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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Dick Francis

DICK FRANCIS was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys and author of forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories (Field of 13), the biography of Lester Piggott and his own autobiography (The Sport of Queens). He was rightly acclaimed as one of the greatest thriller writers in the world. 
 
 Since his death, his son FELIX FRANCIS has taken over the literary reigns from his father and Dick's legacy lives on through the Dick Francis novels. The Francis flair is clear for all to see in these national treasure thrillers, and readers will appreciate the sporadic reappearance of beloved series characters Sid Halley and Jeff Hinkley.

At midnight Neil Griffon's home is broken into and he is abducted by masked men. When he wakes up, hours later, Neil discovers that 'unless he cooperates' his kidnappers will destroy his father's racing stable, his precious horses and even Neil himself. 
 
Returning to the stables, Neil can tell no one about his ordeal, or his kidnappers' threats of violence if he does not comply with their demands. 
 
Trapped, Neil refuses to surrender - and devises an ingenious scheme to beat his kidnappers at their own game.

Bonecrack

Malcolm Pembroke didn't get rich without making a few enemies - not least the five wives and nine children left like wreckage in his wake. 
But when Moira, his fifth wife, is murdered and Malcolm believes that someone is out to get him, he knows of only one person he can turn to: his estranged son Ian. 
Ian - an amateur jockey - wants nothing to do with his father until it becomes clear the old man's life is in danger. And worst of all the evidence suggests it's from someone in the family . . .

Hot Money

As an amateur jockey, Roland Britten was lucky, and as an accountant he was rigorous. He knew he was on the hate list of several fraudsters, but never thought pen-pushers got kidnapped. And not from a racecourse right after beating the odds to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup. 
 
Held prisoner, Britten has no idea who his kidnappers are nor why they have abducted him. Only when resourceful school headmistress Hilary Pinlock gives him the opportunity to escape is he able to seriously think about what has happened and turn his logical mind to track down his abductors . . .

Risk

David Cleveland is sitting in a dinghy in a Norwegian fjord. He's helping the Norwegians to find out why a visiting English rider has done a runner with the racehorse takings. 
 
It should be straightforward, but when the dinghy is hit by a speedboat and Cleveland almost drowns, he realises there's more to this case than some missing money - especially when a dead body turns up. 
 
The stakes are suddenly dangerously high. A sensible man would leave it to the police and go back home to England. Except, it turns out, that England isn't safe either . . .

Slay Ride

Ex-steeplechaser Randall Drew is reluctantly off to pre-Olympic games Moscow, as a favour to royalty. One of the blue bloods is destined to compete in the games and there are concerns - both of safety and of scandal - that only Drew, with his racing connections, can sort out. 
 
On arriving - speaking no Russian and wishing he were back home - Drew is supposed to identify and contact one Alyosha to clear up the scandal. Instead, he finds himself tailed by the KGB and embroiled in foiling a terrorist plot - or die trying.

Trial Run

Daniel Roke owns a stud farm in Australia. He's young, smart, hard-working and desperate for some excitement - which makes him the ideal candidate for the visiting Earl of October. 
 The Earl is concerned about a horse-doping scandal that is destroying English racing. He wants to pay Daniel to come back with him, pose as a highly corruptible stable lad and discover who is behind it. 
 Unfortunately, when Daniel agrees he doesn't realise how close he'll have to get to find the truth. Nor how determined the criminals will be to prevent him living long enough to tell anyone...

For Kicks

Just after learning that his stepfather is gravely ill, artist Al Kinloch, returning to his remote home in the Scottish Highlands, is attacked by four men. They ask one question - 'where is it?' - then leave him for dead. 
 Baffled and hurt, Al visits his stepfather and learns millions of pounds are missing and a valuable racehorse is under threat. Roughed up already, Al decides he has nothing to lose getting to the bottom of this. 
 Unfortunately, the thugs who beat him up and the person behind them will make sure that Al doesn't survive their next encounter...

To The Hilt

Amateur jockey Lord Henry Grey decides on a whim to join the bloodstock market, transporting racehorses around the world. And when he meets the glamorous Gabriella in Italy, he is sure he's hit the good life. 
 
That is, until a horse unexpectedly dies in transit and a colleague vanishes. 
 
Then Grey discovers that both his predecessors also went missing in curious cirmcumstances - and begins to doubt the wisdom of his career change. 
 
Either he turns detective or his own disappearance could be next . . .

Flying Finish

Diplomat Peter Darwin is returning to his childhood home: Gloucestershire. But instead of a pleasant trip down memory lane, Peter finds himself coming to the aid of a veterinary surgeon whose operating theatre is rapidly turning into an abattoir. 
 
