Barry Unsworth Bücher

Auf einem 1752 in Liverpool erbauten Sklavenschiff kommt es schon auf der ersten Reise von Afrika nach Jamaika zu einer Meuterei. Die Überlebenden retten sich nach Florida, wo Farbige und Weisse friedlich miteinander leben, bis sie von der Wirklichkeit eingeholt werden.

England im ausgehenden Mittelalter; eine Schauspielertruppe kommt in die Stadt. Doch mit den traditionellen Themen des Theaters läßt sich kein Publikum mehr in den Bann ziehen. Darum beschließt man, ein anderes Drama auf der Bühne zu zeigen: den jüngst verübten Mord an einem vierzehnjährigen Knaben. Aber noch haben die alten allegorischen Figuren - Gott und der Teufel, Hochmut und Frömmigkeit, Tod und Narr - ihre Kraft nicht verloren. Und die Wahrheit verlangt nach Gerechtigkeit.

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

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...

""Troy meant one thing only to the men gathered here, as it did to their commanders. Troy was a dream of wealth; and if the wind continued the dream would crumble."" As the harsh wind holds the Greek fleet trapped in the straits at Aulis, frustration and political impotence turn into a desire for the blood of a young and innocent woman blood that will appease the gods and allow the troops to set sail. And when Iphigeneia, Agamemnon's beloved daughter, is brought to the coast under false pretences, and when a knife is fashioned out of the finest and most precious of materials, it looks as if the ships will soon be on their way. But can a father really go to these lengths to secure political victory, and can a daughter willingly give up her life for the worldly ambitions of her father? Throwing off the heroic values we expect of them, Barry Unsworth's mythic characters embrace the political ethos of the twenty-first century and speak in words we recognize as our own. The blowhard Odysseus warns the men to not "marginalize" Agamemnon and to "strike while the bronze is hot." High-sounding principles clash with private motives, and dark comedy ensues. Here is a novel that stands the world on its head."

"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.