Neil MacGregor was Director of the National Gallery, London from 1987 to 2002 and of the British Museum from 2002 to 2015, and Chair of the Steering Committee of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin from 2015 to 2018. His previous books include A History of the World in 100 Objects, Shakespeare's Restless World and Germany: Memories of a Nation, all available in Penguin and now between them translated into more than a dozen languages. In 2010, he was made a member of the Order of Merit, the UK's highest civil honour. In 2015 he was awarded the Goethe Medal and the German National Prize. In 2018 the radio series Living with the Gods received the Sandford Saint Martin Award for Religious Broadcasting.

Neil MacGregor

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Donna Leon

The intelligent and capable police commissioner Guido Brunetti confronts crime in and around his home town of Venice.

'Every detail on every page forms part of a succession of clues, planted with exquisite precision, to unravelling the mystery' Sunday Times 
 
In a small village at the foot of the Italian Dolomites, a grave is discovered by the owner of a deserted farmhouse, which has been untouched for decades. While the body is badly decomposed, a valuable signet ring is found close by, providing the first vital clue which will lead Commissario Brunetti right to the heart of aristocratic Venice, to a family still grieving their abducted son. 
 
'Donna Leon can paralyse the reader with a joyful suspense' Mail on Sunday 
'Goes a long way to confirming Donna Leon's claim to have taken literary possession of Venice' Independent on Sunday

A Noble Radiance

'Leon...has once again, apparently effortlessly, produced a wholly absorbing read.' Sunday Telegraph 
 
It is a luminous spring day in Venice, as Commissario Brunetti and Inspettore Vianello take a break from the Questura to come to the rescue of Vianello's friend Marco Ribetti, who has been arrested while protesting against chemical pollution of the Venetian lagoon, only to be faced by the fury of Marco's father-in-law, owner of a glass factory on the island of Murano. 
 
But it is not Marco who has uncovered the guilty secret of the polluting glass foundries of the island of Murano, nor he whose body is found dead in front of the furnaces which burn at 1400 degrees, night and day. The victim has left clues in a copy of Dante and Brunetti must descend into an inferno to discover who is burning the land and fouling the waters of the lagoon... 
 
'As usual, Leon's witty portrayal of modern Venetian life, and Brunetti's model marriage, are as entertaining as the working out of the whodunnit. A joy from start to finish.' Evening Standard 
 
 
'A smart and stylish, fast-paced case of intrigue and corruption, written with wit, affection and authority. . . . Impressive.' Los Angeles Times

Through a Glass Darkly

'There is no one better than Donna Leon at showing the ripple effects of a single traumatic event . . . Leon has recast the city in her own venerable image: full of surprises and hidden beauty.' Evening Standard 
 
Fifteen years ago the teenage granddaughter of the grand Contessa Lando-Continui was rescued at the last moment from drowning in the canals. But young Manuela's life was never the same again. Now aged thirty, she lives trapped in an eternal youth. 
The Contessa, certain that this was no accident, implores Brunetti to find the culprit she believes ruined Manuela's life. 
 
But once Brunetti starts to investigate, he finds a murky past and a dark story at its heart . . . 
 
'Brilliantly done, with a sense of place rarely matched in any fiction' The Times 
'A sparkling summer read.' The Tablet

The Waters of Eternal Youth

'Donna Leon has been giving unto us for all of the thirty years since Death at La Fenice introduced us to Brunetti' Val McDermid 
'Crime writing of the highest order' GUARDIAN 
 
The gifted Venetian detective returns in his 31st case - this time, investigating the Janus-faced nature of yet another Italian institution. Brunetti will have to once again face the blurred line that runs between the criminal and the non-criminal, bending police rules, and his own character, to help an acquaintance in danger. 
 
'Both tremendously enjoyable and deeply humane' JESSIE GREENGRASS, Costa-shortlisted author of The High House 
'Leon's elegant, witty prose . . . is a joy' AMANDA CRAIG

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