A string of valuable race horses have suffered unexplained deaths and the police are baffled. When Darwin looks into the mystery he finds that his connections - and his memories - help him uncover criminal activities that stretch back all the way to his childhood. 
 
But the more Darwin uncovers, the closer he gets to a killer who just can't stop.

Comeback

Felix Francis

"Julian Trent, you have been found guilty by this court of perpetrating a violent and unprovoked attack on an innocent family including a charge of attempted murder. You have shown little or no remorse for your actions and I consider you a danger to society." 
 
When defence barrister Geoffrey Mason hears the judge's verdict, he quietly hopes that a long and arduous custodial sentence will be handed down to his arrogant young client. That Julian Trent only receives eight years seems all too lenient. Little does Mason expect that he'll be looking Trent in the eyes again much sooner than he'd ever imagined. 
 
Setting aside his barrister's wig, Mason heads to Sandown to don his racing silks. An amateur jockey, his true passion is to be found in the saddle on a Thoroughbred, pounding the turf in the heat of a steeplechase. But when a fellow rider is brutally murdered - a pitchfork driven through his chest - Mason's racing life soon becomes all too close to his working life. The prime suspect is one of their brethren, champion jockey Steve Mitchell; the evidence is overwhelming. 
 
Mason is reluctant to heed Mitchell's pleas for legal advice - but soon he finds himself at the centre of a sinister web of threat and intimidation. Mason is left fighting a battle of right and wrong, and more immediately, a battle of life and death... his own.

Silks

Charles Todd, a successful artist who paints horses, arrives at his cousin Donald's house and stumbles on a grisly scene: police cars everywhere, his cousin arrested for murder and Donald's wife brutally slain. 
 Believing - unlike the police - Donald's story of a burglary gone wrong, Charles follows clues which lead him from England to Australia and a diabolical scheme involving fraud and murder. 
 But soon Charles realises that someone is on his trail. Someone who wants to make sure that Charles won't live long enough to save Donald.

In the Frame

When Mark Shillingford commentates on a race in which his twin sister Clare, a successful jockey, comes in third, he can't help but be suspicious. He knows she should have won. Did she lose on purpose? Was the race fixed? Why would she do something so out of character? 
 
That night, Mark confronts Clare with his suspicions, but she storms off after an explosive argument. It's the last time Mark sees her alive. Hours later, Clare jumps to her death from the balcony of a London hotel . . . or so it seems. 
 
Devastated by her death, and overcome with guilt, Mark goes in search of answers. What led Clare to take her own life? 
 
Or was it not suicide at all . . .?

Bloodline

The abridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Dick Francis's thriller, Under Orders, read by Martin Jarvis. 
 
"Sadly, death at the races is not uncommon. However, three in one afternoon was sufficiently unusual to raise more than an eyebrow." 
 
It's the third death that really troubles former champion jump-jockey Sid Halley. He knows the perils of racing all too well - but in his day, jockeys didn't usually reach the finishing line with three .38 rounds in the chest. But this is precisely how he finds Huw Walker - the new winner of the Triumph Hurdle and Halley's friend. Now former friend. 
 
Walker was riding one of Lord Enstone's horses in the Hurdle and it was the inimitable owner who invited Halley in the first place. His brief: to make discrete enquiries into alleged race fixing. Are results being rigged? Are bookies taking a cut? And if so, are trainers and jockeys playing a dangerous game with stakes far higher than they realise ... 
 
Halley's quest for answers draws him ever deeper into the darker side of the race game, in a life-or-death power-play that will push him to his very limits - both professionally and personally. 
 
"A New Dick Francis is always a cause for celebration" - Mail on Sunday.

Under Orders

Steeplechase jockey Kit Fielding has just ridden another winner for his patron - the Princess - when his distraught twin sister Holly comes to him with terrible news. A newspaper is printing stories which will put her husband, Bobby Allardeck, and his stables out of business. 
 
Putting aside the age-old Fielding-Allardeck feud, Kit decides to try to find out who is behind these cruel stories. 
 
This, he quickly discovers, upsets many ruthless and powerful people who'll do anything to protect themselves. 
 
But this is family and Kit will risk everything - including his neck - to find the truth.

