New Releases by William Boyd

"William Boyd once again brings to the spy novel his particular storytelling genius. The result is brilliant fun."--Mick Herron "One of my favorite authors--he never disappoints."--Kate Atkinson From the internationally bestselling author, the third literary thriller starring beloved reluctant spy Gabriel Dax draws readers deep into a shadow-drenched world where loyalty blurs, treachery abounds, and any misstep could be fatal It is 1964, and Cold War Moscow is smoldering with secrets. Travel writer-turned-spy Gabriel Dax has been tasked with delivering a mysterious Blanco drawing to Kit Caldwell, the triple-agent and celebrated "defector" now leading the well-heeled life of a Hero of the Soviet Union. But Caldwell is convinced that the KGB suspects him of treachery. He wants Gabriel to do the impossible and smuggle him over the Russian border to Finland. When Gabriel is ordered to help by his enigmatic handler Faith Green, he is pulled into a web of shifting loyalties and dangerous escape plans. As tensions rise and trust fractures, he is forced to confront the fine line between devotion and deception . . .

From the internationally bestselling author beloved by readers everywhere, William Boyd offers his most exhilarating novel yet, following a reluctant spy drawn into the shadows of espionage and obsession Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a fire that took his mother’s life. Every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing the changing landscapes of Europe in the grip of the Cold War. When he is offered the chance to interview Patrice Lumumba, newly elected president of the People’s Republic of the Congo, he finds himself drawn into a web of duplicities and betrayals. Falling under the spell of Faith Green, an enigmatic and ruthlessly efficient MI6 handler, he becomes “her spy,” unable to resist her demands. But amid the peril, paranoia, and passion consuming Gabriel’s new covert life, there will also be revelations closer to home that may change his own story, and the fates of those around him. Traveling from the vibrant streets of sixties London to the sun-soaked cobbles of Cadiz and the frosty squares of Warsaw, Gabriel’s Moon is a remarkable accomplishment from one of our greatest storytellers.

From the award-winning, internationally best-selling author, a beguiling romp of a novel, at once intimate and panoramic, about the adventures and misadventures of a nineteenth-century everyman "Picaresque, big-hearted and moving, this is Boyd at the top of his game." —The Guardian One man, many lives . . . Cashel Greville Ross experiences more of everything than most, from the rapturous to the devastating, from surprising good luck to unexpected loss. Born in 1799, Cashel seeks his fortune across the turbulence of multiple continents, from County Cork to rural Massachusetts, from Waterloo to Zanzibar, embedded with the East Indian Army in Sri Lanka, sunning himself alongside the Romantic poets in Pisa. He travels the world as a soldier, a farmer, a felon, a writer, even a father. And he experiences all the vicissitudes of existence, including a once-in-a-lifetime love that will haunt the rest of his days. In the end, his great accomplishment is to discover who he truly is—which is the romance of life itself, and the beating heart of The Romantic.

Short story. Time Travel. just for fun and not a long read. No grammar police.

It’s summer 1968, and the world is reeling from war and assassinations, protests and riots. In a sunny British seaside town, a producer, a novelist, and an actress are enduring their own more private crises on the set of a disaster-plagued movie. All are leading secret lives—one is in the closet; another is an alcoholic; and the third is sleeping with her costar—and as the shoot zigs and zags, these layers of secrets become increasingly more untenable. Pressures build inexorably—and that’s before the FBI and CIA get involved. Someone is going to crack—or maybe they all will. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Trio is an enthralling novel that asks the vital questions: What makes life worth living? And what do you do if you find it isn’t?

When he is hired as the personal piano tuner for a brilliant pianist, Brodie Moncur suddenly finds himself swept up into a life of luxury that he could never have imagined. But while accompanying his new employer on tours from Paris to St. Petersburg, Brodie falls madly in love with the Russian soprano Lika Blum: beautiful, worldly, seductive—and forbidden. Though seemingly doomed from the start, Brodie’s passion for Lika only grows as their lives become increasingly more intertwined, more secretive, and, finally, more dangerous. A tale of dizzying passion and brutal revenge; of artistic endeavor and the illusions it can create; of the possibilities that life offers and the cruel speed with which they can be snatched away, Love Is Blind is a dazzling work of historical fiction that unfolds across fin de siècle Europe.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

