Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

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Leon Garfield

In a cave on the wild side of St James's Park live two ragged children; young Nick and his nine-year-old sister Jubilee. Once they had a father, but now they are alone – and Nick knows it is his responsibility to find Jubilee a husband. But who would want to marry a girl who can neither cook nor sew, read nor write?

Blewcoat Boy

Rosemary Sutcliff

It had never seemed important during their boyhood that Simon Carey was for Parliament and his friend Amias Hannaford a royalist. But when Civil War breaks out, they find themselves fighting on different sides. 
 
Finally the day comes when the friends must put their friendship to the test.

Simon

Two boys, Lewis and Richard, travel to paris in 1789 for very different reasons, and find their ideals challenged in the events of the French Revolution and the September massacre.

The Prisoners of September

Harris and Bostock are best friends, but they are as different from one another as night and day. Harris thinks up harebrained schemes and Bostock gets in trouble for them. 
 
When Harris puts his baby sister Adelaide in the words to see if she will be adopted by a fox, little do they realize that they are starting a chain of events that will be remembered in their little seaside town as the Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris.

The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris

The boy who takes up the spear and shield of Manhood on this day will become the most renowned of all the warriors of Ireland, men will follow at his call to the world's end, and his enemies will shudder at the thunder of his chariot wheels. 
 
So the ancient prophecy went, and as the boy Cuchulain heard it, he went forward to claim the weapons of his manhood. This is the story of how he became the greatest of heroes - the Hound of Ulster.

The Hound Of Ulster

Rosemary's Sutcliff's absorbing collection of stories cover the fall of Londinium to the building of Hadrian's Wall, and the final departure of the Romans from Britain. Set at the time of the Roman occupation of Britain, they follow the fortunes of one family over three hundred years. All soldiers, they are linked by the Capricorn bracelet, first worn by the centurion Lucius for distinguished conduct, then handed down through the generations.

The Capricorn Bracelet

'As far as the eye can see, scarlet men are marching . . . A rich and splendid company, but none more so than the drummer boy.' 
 
But a moment later, the sound of Charlie Samson's drum was swallowed in a wild thunder. The glorious scarlet troops had been ambushed. Men were dead and dying all around, and all the beauty was gone. All that was left was himself and his drum, and a few shady nightwalkers - cowards who came crawling from the ditches and knaves who scoured the dead for wealth . . .

The Drummer Boy

Life in eighteenth-century London was hard and especially so for the city's apprentices. For seven long years they struggled for their livelihoods among the fetid houses and sinister quays of old London. But despite their hardships there was hope and even fun. 
 
This compelling story-cycle follows them round the year, through the dark, cold winter nights to midsummer in the city, The lamplighter, the pawnbroker, the midwife or the clockmaker, their stories interweave delightfully to paint a colourful picture of life in London 200 years ago.

The Apprentices

Sword Song is the swashbuckling story of Bjarni, a Viking swordsman. Banished from his home, as a boy, for a murder he didn't intend to commit, Bjarni takes up a new life as a mercenary. He journeys to the islands off the west coast of Scotland and there his life is shaped for years to come. A life that will see him fighting among the clan chiefs in feuds as bitter and bloody as can be imagined.This enthralling novel was the last thing Rosemary Sutcliff wrote and was discovered in a drawer after her death. It is published here in paperback for the first time.

The Sword Song Of Bjarni Sigurdson

The Confidence Man follows 14-year-old Hans Ruppert and a band of Protestants as they leave their home town and seek peace and freedom from Persecution in the New World. They are led by a mysterious hussar, who has offered to lead then to safety. To Hans he is a fascinating figure, but to the others he is a swindler, likely to abandon them at any moment.

The Confidence Man

One stormy December night some time in the eighteenth century, a coach came thundering down the long hill outside of Dorking on its usual journey into London. But something unusual was to happen that night as one of the passengers unepectedly gave birth to a child. 
 
Not until he was eight did Sam Chichester discover that the coachman and guard he called 'Ma and 'Pa' were not his real parents. Sam will need to grow up, leave home, and find love before he will finally uncover the truth about his parentage.

The Sound of Coaches

Mr Corbett is a cruel employer and his young apprentice Benjamin can't help but wish he were dead. So when a strange old man offers to make this wish come true, Benjamin finds it impossible to refuse. Sure enough, Mr Corbett meets an untimely death, but the tables turn on the terrified apprentice who finds himself cursed with the ghost of the man he hated most in the world . . . 
 
A brilliant collection of three short stories from a master story-teller, who will keep you turning the pages until the very end.

Mr Corbett's Ghost

A classic tale of adventure and bravery charting the transformation of Robert of Locksley into Robin Hood, the outlaw of myth and legend. 
 
Join Robin and his band of Merry Men as they battle injustice and seek to defeat the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham and Guy of Gisborne.

The Chronicles of Robin Hood

'We are the scum and the scrapings of the Empire. They tipped out the garbage-bin of the Eagles to make us what we are.' 
 
In disgrace after a mistake that cost the lives of half his men, Alexios arrives in Castellum. It's his first command, but it isn't really a promotion. The Frontier Wolves who man this outpost in the far north of Roman Britain are a fierce and savage bunch, a far cry from the regular legions he'd served in before. Alexios will only survive if he learns to understand them and win their respect - and he's determined to try.

Frontier Wolf

'When you take out the heart of gold, you must put something back in its place. Otherwise our princess would die.' 
 
Giorgio, a poor student, sets out on a journey to win the heart of Princess Charlotte of Oberweselberg. On the way an old woman promises he shall have the princess - but for a price. Giorgio must bring her the princess's golden heart. Can he do the wicked deed which will possess for him the fortune he desires?

Guilt and Gingerbread

'Him what's born on the chime . . . he's the one what'll have communications with the devil.' 
 
At the age of fourteen, 'chime-child' Peter Gannet is apprenticed to a locksmith in Covent Garden. But his desperate longing to escape from the insufferable adults around him and go to sea leads him into some dubious undertakings. Before long, the old ship's carpenter's dire prophecy comes true, for in the locksmith's workroom he meets a phantom with an empty sleeve. 
 
Tense and atmospheric, this is a gripping thriller about ghosts, a wall of hands, envy, dishonesty and finally murder!

The Empty Sleeve

On the night that Piggot’s Comet will appear over Brighton, the town plan to honour it with music and dancing. Harris, however, has other ideas. Being scientifically minded, he thinks only of observing the comet in detail. He persuades his good friend Bostock to part with his father’s telescope in exchange for the affections of Harris’s sister, Mary. Unfortunately, as Mary does not care for Bostock, Harris is forced to apply his powerful mind to the problems of courtship and love.

Bostock and Harris

Charles Dickens

The Mystery of Edwin Drood was Charles Dickens final novel, and remained unfinished at the time of his death. In this edition, beloved children's author Leon Garfield gives the story a satisfying ending.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

K M Peyton

The invasion of the Norsemen is approaching, and the people of Edmund Firehead's settlement must flee if they are to stand any chance of survival. But people have always found Edmund's fiery red hair startling - and the Norsemen are no exception. Instead of killing Edmund on the spot, they take him as a slave. 
 
It's the beginning of a new life - a life that leads Edmund into the heart of battle. Now that the colour of his hair is no longer enough to save him, it is time for Edmund Firehead to fight for his life . . .

Firehead

Secrets whispered up a chimney, a golden locket with a broken chain, murder in the streets of London – and suddenly young Barnacle is plunged into a terrifying mystery. The December Rose is a thrilling tale of deceit, espionage and murder set in the teeming, colourful Victorian London.

The December Rose

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