Bøger af Martin Booth

Step away from the obvious - the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the SS Great Britain, or the wonderful We The Curious where science and art collide - and discover unexpected treasures such as secret gardens, hidden memorials to the past and unusual modes of transport. Journey through the old haunts of world famous pirates; past the Oscar-winning animation studio home to Morph and Wallace & Gromit; along shopping streets that sell everything from handcrafted vioin bows to locally-made gin. If you know where to look, Bristol will unravel its secrets in front of your eyes.

Santa, Aliens and War is an eclectic collection of 29 short stories from the pen of a previously unpublished author. Inside you will meet Jason, who walks on the surface of the sun, Vreep and Denar trying to do a boring job in an ancient spaceship, or experience horror at the bottom of the sea. Carefully researched, you can fly in a damaged Lancaster bomber trying to make its way home, or sit in an underground bunker awaiting nuclear Armageddon, or join a Tommy about to go over the top into No Man's Land in the First World War. Other questions will be answered, such as what really did happen when the snake tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden? And why you really should avoid pumpkins at Halloween. Things aren't all serious, though: meet Aggie whose morning isn't begun without a freshly make cup of tea, or Cyrus the sheep, worried about his appearance. Also inside are stories about candy floss (cotton candy to our US readers) mobile phones, one of the seven dwarves in therapy... There are even a couple of poems and a scientific piece on autumn! Some of the stories will make you laugh, some cry and some will make you think. It is designed to be dipped into when you have a few minutes to spare, or to binge read and finish in one glorious session. Enjoy!

To some it's the classic "gateway drug," to others it is a harmless way to relax, or provide relief from pain. Some fear it is dangerous and addictive, while others feel it should be decriminalized. Whatever the viewpoint, cannabis incites debate at every level, and the effect it has on every corner of the globe is undeniable.In this comprehensive study, Martin Booth crafts a tale of medical advance and religious enlightenment; of political subterfuge and law enforcement; of cunning smugglers, street pushers, gang warfare, writers, artists, and musicians. And above all, Booth chronicles the fascinating process through which cannabis became outlawed throughout the Western world, and the effect such legislation has had on the global economy.

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE, THE AMERICAN, STARRING GEORGE CLOONEY AND DIRECTED BY ANTON CORBIJNThe locals in the Italian village where he lives call him Signor Farfalla--Mr. Butterfly--for he appears to be a discreet gentleman who paints rare butterflies. But as inconspicuous as Farfalla tries to make himself, his real profession is deadly, unbeknownst to the sometime brothel worker, Clara, with whom he sleeps.Of a certain age, and as his feelings for Clara intensify, Farfalla has resolved to make his next job his last--all the while sensing a treacherous circle closing in on him.

In the summer of 1914 Alec Marquand has just graduated from college and has been hired by the lord of a remote country estate in the Scottish Highlands to survey the ancient Iron Age brochs that lie on his property. Once there Alec comes upon a small island which is called Eileen Tosdach--the Island of Silence. Just as Alec makes his amazing find, he is shipped off to war, sent to storm the beaches of Gallipoli. From the author of the Booker shortlisted The Industry of Souls, this is a gripping tour through one man's hell in search of a path for redemption.

One of the most powerful novels about the experience of war, first published in 1985Captured by Hirohito's soldiers at the fall of Hong Kong and transferred to a Japanese slave camp outside Hiroshima, Captain Joe Sandingham was present when the bomb was dropped. Now a shell of a man, he lives in a cheap Hong Kong hotel, scrounging for food and the occasional bar girl. The locals call him "Hiroshima Joe" with a mixture of pity and contempt. But Joe-haunted by the sounds and voices of his past, debilitated by illness, and shattered by his wartime ordeal-is a man whose compassion and will to survive define a clear-eyed and unexpected heroism.