"Parallax," the Founder of the Zetetic Philosophy, is dead; and it now becomes the duty of those, especially, who knew him personally and who labored with him in the cause of Truth against Error, to begin, anew, the work which is left in their hands. Dr. Samuel B. Rowbotham finished his earthly labours, in England, the country of his birth, December 23, 1884, at the age of 89. He was, certainly, one of the most gifted of men: and though his labours as a public lecturer were confined within the limits of the British Islands his published work is known all over the world and is destined to live and be republished when books on the now popular system of philosophy will be considered in no other light than as bundles of waste paper. For several years did "Parallax" spread a knowledge of the facts which form the basis of his system without the slightest recognition from the newspaper press until, in January, 1849, the people were informed by the "Wilts Independent" that lectures had been delivered by "a gentleman adopting the name of ''Parallax,'' to prove modern astronomy unreasonable and contradictory," that "great skill" was shown by the lecturer, and that he proved himself to be "thoroughly acquainted with the subject in all its bearings." Such was the beginning--the end will not be so easily described. The Truth will always find advocates--men who care not a snap of their fingers for the mere opinion of the world, whatever form it may take, whilst they know that they are the masters of the situation and that Reason is King! In 1867, "Parallax" was described as "a paragon of courtesy, good temper, and masterly skill in debate." The author of the following hastily-gotten-up pages is proud of having spent many a pleasant hour in the company of Samuel Birley Rowbotham.A complete sketch of the "Zetetic Philosophy" is impossible in a small pamphlet; and many things necessarily remain unsaid which, perhaps, should have been touched upon, but which would to some extent have interfered with the plan laid down--the bringing together, in a concise form, "One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is not a Globe." Much may be gathered, indirectly, from the arguments in these pages, as to the real nature of the Earth on which we live and of the heavenly bodies which were created FOR US. The reader is requested to be patient in this matter and not expect a whole flood of light to burst in upon him at once, through the dense clouds of opposition and prejudice which hang all around. Old ideas have to be gotten rid of, by some people, before they can entertain the new; and this will especially be the case in the matter of the Sun, about which we are taught, by Mr. Proctor, as follows: "The globe of the Sun is so much larger than that of the Earth that no less than 1,250,000 globes as large as the Earth would be wanted to make up together a globe as large as the Sun." Whereas, we know that, as it is demonstrated that the Sun moves round over the Earth, its size is proportionately less. We can then easily understand that Day and Night, and the Seasons are brought about by his daily circuits round in a course concentric with the North, diminishing in their extent to the end of June, and increasing until the end of December, the equatorial region being the area covered by the Sun''s mean motion. If, then, these pages serve but to arouse the spirit of enquiry, the author will be satisfied. The right hand of fellowship in this good work is extended, in turn, to Mr. J. Lindgren, 90 South First Street, Brooklyn, E. D., N. Y., Mr. M. C. Flanders, lecturer, Kendall, Orleans County, N. Y., and to Mr. John Hampden, editor of "Parallax" (a new journal), Cosmos House, Balham, Surrey, England.

From the internationally bestselling author of Any Human Heart, Restless, and Waiting for Sunrise, a compelling story of one woman’s extraordinary life, and a heart-wrenching tale of love and war in the twentieth century. Amory Clay’s first memory is of her father standing on his head. But his absences, both actual and emotional, are what she chiefly remembers. It is her photographer uncle, Greville, who supplies the emotional bond she needs, and who, when he gives her a camera and some photography lessons, unleashes a passion that will irrevocably shape her future. She begins an apprenticeship with Greville in London, photographing socialites for the magazine Beau Monde. But Amory is hungry for more, and her search for life, love and artistic expression takes her to the demi-monde of Berlin in the late ’20s, to New York in the ’30s, to the blackshirt riots in London and to France in the Second World War, where she becomes one of the first female war photographers. Her desire for experience leads Amory to further wars and to lovers, husbands and children as she continues to pursue her dreams and battle her demons. In this enthralling story of a life fully lived, William Boyd has created a sweeping panorama of some of the most defining moments of modern history, told through the camera lens of one unforgettable woman, Amory Clay.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This new collection of stories is William Boyd''s second, appearing some fourteen years after his first, On the Yankee Station. Once again the stories range widely across the time and space of the twentieth century. ''The Destiny of Nathalie "X" ''is a modern fable about Hollywood; ''Cork'' tells of a bizarre love affair between an Englishwoman and a Portuguese poet in 19305 Lisbon; Transfigured Night'' is set in Vienna during the First World War and is concerned with the problematic relationship between a wealthy patron (who bears a curious resemblance to Ludwig Wittgenstein) and his indifferent benefactor. Fantasy and farce, rueful longing and the bitter acknowledgement of life''s relentless ironies all feature in these nine stories by one of our most celebrated and imaginative writers.

It is 1939. Eva Delectorskaya is a beautiful 28-year-old Russian émigrée living in Paris. As war breaks out she is recruited for the British Secret Service by Lucas Romer, a mysterious Englishman, and under his tutelage she learns to become the perfect spy, to mask her emotions and trust no one, including those she loves most. Since the war, Eva has carefully rebuilt her life as a typically English wife and mother. But once a spy, always a spy. Now she must complete one final assignment, and this time Eva can''t do it alone: she needs her daughter''s help.

