'It is all rather irresistible . . . the book ripples with warmth'The Times'Poignant and lyrical'**Spectator'Another World attractively maps out the stage in his odyssey between humble pub and broadcasting glory'**Daily Telegraph'A poignant read about awakening ambitio...

Melvyn Bragg's first ever memoir - an elegiac, intimate account of growing up in post-war Cumbria, which lyrically evokes a vanished world. 'The best thing he's ever written . . . I loved it' Observer 'A memoir bursting with affection' Sunday TimesIn this elegiac and heartfelt memoir, Melvyn Bragg recreates his youth in the Cumbrian market town of Wigton: a working-class boy who expected to leave s...

THE FIRST NOVEL IN 'ONE OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED LITERARY SERIES IN RECENT TIMES' (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)'His masterpiece'Sunday Times'Outstandingly good'Scotsman'A great achievement'ObserverWhen Sam Richardson returns in 1946 from the 'Forgotten War' in Burma to Wigton in Cumbria, he finds the town little changed. But the war has changed ...

'Melvyn Bragg's account of the passionate and painful love affair between the 12th century radical theologian, Peter Abelard, and the brilliant young convent-educated Eloise springs magnificently to life . . . Thrilling.' Piers Plowright, TabletWithin the Cloisters of Notre-Dame, a charismatic philosopher and a young woman renowned for her scholarship embark on an ardent, secret affair. It will send shockwaves through Paris, incur savage retribution and le...

By 'quite simply one of the best writers we have' (Sunday Telegraph), a profoundly moving story spanning three generations.'It is a gem' Independent'I loved it' Pat BarkerReaching from late 19th-century Cumbria to the present, this elegiac novel celebrates two spirited women: Grace, a farm labourer's daughter who fatefully followed her heart, and Mary, the child she was forced to give up. Unsung he...

'Superb'Spectator'C****onsistently entertaining'Independent'Impressive and sage'New Statesman'Bragg's affection for his subject is infectious'ObserverEnglish is the collective work of millions of people throughout the ages. It is democratic, ever-changing and ingenious in its assimilation of other cultures. English runs through ...

Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time series regularly enlightens and entertains substantial audiences on BBC Radio 4. For this book he has selected episodes which reflect the diversity of the radio programmes, and takes us on an amazing tour through the history of ideas, from philosophy, physics and history to religion, literature and biology.We can discover the reasons for the fall of the Byzantine empire, and why women were persecuted as witches in the seventeenth century. What ha...

'A gripping saga of great passion'The Times'As splendid a ripping yarn as any of the best classics'Daily Telegraph'I loved it . . . [a] stately, seething, passionate epic'Literary ReviewBritain during the Dark Ages is the setting for the fascinating story of Bega, a young Irish princess who became a saint, and her lifelong bond with Padric, prince of the north-western ...

The Seventh Seal is probably Bergman's best-known work and the film that most clearly bears the director's unmistakeable signature.The opening scene sets the tone: a stony beach under a leaden sky, the knight alone with his thoughts, then the approach of black-clad Death, whom the knight invites to play a game of chess. Bergman's medieval allegory of faith and doubt is dark with the horrors of witch-burnings and the plague. But it is also shot through with bright flashes of...

'Bragg gives short shrift to pretension of any kind, while remaining stalwart in his search for knowledge. His methodology in In Our Time is... not unlike that of a man throwing a stick at a dog: he chucks his questions ahead, and if the chosen academic fails to bring it right back, he chides them. He retains enough of his bluff Cumbrian origins not to be taken in by gambolling and tweedy high spirits.' - Will Self, from a February 2010 issue of *...

The Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller celebrating 400 years of the King James Bible.The King James Bible has often been called the Book of Books both in itself and in what it stands for. Since its publication in 1611 it has been the best selling book in the world, and many believe, had the greatest impact. The King James Bible has spread the Protestant faith. It has also been the greatest influence on the enrichment of the English language and its literature...

'Brilliant'Daily Telegraph'The book is exciting . . . a pleasure to be remembered'Financial TimesAt once a love story and a portrayal of innocence brutally curtailed, Josh Lawton charts the rites of passage of a young Cumbrian farm worker and keen fell runner - an exceptionally good man whose very integrity proves his undoing.'With this novel, Melvyn Bragg has established his...