Break In

Physics teacher (and crack shot) Jonathan Derry is given some unusual tapes to look after by a friend. They hold a computer programme which functions as a bookie-breaking betting system. 
 When Jonathan's friend is killed in a suspicious explosion and two thugs turn up at his house waving guns and demanding the tapes, Jonathan realises that he's been handed a whole lot more trouble. 
 Jonathan knows he won't be left alone unless he gives them what they want. However, he decides to play his own game. After all, he's a crack shot. He can look after himself - can't he?

Twice Shy

Cheltenham Races, New Year's Eve. Gerard Logan witnesses the death of his friend, jockey Martin Stukely, after a fall from his horse. In the aftermath, Gerard is left to pick up the pieces - including a mysterious unmarked videotape that Martin secretly left him. 
 
But before Gerard gets to watch it, the videotape is stolen. 
 
And soon further crimes start to occur. What was on the missing videotape? And why are the attacks continuing? 
 
Gerard needs to keep one step ahead of his enemies and uncover the truth - before his livelihood and everything he loves is shattered for good.

Shattered

When Sir Richard Stewart, the racing authority chairman, demands Sid Halley investigates suspicious race results, he receives a firm no. Halley retired years ago, swearing he'd never go back. 
 
But then Sir Richard is found dead and Halley receives a threatening call from a man insisting he investigates the alleged race-fixing. Halley wants to steer clear, but when his young daughter goes missing he realizes he may pay the ultimate price. 
 
With his family in danger, how can Sid refuse? Extreme situations demand extreme solutions and Sid will do anything to get his life back, or die trying.

Refusal

Seventeen-year-old Benedict Juliard's ambitions of becoming a steeplechase jockey are dashed when he's falsely accused of taking drugs. For his estranged father, however, this is an opportunity. 
 A wealthy businessman running for a parliamentary by-election in Dorset, Juliard Senior needs all the help he can get - especially when the campaign moves from mudslinging to something more deadly. 
 Now young Benedict has to grow up fast, not only to find out who is trying to harm his father's chances of election but also to keep him alive long enough to stay in the race...

10-Lb Penalty

Valentine, a blind, confused and dying old man, seeking his peace with God, makes his last confession to a visiting friend, Thoms Lyon, mistaking him for a priest. Thomas, in Newmarket to research for a new film, is placed in a moral dilemma. Wild horses wouldn't drag from a priest the secrets of the confessional - but then Thomas is not a priest. Should he tell what he knows from the confession, or not? He discovers that the solution to his quandary could mean the difference between life and death. WILD HORSES is a masterly mix of convincing characters, fine writing and an inscrutable and ingenious plot.

Wild Horses

Royal Ascot's first day, and bookmaker Ned Talbot watches helplessly as a string of favourites come in. With the punters totting up their winnings, he counts his losses. Then an old man steps forward with a very different claim. The father Ned never knew - long ago believed killed in a car crash - is standing before him. 
 
Barely an hour later, Ned's newly-found father is dying in Ascot's car park. Stabbed by an unknown assailant, he warns Ned 'be very careful'. But of whom? Of what? 
 
Ned races to discover the truth behind his father's disappearance and sudden reappearance. It's not just money on the line now. It's lives.

Even Money

A beautiful Italian girl driving home in an open top sports car, a little boy playing on a south Coast beach and the Senior Steward of the Jockey Club on his way to a press reception in Baltimore. One after the other they suffer the same nightmare ordeal - kidnapping. But there is one thing connecting these particular cases. For the Italian girl is a jockey and the little boy an only son of a race horse owner. A picture of the person behind this interanational chain of crime starts to emerge - a lover of Verdi, a man with a cool and calculating brain and an aficionado of the racing world. Andrew Doublas, brought in to advise and help the vicitms and their families, proceeds with all his customary diplomacy and courage. Only to find himeself playing a dangerous part: the role usually reserved for his clients...

The Danger

Tor Kelsey, an undercover agent for the Jockey Club's security service is involved in the attempt to rid racing of one of its most notorious villains, Julius Apollo Filmer. The court however, does not go along with their beliefs, but Tor knows that to let Julius even suspect the service are still on his tail would mean certain death for a number of witnesses. Meanwhile, several racehorse owners have planned a luxurious train trip across Canada, with race meetings fixed for every major city. Julius Apollo Filmer and Tor are on the passenger list. The beautiful journey through the Rockies gets uglier by the minute and Tor finds himself pushed to dangerous limits to defeat Filmer's wily scheming.

The Edge

Derek Franklin, injured steeplechase jockey, is at end of his career when he is thrust into chaos following the accidental death of his brother Greville who was an importer of semi-precious stones.