One For The Trouble is the first in a series of newly-commissioned writing from Book Slam authors. Writers include leading names such as William Boyd, Irvine Welsh, Patrick Ness, Hari Kunzru and Jon Ronson; to rising stars like Helen Oyeyemi, Joe Dunthorne and Tim Key; plus exciting newcomers like Sophie Woolley, Kate Tempest and Luke Wright. Book Slam has a long-established reputation as London''s best book event, bringing together storytellers in every form, including novelists, journalists, poets, comedians and songwriters. The decision to extend the brand into publishing is a natural one and reflects the changing nature of publishing and bookselling. For the last eight years, Book Slam has worked to promote literature in a way that bookshops cannot do, and break down the imagined boundaries between ''literary'' and ''popular'' culture. The nature of publishing and bookselling has evolved, and with numerous new platforms, outlets and production tools, access to both the publication and consumption of the written word has widened like never before. One For The Trouble grants Book Slam the opportunity to showcase a diversity of the best contemporary literature in a way that ensures writers are given fair reward for their work and that is both financially and technologically accessible to all. Writers were asked to take inspiration from a favourite song to create new pieces exclusive to Book Slam. Simon Armitage''s poem, for example, reflects hauntingly on the suicide of Joy Division''s Ian Curtis, while award-winning YA author, Patrick Ness, stretches his skills with a darkly comic take on Let Me Entertain You. One For The Trouble will be published as a beautifully realized, limited edition hardback, signed by all the short story writers - highly prized and collectible. It will also be simultaneously released as an eBook, multi-platform App and audio download, allowing stories and poems to be purchased individually or as part of the whole. This is a genuinely innovative take on the new possibilities of publishing, distribution and reward - one of a kind and the first in an annual series!

Sharply observed and brilliantly plotted, Stars and Bars is an uproarious portrait of culture clash deep in the heart of the American South, by one of contemporary literature’s most imaginative novelists. A recent transfer to Manhattan has inspired art assessor Henderson Dores to shed his British reserve and aspire to the impulsive and breezy nature of Americans. But when Loomis Gage, an eccentric millionaire, invites him to appraise his small collection of Impressionist paintings, Dores''s plans quite literally go south. Stranded at a remote mansion in the Georgia countryside, Dores is received by the bizarre Gage family with Anglophobic slurs, nausea-inducing food, ludicrous death threats, and a menacing face off with competing art dealers. By the time he manages to sneak back to New York City–sporting only a cardboard box–Henderson Dores realizes he is fast on the way to becoming a naturalized citizen.

Presents a fictional biography of a young, Abstract Expressionist artist living in the New York City of the 1950s who, after a trip to Europe to meet the masters of twentieth-century art, despairs of his talent and decides to end his life.

In this extraordinary novel, William Boyd presents the autobiography of John James Todd, whose uncanny and exhilarating life as one of the most unappreciated geniuses of the twentieth century is equal parts Laurence Stern, Charles Dickens, Robertson Davies, and Saul Bellow, and a hundred percent William Boyd. From his birth in 1899, Todd was doomed. Emerging from his angst-filled childhood, he rushes into the throes of the twentieth century on the Western Front during the Great War, and quickly changes his role on the battlefield from cannon fodder to cameraman. When he becomes a prisoner of war, he discovers Rousseau''s Confessions, and dedicates his life to bringing the memoir to the silver screen. Plagued by bad luck and blind ambition, Todd becomes a celebrated London upstart, a Weimar luminary, and finally a disgruntled director of cowboy movies and the eleventh member of the Hollywood Ten. Ambitious and entertaining, Boyd has invented a most irresistible hero.

"Rich in character and incident, An Ice-Cream War fulfills the ambition of the historical novel at its best." --The New York Times Book Review Booker Prize Finalist "Boyd has more than fulfilled the bright promise of [his] first novel. . . . He is capable not only of some very funny satire but also of seriousness and compassion." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times 1914. In a hotel room in German East Africa, American farmer Walter Smith dreams of Theodore Roosevelt. As he sleeps, a railway passenger swats at flies, regretting her decision to return to the Dark Continent--and to her husband. On a faraway English riverbank, a jealous Felix Cobb watches his brother swim, and curses his sister-in-law-to-be. And in the background of the world''s daily chatter: rumors of an Anglo-German conflict, the likes of which no one has ever seen. In An Ice-Cream War, William Boyd brilliantly evokes the private dramas of a generation upswept by the winds of war. After his German neighbor burns his crops--with an apology and a smile--Walter Smith takes up arms on behalf of Great Britain. And when Felix''s brother marches off to defend British East Africa, he pursues, against his better judgment, a forbidden love affair. As the sons of the world match wits and weapons on a continent thousands of miles from home, desperation makes bedfellows of enemies and traitors of friends and family. By turns comic and quietly wise, An Ice-Cream War deftly renders lives capsized by violence, chance, and the irrepressible human capacity for love. "Funny, assured, and cleanly, expansively told, a seriocomic romp. Boyd gives us studies of people caught in the side pockets of calamity and dramatizes their plights with humor, detail and grit." --Harper''s "Boyd has crafted a quiet, seamless prose in which story and characters flow effortlessly out of a fertile imagination. . . . The reader emerges deeply moved." --Newsday

