it a misadventure or could it be . murder?

 Join Morley, Miriam and Sefton on another journey into the dark heart of England.

The Sussex Murder

Love Miss Marple? Adore Holmes and Watson? Professor Morley's guide to Devon is a story of bygone England; quaint villages, eccentric locals-and murder.Swanton Morely, the People's Professor, sets off for Devon to continue his history of England, The County Guides. Morley's daughter, Miriam, and his assistant, Stephen Sefton, pack up the Lagonda for a trip to the English Riviera. Morely has been invited to give the Founder's Day speech at All Souls School in Rousdon. But when the trio arrive they discover that a boy has died in mysterious circumstances. Was it an accident or was it murder?Join Morely, Sefton, and Miriam on another adventure into the dark heart of 1940s England. A must-read for fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, and Charles Todd, there'll be plenty of murder, mystery, and mayhem to confound.

Death in Devon - A County Guides Mystery

Après Le Mystère des livres disparus, on retrouve avec plaisir le plus drôle des bibliothécaires-détectives !Depuis qu’il a résolu le mystère des livres disparus, Israël Armstrong sillonne les routes du nord de l’Irlande du Nord à bord de son bibliobus, traquant les usagers récalcitrants à rendre leurs prêts. Ce qui plonge ce boulimique de littérature dans les affres du désespoir, lui qui avait toujours cru aux vertus de la lecture. Son existence semble s’éclaircir lorsqu’il est chargé d’organiser une exposition itinérante commémorant les cent ans du légendaire grand magasin Dixon & Pickering. Mais par un hasard dû à la malchance congénitale de notre héros malgré lui, le voici mêlé à une sale affaire : l’éminent M. Dixon, propriétaire de l’établissement et membre de l’Association des magiciens de l’Ulster, vient de disparaître. Tout à l’art d’être au mauvais endroit au mauvais moment, Israël devient le suspect n°1. Menotté, mis en examen, duffle-coat et livres confisqués, il est incarcéré. Il devra pour prouver son innocence se lancer dans une enquête à cent à l’heure à travers le pays, s’aidant maladroitement des techniques de détectives de papier glanées dans quelques polars. Arrivera-t-il à retrouver le magicien et à blanchir sa réputation ?

Le mystère du magicien disparu (Mobile Library Mystery #2)

'Beautifully crafted by Sansom, Professor Morley promises to become a little gem of English crime writing; sample him now' Daily Mail

 Welcome to Westmorland. Perhaps the most scenic county in England! Home of the poets! Land of the great artists! District of the Great lakes! And the scene of a mysterious crime.

 Swanton Morley, the People's Professor, once again sets off in his Lagonda to continue his history of England, The County Guides.

 Stranded in the market town of Appleby after a tragic rail crash, Morley, his daughter Miriam and his assistant Stephen Sefton find themselves drawn into a world of country fairs, gypsy lore and Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling. When a woman's body is discovered at an archaeological dig, for Morley there's only one possible question: could it be murder?

 Join Morley, Miriam and Sefton as they journey along the Great North road and the Settle-Carlisle Line into the dark heart of 1930s England.

Westmorland Alone

Israël Armstrong, intellectuel anglais d'une trentaine d'années, a enfin trouvé le métier de ses rêves : il se voit attribuer le poste de bibliothécaire en chef dans une petite bourgade rurale d'Irlande du Nord. Sa déception sera de taille quand il s'apercevra que tous les livres de la bibliothèque en question ont été volés et il devra mener l'enquête.

Le mystère des livres disparus

A warm, humane, and sharply observed tale of small town life that is by equal turns hilarious and moving.

 Big Davey Jones is coming home. He's been gone almost 20 years now, but nobody's forgotten him. Davey's a local hero - his miracle birth as the seventh son of a seventh son brought fame to this little town and they've been grateful ever since. But Davey's home town has changed much in the intervening years. The traditional family business like Billy Finlay's Auto-Supplies and Calton's Bakery and Tea Rooms have been replaced with 'Exciting New Housing Developments!' and even a nightclub called 'Paradise Lost'.

 The locals haven't changed much though. Bob Savory, who always had it in him, has made a million with his company Sandwich Classics, and he's branching out now, with an Irish themed restaurant on the ring road. Francie McGinn, the divorced minister at The People's Fellowship, is still trying to convert the town through his Fish-and-Chip Biblical Quiz Nights and his Good Friday Carvery & Gospel Night. And Sammy, the town's best plumber, is depressed as ever and looking for solace at the bottom of the whisky bottle.

 Clever, touching and, above all, utterly spot-on in its depiction of small town life, Ring Road is confirms Ian Sansom's status as one of our most perceptive authors working today.

Ring Road - There’s no place like home

Israel Armstrong, one of literature's most unlikely detectives, returns for more crime solving adventure in this hilarious second novel from 'The Mobile Library' series.

 The second in the 'The Mobile Library ' detective series, 'Mr Dixon Disappears' once again features the magnificently hapless Israel Armstrong - the young, Jewish, duffle-coat wearing librarian who solves crimes, mysteries, and domestic problems all whilst driving a mobile library around the coast of Northern Ireland.

 Dixon and Pickering's, County Antrim's legendary department store, is preparing to celebrate its centenary. But the elderly Mr Dixon - a member of the Ulster Association of Magicians - has gone missing, along with one hundred thousand pounds in cash. It smells, pretty badly, of a kidnap.

 Israel becomes a suspect in the police investigation and is suspended from his job by his boss, the ever-fearsome Linda Wei. He's having to fight to clear his name.

 Does Israel's acclaimed five-panel touring exhibition showing the history of Dixon and Pickering's in old photographs and artefacts perhaps hold the key to Mr Dixon's mysterious disappearance? Will romance blossom between Israel and Rosie Hart, the barmaid at the First and Last? Will Linda Wei stick to her diet? And has nobody here heard of Franz Kafka? All will be revealed in this hilarious and endlessly inventive sequel to 'The Case of the Missing Books'.

Mr Dixon Disappears

Si vous allez être écrivain, vous allez écrire parce que vous le devez. Ce n'est pas comme les autres arts et pas aussi gratifiant parce que c'est beaucoup plus solitaire, et la plupart du temps, c'est juste vous seul dans une pièce sombre ou un café. Mais beaucoup d'écrivains doivent écrire parce qu'ils écrivent pour eux-mêmes, donc si quelqu'un voit ou non votre travail ou non - ils écrivent toujours parce qu'ils doivent absolument le faire.

S'il y a un manque de spécificité dans la description de Grossman de la ville et des marcheurs, et si l'histoire se perd parfois et déroutante, c'est parce que le paysage et ses habitants sont vraiment des ombres, des créatures d'un monde intérieur, dont le voyage et dont la quête se trouve à l'intérieur. La chute du temps est courte, et clairement un livre profondément personnel, mais son importance et son impact ne doivent pas être sous-estimés.

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