Known to mankind since prehistoric times, opium is arguably the oldest and most widely used narcotic. Opium: A History traces the drug's astounding impact on world culture-from its religious use by prehistoric peoples to its influence on the imaginations of the Romantic writers; from the earliest medical science to the Sino-British opium wars. And, in the present day, as the addict population rises and penetrates every walk of life, Opium shows how the international multibillion-dollar heroin industry operates with terrifying efficiency and forms an integral part of the world's money markets.In this first full-length history of opium, acclaimed author Martin Booth uncovers the multifaceted nature of this remarkable narcotic and the bittersweet effects of a simple poppy with a deadly legacy.

Nicholas Highgate, separated from his parents during the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong, is smuggled to the mainland by his Chinese nurse and disguised as a Chinese boy. As he grows to manhood he witnesses the atrocities and deprivations of the Japanese occupation and is himself drawn into the Communist resistance activities. The book ends when the Japanese surrender and Nicholas is reunited with what remains of his family.

Part thriller, part character study, part drama of deceit and self-betrayal, The American (A Very Private Gentleman) shows Martin Booth at the very height of his powers. The basis for the 2010 action-packed film starring George Clooney! The locals in the southern Italian town where he lives call him Signor Farfalla--Mr. Butterfly: for he is a discreet gentleman who paints rare butterflies. His life is inconspicuous--mornings spent brushing at a canvas, afternoons idling in the cafes, and evening talks with his friend the town priest over a glass of brandy. Yet there are other sides to this gentleman's life: Clara: the young student who moonlights in the town bordello. And another woman who arrives with $100,000 and a commission, but not for a painting of butterflies. With this assignment returns the dark fear that has dogged Signor Farfalla's mysterious life. Almost instantly, he senses a deadly circle closing in on him, one which he may or may not elude.

At seven years old, Martin Booth found himself with all of Hong Kong at his feet when his father was posted there in 1952. This is his memoir of that youth, a time when he had access to corners of the colony normally closed to a gweilo, a "pale fellow" like him. From the plink plonk man with his dancing monkey to Nagasaki Jim, and from a drunken child molester to the Queen of Kowloon (the crazed tramp who may have been a Romanov), Martin saw it all--but his memoir illustrates a deeper challenge in his warring parents. This is an intimate and powerful memory of a place and time now past.

In 1977 and 1981, Martin Booth published two collections of work about Knotting, the Bedfordshire village where he then lived: The Knotting Sequence and The Cnot Dialogues. The books were published in limited-run editions by The Elizabeth Press, and few copies came across the Atlantic. Here we have spliced the two together, otherwise unchanged.

When 12-year-old Daniel appears at Dark Creek ranch, the owner, Matt, takes him in. Accompanied by an elderly Mexican cowhand, No-head Nolan, an eccentric vaquero, Beto and Matt's daughter, Daniel is left to drive the cattle along the Shawnee Trail 680 miles to Kansas.

Over the last three centuries, wherever the Chinese have emigrated, they have taken their outlawed secret brotherhoods. Booth tells the story of the Triads, from their beginnings over two thousand years ago to the unrivalled criminal empire they operate today.

The locals in the Italian village where he lives call him Signor Farfalla - Mr Butterfly. But Farfalla's real profession is deadly. Then, perhaps, he can settle down comfortably in the Italian village he has grown to love and enjoy the remainder of his life without constantly looking over his shoulder.

Shadowed by the unhappiness of his warring parents, a broad-minded mother who, like her son, was keen to embrace all things Chinese, and a bigoted father who was enraged by his family's interest in 'going native', Martin Booth's compelling memoir is a journey into Chinese culture and an extinct colonial way of life.

Whatever the viewpoint, and by whatever name it is known, cannabis - or marijuana, hashish, pot, dope, kif, weed, dagga, grass, ganja - incites debate at every level. In this definitive study, Martin Booth - author of the acclaimed OPIUM: A HISTORY - charts the history of cannabis from the Neolithic period to the present day.