"A perfect-pitch story of love and redemption" (The New York Times), Boyd''s atmospheric new novel confirms his reputation as heir to the grand narrative traditions of Joseph Conrad and Somerset Maugham. In 1936 Los angeles, as her long-estranged father tells architect Kay Fischer the story behind her secret parentage, he plunges readers into a tale of grisly murders and an illicit passion that still obsseses him 30 years later.

“William Boyd seems singularly blessed with both an innate love of storytelling and the talent to render those stories in swift, confident prose.” —The New York Times From William Boyd, award-winning author of Brazzaville Beach and Restless, comes a stunning literary mystery about crime and punishment: Ordinary Thunderstorms. One of the most accomplished writers of our time, Boyd has written a profound and gripping novel about the fragility of social identity, the corruption at the heart of big business, and the secrets that lie hidden in the filthy underbelly of every city.

A primatologist flees her broken marriage for a job in war-torn Africa in the renowned author''s "brilliant . . . stunningly magical" novel ( Washington Post Book World). William Boyd''s classic Brazzaville Beach has been called a "bold seamless blend of philosophy and suspense . . . [that] nevertheless remains accessible to general readers on a level of pure entertainment." ( Boston Globe). When her marriage to a brilliant but unstable mathematician finally shatters, Hope Clearwater leaves England to join a team of primate researchers in a remote African country. Though she is there to study chimps, the greater challenge is her attempt to grapple with her own recent past—as well as her fellow scientists. And when she discovers evidence of supposedly peaceful chimps engaging in extreme violence, Hope finds herself drawn into a war of desperate egos and ruthless ambitions.

Funny, moving and sharply observed, these stories are confirmation of Boyd''s status as one of English fiction''s finest writers. Here are twenty-four gripping tales told in bold, distinct voices from Brazil to Africa and from Nice to Hollywood. This eclectic collection by the acclaimed author of Restless and Brazzaville Beach is a must-read for any lover of the short story.

William Boyd’s masterful new novel tells, in a series of intimate journals, the story of Logan Mountstuart—writer, lover, art dealer, spy—as he makes his often precarious way through the twentieth century.

This is William Boyd''s third volume of short stories following his acclaimed collections On the Yankee Station (1981) and The Destiny of Nathalie X (1995). Described as the finest storyteller of his generation, Boyd shows his mastery of the form as these stories range widely through time and space. In a brilliant array of styles and narratives we move from 1930s Germany to Los Angeles in the Second World War, from contemporary Oxford to 19th century Russia. Whether in London or Amsterdam. Eastbourne or a Normandy village these stories explore and expose the fraught, funny, absurd, poignant and lovelorn lives of their many and varied characters.

The journals of Logan Mountstuart chronicle his eighty-five years of life, from his boyhood in Uruguay to his education at Oxford, his wartime exploits, his career as an art dealer, and his retirement in France.

This new collection of eleven stories by the author of The Blue Afternoon takes readers back in time from a contemporary Hollywood film shoot to World War I in Vienna, introducing an unforgettable cast of characters. Artful, witty, moving, The Destiny of Nathalie X is a confirmation of Boyd''s standing as a master storyteller. 208 pp. Author tour. 15,000 print.

The demand for this standard history of education continues throughout the world and gives the opportunity for a new revised edition. For the sixth time the book has been brought up to date by Professor Edmund King, recognised in Europe, America and elsewhere overseas as a leading authority on the history of education. Again he retains the many virtues of Dr. William Boyd''s original text, while making necessary modifications in light of the most recent research and of changing attitudes. The new edition takes into account some of the major events in education and the perspectives that have changed since the 11th edition was published in 1975, including the transformation of many educational systems'' expectations and massive disillusionment with the achievements of those systems during the juvenile phase of education. The book examines the huge growth of post-school education and training, the rise of new variants of "Western Education", and changes effected by such events as the collapse of the U.S.S.R.

Contains two plays for television about the vicissitudes of public schools, together with a 20,000 word introduction by the author, who has also written Brazzaville Beach, A Good Man in Africa, An Ice-Cream War, Stars and Bars, The New Confessions and On the Yankee Station.