An author’s talents may seem obvious and indisputable as they move words and ideas into gathered phrases and stories.But where do these ideas and stories come from? A lonely thought that suddenly gathers form? An inspiration from a Muse? A suggestion from an everyday event?Perhaps in the case of their darker, more malevolent stories, other forces are at work. They help to nourish single words into sentences and paragraphs that ease themselves from the shadows and are sudden...

A fascinating journey through the history of railways, packed with first-hand accounts of innovation, triumph, and tragedy.From the earliest steam engine to the high-speed bullet trains of today, A Short History of the Railway reveals the hidden stories of railway history across the world - the inspired engineering; the blood, sweat, and tears that went into the construction of the tracks; the ground-breaking innovations behind the trains that travelled along them;...

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was born on the 30th August 1797 in Somers Town, London.Her mother, the famous feminist philosopher, educator, and writer Mary Wollstonecraft died when Mary was only 11 days old and she was raised by her father, the philosopher, novelist, journalist, and perpetually in debt, William Godwin.Though Mary received little formal education her father taught her a broad range of subjects and added to her bright and curious personality she easily ab-sorbe...

Almost always when we think of Ghost Stories, we first think of those written by the Victorians.When you consider the depth of literary talent available over the extraordinary length of Queen Victoria’s reign, allied to the fascination with their all things spiritual on ‘the other side’, then perhaps it’s simply right place, right time.Whatever the reasons given or proffered the reality and known facts are that if you want a really good ghost story to bring that edge of chi...

Life is to be lived. Experiences gained, pleasures sampled. But, troublingly, when you are a classic author your thoughts sometimes lean towards darker thoughts. Within the space of a few paragraphs these literary masters shape a new world; more difficult experiences, darker pleasures. Life becomes uneasy, a queasy feeling, perhaps a repulsion here, a disgust there and very soon what was cosy, warm and comfortable becomes cold, painful, even horrific.The talents of their pens now f...

An author’s talents may seem obvious and indisputable as they move words and ideas into gathered phrases and stories.But where do these ideas and stories come from? A lonely thought that suddenly gathers form? An inspiration from a Muse? A suggestion from an everyday event?Perhaps in the case of their darker, more malevolent stories, other forces are at work. They help to nourish single words into sentences and paragraphs that ease themselves from the shadows and are sudden...

In the village of Dymock, just by the river Leadon in Gloucester, in the years that were leading up to the Great War, six poets were creating literary history.Living, visiting, reading and writing in this small area their friendships, as they intermingled and influenced each other’s lives, would create the enduring legacy of The Dymock Poets.And these were not just run of the mill scribes. Included in their number were Robert Frost, Edward Thomas and Rupert Brooke. These th...

The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors. From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure. Among them is the Suffragette Sarah Grand.

Gibran Khalil Gibran was born on 6th January 1883 in the village of Bsharri, Beirut Vilayet, then part of the Ottoman EmpireHis mother took him and his siblings to the United States in 1895 where he was enrolled into a Boston school and his creative talents soon noted. He was sent home to be schooled at the Collège de la Sagesse in Beirut but returned to Boston following the death of his youngest sister in 1902. Within a year his mother had also died.In 1904, Gibran's drawi...

Walter Lionel George was born to British parents on the 20th March 1882 in Paris, France.It was not until he was a young man of 20 that he learned English. In 1905 he moved to London to work in an office but soon found himself working as a journalist, and as a foreign correspondent, for various London newspapers.By 1911, with the publication of his first novel ‘A Bed of Roses’, which portrayed the fall of a penniless young woman into prostitution, his efforts were rewarded,...

Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828 in the Russian province of Tula to a wealthy noble family. As a child, he had private tutors but he showed little interest in any formal education. When he went to the University of Kazan in 1843 to study oriental languages and law, he left without completing his courses. Life now was relaxed and idle but with some writing also taking place. Gambling debts forced an abrupt change of path and he joined the army to fight in the Crimean War. He was commended for h...

George Chetwynd Griffith-Jones was born on 20th August, 1857, in Plymouth, South-West England to a clergyman father who was frequently moved to different parishes.Although Griffith did briefly attend school there were only limited funds to provide a formal education for him and his elder brother. Consequently, they were primarily home schooled with their father teaching them Latin and Greek and their mother, French. There was also an extensive family library which Griffith devoured...