Straight

Life as a writer is colder, hungrier work than John Kendall bargained for. Not even the survival guides he's written can help him. So when notorious racehorse trainer Tremayne Vickers approaches Kendall to write his biography, it's an offer he can't turn down. 
Kendall becomes immersed in his host's lifestyle: riding racehorses and getting to know the family. But then a local stable girl is found dead - and the party's over. 
A killer is lurking in the shadows. And Kendall's survival tips are about to become more useful - and more deadly - than he could ever have imagined.

Longshot

Nick Foxton once won the Grand National, but a terrible accident cut his racing career short. Years later, he is returning to Aintree - as a spectator - when he once more finds himself the centre of attention. 
 
Minutes before the big race, Nick's colleague, financial adviser Herb Kovak, is shot dead and the gunman vanishes into the crowd. The police want answers but Nick can't explain why anyone would want Herb dead. 
 
Yet when he finds a threatening message crumpled in Herb's coat, Nick begins questioning all he knows about his friend. And on learning that he is the benefactor of Herb's will, Nick is certain that something is not right. 
 
A fact confirmed when Nick discovers he's next in the killer's firing line.

Gamble

Free choice? There's no such thing, according to Lee Morris. Choice is pre-ordained by your personality. Stratton Park racecourse faces ruin in the hands of a squabbling family. Lee is slowly sucked into the turmoil, unwillingly on the surface but half-understanding the deep compulsions that influence his decisions. One road leads to safety, another to death. How do you know which is which? Lee's choices and their consequences bring deadly results, but the road out of the quicksand is there, if he can find it. Horses and racing are familiar ingredients, but this time there are also children, houses, roots and decisions. Danger? Naturally. Stratton Park racecourse is worth multi-millions, and all of the Stratton family are playing to win.

Decider

Champion jockey Sid Halley retired from racing when his hand was smashed in a fall. Now he works as a private detective - which is proving to be no less dangerous to life and limb. 
 
 Recuperating from a bullet wound, Sid is asked by his father-in-law to look into some potentially shady activity involving Seabury racecourse and a ruthless property dealer. 
 
But the closer Sid gets to those determined to get their hands on Seabury, the more he finds himself in harm's way. The odds are against him - but that's exactly when Sid is at his best ....

Odds Against

Perry Stuart, TV meteorologist, chiefly predicts periods of English drizzle, with bursts of heavier rain and sunshine to follow. His life calm and ordered, his face familiar to every British household, Stuart&rsquo;s profound weather knowledge and accuracy have given him high status among forecasters, but no physical baptism by storm. 
 
Not, that is, until a fellow forecaster offers him a Caribbean hurricane-chasing ride in a small aeroplane as a holiday diversion. By frightening accident, Stuart learns more secrets from the flight than wind speeds &ndash; and back home in England he faces threats and danger as deadly as anything that nature can evolve. 
 
&lsquo;Second Wind&rsquo; is a twisting spiralling hurricane of a thriller that will defy anyone to treat the weather as an everyday topic of conversation.

Second Wind

&lsquo;I wondered if I was dying. I wasn&rsquo;t afraid to die but, such was the pain in my gut, I wished it would happen soon.&rsquo; 
 
The night before the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket sees the great and the good of the horse-racing community gathered for a prestigious black-tie Gala dinner. It is a fitting testament to the glamour of the occasion that top chef Max Moreton is cooking the evening&rsquo;s meal. 
 
Max is something of a celebrity in Newmarket circles. He is founder of the racing town&rsquo;s favourite Michelin-starred restaurant, the Hay Net. However, spending the night retching in the throes of agony is the last thing Max expects. But much worse is to come...his food is suspected of putting twenty-four of the dinner guests in hospital. Max&rsquo;s pride and professionalism tells him all is not as it seems. 
 
Within hours, Max&rsquo;s restaurant is forcibly closed, his reputation teeters on the brink of ruin, and a court case looms. But the day is far from over, and soon Max Moreton finds himself desperately fighting for more than just his livelihood... 
 
Dead Heat is the latest searing, intrigue-filled blockbuster from the Grand Master of thriller writing.

Dead Heat

Gene Hawkins is a fixer for his boss Mr Keeble: if Keeble has a problem, Gene fixes it. It's that simple. Sometimes it requires his Luger - mostly it doesn't. 
 Now Keeble has summoned Gene back from a long-overdue holiday. It seems that a very expensive stallion has been taken in Kentucky. It's the third high-value kidnapping in a few years. 
 Keeble wants his horse back. Gene is asked to go out there and find it. But what Gene doesn't know is that he's about to get involved with blackmailers and murderers. Looks like that Lugar will see some use...

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