Barry Unsworth Libri

A Turkish spy for twenty years, Basil Pascali is puzzled by the arrival of a mysterious Englishman posing as an archaeologist.

A nautical tour-de-force featuring tales by some of the outstanding writers of the genre, including:Jonathan SwiftCharles DickensDaniel DefoeRobert Louis StevensonEdage Allan PoeHerman MelvilleFrancois RabelaisJules VerneDante AlighieriGiovanni BoccaccioChristopher ColumbusSir Walter Raleigh

The novel covers the period between 1752-1765 it contains the entangled conflicting fortunes of two cousins.

When he receives a tip about some mines for sale in East Durham, Kemp sees the business opportunity he has been waiting for, and he too makes his way north, to the very same village that Sullivan is heading for...

The plot revolves around Kennedy, whose manipulative scheme leads to both expected and unforeseen outcomes. Meanwhile, Mitsos grapples with a haunting family tragedy and a deep-seated desire for vengeance over his parents' deaths. Barry Unsworth skillfully depicts complex characters, exploring themes of ambition and revenge against the backdrop of Western civilization's darker aspects.

A brilliant retelling of an ancient myth, The Songs of the Kings offers up a different narrative of the Trojan War, one devoid of honor, wherein the mission to rescue Helen is a pretext for plundering Troy of its treasures. As the ships of the Greek fleet find themselves stalled in the straits at Aulis, waiting vainly for the gods to deliver more favorable winds, Odysseus cynically advances a call for the sacrifice of Agamemnon’s daughter, Calchas the diviner interprets events for the reader, and a Homer-like figure called the Singer is persuaded to proclaim a tale of a just war to hide the corrupt motivations of those in power. But couched within the Singer’s spin is a message at once timely and timeless: “There is always another story. But it is the stories told by the strong, the songs of kings, that are believed in the end.”

"Losing Nelson" is a novel of obsession, the story of Charles Cleasby, a man unable to see himself separately from the hero--Lord Horatio Nelson--he mistakenly idolizes. While Cleasby is convinced Nelson is the greatest hero, Cleasby comes to a horrifying incident of brutality in Nelson's military career that simply stumps all attempts at glorification. A "New Your Times" Notable Book. A "Publishers Weekly" Best Book of 1999.

Passionate, erotic and haunting, this is a brilliant novel by one of Britain's most important novelists. Simon Rakes - a conservation expert - is restoring the Stone Virgin, a statue that cost the life of its creator in the 14th century. The statue is of great beauty but its past is soaked with a history of violence, sexual passion and human greed. As Simon's work continues and he meets Chiara, the enigmatic and beautiful wife of another sculptor, the past spills uncontrollably into the present.

It is the late fourteenth century, a dangerous time beset by war and plague. Nicholas Barber, a young and wayward cleric, stumbles across a group of travelling players and compounds his sins by joining them. Yet the town where they perform reveals another drama: a young woman is to be hanged for the murder of a twelve-year-old boy. What better way to increase their takings than to make a new play, to enact the murder of Thomas Wells? But as the actors rehearse, they discover that the truth about the boy's death has yet to be revealed...

The story follows Donald Cuthbertson, a once-focused educator who finds himself distracted as Degree Day and his wife Lavinia's extravagant birthday party approach. As Lavinia resists the onset of middle age, her costume party becomes a backdrop for a mix of dark humor, romantic entanglements, and political intrigue, leading to unexpected resolutions for the characters involved.