Martin Booth Books

Martin Booth looks at the history of the oldest known, and most widely used narcotic drug. He considers religious associations, medical aspects and the influence of opium on the arts, as well as the drug's addictive effect

Islands of Silence is the story of the young Alec Marquand, who in the summer of 1914 has just graduated from college with a degree in archaeology. He has been hired by the lord of a remote country estate in the Scottish Highlands to survey the ancient Stone Age brochs that lie on his property. Once there Alec comes upon a small island which is called Eilean Tosdach--the Island of Silence. What Alec discovers on that island changes him forever. And just as Alec makes his amazing find, he is shipped off to war . . . a war he does not want to fight, but one in which he ends up as a medic aboard a ship ready to storm the beaches of Gallipoli. A brilliantly crafted novel in the tradition of All’s Quiet on the Western Front and The Ghost Road, Islands of Silence is a tour through one man's hell in search of a path for redemption.

A malevolent chemistry teacher, Yoland's aim is to gain power by stealing souls. Pip and Tim, newly started at secondary school, manage to get the alchemist's son into their class so that he can uncover Yoland's evil plans. But Yoland has help - in the form of a stunted familiar who pretends to be a schoolboy, and from a mysterious supply teacher.

A haunting psychological suspense novel, now re-released to tie in to the major new film starring George Clooney

Why does Conan Doyle decide to destroy his famous creation, Sherlock Holmes, as success rolls in?

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.

Welcome to the home of Wallace and Gromit, and Blackbeard and Banksy. The city has a hidden castle and secret vaults underneath the Clifton Suspension Bridge only rediscovered recently after being hidden for more than 100 years. If water is your thing, you can surf guaranteed waves at an inland surfing lake or take a trip in a boat that used to fight fires. Science and art collide at We The Curious, which has the UK’s only 3D planetarium. If you think you know Bristol, think again. Allow this book to be your guide to Bristol’s best bits for kids.

With unflinching candor, Martin Booth -- Booker Prize nominee and author of the critically acclaimed Opium: A History -- here unfolds the full story of the Chinese Triads, which, according to UN sources, now pose the greatest potential criminal threat the world has ever known. From San Francisco to Amsterdam to Bangkok to Johannesburg, everywhere, everyday, the Triads are turning crimes like extortion, gambling, international prostitution, illegal immigrant smuggling, money laundering, fraud, corruption, arms, and narcotics into vast profits. This comprehensive history of the Triads traces their evolution over more than two thousand years from obscure parochial Chinese brotherhoods to an international criminal organization. It examines the archaic quasi-religious rituals that have for centuries bound the members of this now global fraternity. It recounts the exploits of patriots and outlaws. It explores the Triads' instigation of the Tong Wars in America, their collaboration with the Allies against the Japanese in Malaya, their collusion with the CIA in Vietnam. It chronicles their escalation of the heroin trade to Europe and the United States. It shocks, and it compels.

Pati just knows the rumours are true - there is a West Country panther. Now she and SImon are setting out to track it. They're confident of their survival skills, but as they are drawn deeper and deeper on to the moors, they have to ask - what will happen when they find it? Suggested level: primary.

A MAGICK LIFE is a detailed and extensively researched biography, a uniquely unbiased study of one of the thentieth century's most charismatic, misinterpreted and controversial figures, a brilliant polymath whose considerable intellect and talent were crushed by his self-destructiveness.