Historical Humor

Due to financial hardships at Tawcester Towers, the Dowager Duchess has decreed that the only way the family fortunes can be restored is to marry Blotto off...to an American! Reluctantly, Blotto, together with Twinks and his trusty chauffeur Corky Froggett set sail.

Gravedigger John Gascoigne lives in Downfell Hurst with his wife, Florrie, their three children and his mother, Gran. John is a deep thinker but extremely taciturn - a man of few words and many grunts. Which is why everyone is alarmed when he's hit on the head by a cricket ball, and it suddenly seems as if the words won't stop. What's more, he says he is talking to Saint Christopher - only no one else can see the saint, and they're beginning to worry John's not quite right in the head.

The author of The End of the Road and Small Comforts returns to his fictional Alaska town, The End of the Road, to present more unforgettable stories about its colorful inhabitants and their doings.

Uptight elfin historian Brangwain Spurge is on a mission: survive being catapulted across the mountains into goblin territory, deliver a priceless peace offering to their mysterious dark lord, and spy on the goblin kingdom - from which no elf has returned alive in more than 100 years. Brangwain's host, the goblin archivist Werfel, is delighted to show Brangwain around. They should be the best of friends, but a series of extraordinary double crosses, blunders, and cultural misunderstandings throws these two bumbling scholars into the middle of an international crisis.

From the original Greek financial crisis (when the profligate Gods of Olympus were punished by Odin and the other Norse Gods for their unchecked spending) to a handy unintended benefit of cosmetic surgery; from Pope Ron (the first Australian pope, who wants nothing more than to live quietly) to a rather droll cat named Stanley to Good President Wenceslas (benevolent leader of a snowy land) - these stories are by turns funny, poignant, and deliciously wicked, each one a gift begging to be unwrapped and enjoyed again and again.

This novel is a virtual time machine that takes the reader back to 11th century England - the time of Saxon domination before and after the disastrous Battle of Hastings in 1066. Step directly into the footsteps of Cuthwin of Alnwick. There are few “great men or women” in this historical novel, but instead the story of an ordinary man and his wife who work to survive.

Mariuccia Umbellino is a young woman living in the remote mountain village of Montemonaco, Italy, in the early years of the 19th century. Nearby, the secret recesses of the Grotto of the Fates - home to an ancient oracle of Apollo - are about to be invaded and destroyed, on orders from the pope. But the men sent to do the dirty work don’t know who (or what) they’re dealing with. This oracle and this girl won’t be messed with. In the dark of night, Mariuccia and her mother set out to rescue their revered oracle.

En esta fascinante novela, los enredos y las equivocaciones determinan el destino de la lucha por la Independencia de México. Con el implacable humor que inmortalizó a Jorge Ibargüengoitia, Los pasos de López cuenta el cauce cotidiano de una gesta insurgente protagonizada por personajes de carne y hueso, con dudas y vanidades, caprichos y torpezas. Una inigualable muestra del talento de un autor que se ha vuelto indispensable para la literatura hispanoamericana.

Após uma década de trabalho mediana, Rick Dalton acha difícil engolir a ideia de que a indústria cinematográfica passa muito bem sem ele, obrigado. Sentindo que sua carreira de ator está cada vez mais próxima do fim e mergulhado em uma crise existencial, Rick está disposto a se submeter ao lobby cruel de Hollywood para tentar adiar sua ruína. Para isso, vai cogitar uma investida no cinema italiano, encarnar um vilão controverso em uma série de faroeste e aceitar conselhos profissionais de uma respeitada atriz de oito anos de idade.

En esta ocasión, la improbable heroína tiene su origen en el barrio de Soweto, el tristemente célebre gueto de Johannesburgo. Corren los años setenta, en pleno auge del apartheid, cuando Nombeko Mayeki, condenada a una vida de infortunio y con altas probabilidades de que ésta acabe a una edad temprana ante la indiferencia de sus semejantes, encuentra un resquicio para escapar de su aciago futuro.

From the author of My Cousin Vinny comes a tale worthy of The Princess Bride. There has never been a greater storytelling classic than The Princess Bride. To this day, the tale of Buttercup and Westley still resonates with fans young and old. The Treasure is a saga evocative of Goldman's masterpiece, a story within a story, a fantasy wrapped in a mystery that will have you laughing out loud.

