Donald Fagen will forever be associated with Steely Dan, the band he formed with Walter Becker and four other musicians in 1972.The smooth, radio-friendly veneer of the duo's songs made Steely Dan internationally popular and famous in the 1970s, but the polish glossed over the underlying layers of anger, disappointment, sleaze, and often downright weirdness lurking just beneath the surface. The elliptical lyrics were—and continue to be—an endless source of fascinati...

'The first great book, and the first great book about the suffering and loss of war' GuardianOne of the foremost achievements in Western literature, Homer's Iliad tells the story of the darkest episode in the Trojan War. At its centre is Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, who refuses to fight after being humiliated by his leader Agamemnon. But when the Trojan Hector kills Achilles' close friend Patroclus, he storms back into ba...

In this revealing and entertaining guide to how the Romans confronted their own mortality, Peter Jones shows us that all the problems associated with old age and death that so transfix us today were already dealt with by our ancient ancestors two thousand years ago. Romans inhabited a world where man, knowing nothing about hygiene let alone disease, had no defences against nature. Death was everywhere. Half of all Roman children were dead by the age of five. Only eight per cent of the popu...

'The Odyssey is a poem of extraordinary pleasures: it is a salt-caked, storm-tossed, wine-dark treasury of tales, of many twists and turns, like life itself' GuardianThe epic tale of Odysseus and his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War forms one of the earliest and greatest works of Western literature. Confronted by natural and supernatural threats - ship-wrecks, battles, monsters and the implacable enmity of the sea-god Poseidon - Odysseus...

Uncover the fascinating roots of the English language with this captivating exploration of Latin and Roman culture. Peter Jones illuminates the surprising connections between ancient Rome and our modern vocabulary, revealing the stories behind hundreds of everyday words.From politics to medicine, architecture to warfare, explore how Latin has shaped the English language and provided a window into the world of the Romans. Discover the origins of familiar words and g...

In this compelling tour of the classical world, Peter Jones reveals how it is the power, scope and fascination of their ideas that makes the Ancient Greeks and Romans so important and influential today. For over 2,000 years these ideas have gripped Western imagination and been instrumental in the way we think about the world. Covering everything from philosophy, history and architecture to language and grammar, Jones uncovers their astonishing intellectual, political and literary achieveme...

The untold story of the real people who built an empireThe plebs were the backbone of Roman civilization. They were the farmers who fed the city, the soldiers who conquered the Mediterranean, and the craftsmen who built the monuments we still admire today.In Plebs Romana, renowned classicist and bestselling author Peter Jones takes readers through the twists and turns of Rome's turbulent history—from bloody conquests and civil wars to street riots ...

Do you ever feel that you could be – well – just that little bit happier? This simple book reveals how you can be happy every day, through these surprisingly easy tips and advice.Whoever you are, whatever you do, and whatever is holding you back, you can do it AND be happy.How To Do Everything and Be Happy is a book for ordinary people, with ordinary lives. People who have been ambling along and wondering if things would be better if they were just a little different. It's ...

The ancient Greeks gave us our alphabet and much of our scientific, medical, and cultural language; they invented democracy, atomic theory, and the rules of logic and geometry; laid the foundations of philosophy, history, tragedy, and comedy; and debated everything from the good life and the role of women, to making sense of foreigners and the best form of government, all in the most sophisticated terms. But who were they? In Eureka!, Peter Jones tells their epic story, which begi...

Because, from time to time, St Peter liked to go fishing, he needed to entrust his sacred duties at the Pearly Gates to an utterly respectable soul, one which was well-meaning and kind, trust-worthy and unusually wise. So, he selected with the utmost care! Mrs. Jones of North Wales was just such a worthy. A somewhat bewildered, but righteously proud, and not too tightly permed, white-haired old lady, would answer the call from her small, neat flat in the North Wales enclave of Paradise. He...

Crossing the Park: The Men Who Dared to Play for Both Liverpool and Everton casts a spotlight on the players who have turned out for both clubs.Despite less than a mile separating the two teams, only 34 men have worn the colours of both and it' s been more than 20 years since a direct transfer between the sides. Why have so few players crossed the park? What is the legacy of those who did?From Liverpool' s ' Team of Macs' adorned ...

Liddell at One Hundred celebrates the life of Liverpool and Scotland legend Billy Liddell. Born in Fife in 1922, Billy made the move from Scotland to Liverpool at 16, but the Second World War delayed his debut. After serving in the RAF as a navigator, he returned to football and won the league with Liverpool in his first full season with the club after the war. A diehard Red, Billy spent his whole career with the club, scoring 228 times in 534 appearances between 1938 and 1961. He...