It's 2006 in the fictional East London borough of Leytonstow. The UK’s pub smoking ban is about to happen, and 38-and-a-half year old John Torrington, a mopper and trolley collector at his local DIY store, is secretly in love with the stylish, beautiful, and middle-class barmaid Lois. John and his hapless, strange, and down-on-their-luck friends, Gabby Longfeather and Glyn Hopkins, live in Clements Markham House - a semi-derelict Edwardian villa divided into unsanitary bedsits, and (mis)managed by the shrewd, Dickensian business man, Mr Kapoor.

Leaving behind the rural charms of Finnshire, Miss Penelope Fairweather arrives in London with hope in her heart and a dream in her eye. The dowager, no less, has invited her for a season in London, where she will attempt to catch a husband. Thus begins our heroine’s tale as she attempts to tackle the London season with all her rustic finesse. Unfortunately her rustic finesse turns out to be as delicate as a fat bear trying to rip apart a honeycomb infested with buzzing bees.

Iseult Wince is a Victorian woman perilously close to spinsterhood whose distinctly unpleasant father is trying to marry her off. She is awkward, plain, and most pertinently, believes that her mother, who died in childbirth, lives in the scar on her neck. Iseult’s father parades a host of unsuitable candidates before her, the majority of whom Iseult wastes no time frightening away. When at last her father finds a suitor desperate enough to take Iseult off his hands - a man whose medical treatments have turned his skin silver - a true comedy of errors ensues.

Everyone’s heard of Nostradamus. No one’s heard of Philibert Montmorency. One was a legend. The other, not so much.... A newly discovered Nostradamus prophecy has taken the internet by storm thanks to "The Oblivion Doctrine", a group of online conspiracy theorists. Apparently the end is nigh. And in case anyone’s interested, nigh is definitely a Tuesday. Doctor Ally Oldfield, professor of Medieval Languages, is summoned to Lyon for a second opinion. She’s not happy about it. But then again she’s rarely happy about anything.

There have always been Mountain Men. Their names are legendary. Their motives unknown. Until now. Over four centuries, one by one, they changed the course of human history. Occasionally, some of them were even quite good at it. Like most things in life, successful revolutions take a bit of practise. Only they knew their identity and purpose, but someone has discovered their secrets. Now the actions of the Mountain Men are being re-enacted in the 21st century and there’s twelve billion dollars up for grabs for anyone willing to help.

Acompañada de tres hombres, una mujer llega a un pueblo en busca del panadero para cobrar venganza. Cuando lo encuentra, lo balacea y le prende fuego al lugar. Las investigaciones del crimen revelarán los oscuros secretos de las conocidas hermanas Baladro, dueñas de cantinas y prostíbulos. Estafas, trata de mujeres, entierros clandestinos y asesinatos conforman el siniestro reino que las dos mujeres, Serafina y Arcángela, han construido a su alrededor.

At the turn of the 20th century, as he composes a treatise on melancholy, Jacov Reinhardt sets off from his small Croatian village in search of his hero and unwitting mentor, Emiliano Gomez Carrasquilla, who is rumored to have disappeared into the South American jungle - "not lost, mind you, but retired." Jacov's narcissistic preoccupation with melancholy consumes him, and as he desperately recounts the myth of his journey to his trusted but ailing scribe, hope for an encounter with the lost philosopher who holds the key to Jacov's obsession seems increasingly unlikely.

George Sperryhawke, the bombastic rogue and forgotten founding father, chronicles life in 18th-century America as he clambers and swindles his way up the social ladder. After running away from home and being expelled from the seminary, Sperryhawke went to sea and would go on to become one of the wealthiest men in the colonies by the age of 25, and a pivotal figure in the founding of the Republic. A thoroughly unreliable and mostly unlikable figure, the discovery of the Sperryhawke manuscripts has given students of American history great cause for rejoicing.

When a leftwing activist from the Nixon era morphs into a conservative writer of political incorrectness, can she ever escape the evil eye of the establishment? Political winds may shift but some things never change. If you pull on the dragon's tail, you'd best be ready to take some heat. Kate is no stranger to a jail cell, but she thought she got past that four decades ago. Then again, in a world run amuck with knife brandishing jihadists spilling from their sharia zones, maybe a jail cell is the safest place to be.