Martin Booth Books

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.

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.

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 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.

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?

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.

Hardcover - first edition - in unclipped jacket. A few instances of very light exterior wear. Pages are clean and sound - text is clear throughout. TS

Deze razend knap, geserreerd geschreven thriller gaat over een man op leeftijd die zich op het eerste gezicht lijkt te hebben teruggetrokken in een prachtig Italiaans dorp in de bergen, om te genieten van een welverdiende oude dag. De inwoners van het dorp kennen hem als signor Farfalla, vanwege de vlinders die hij schildert. Hij is een zogeheten 'schaduwfiguur', een wapenspecialist en hitman op bestelling. Signor Farfalla deelt zijn maaltijden en glazen armagnac met de lokale priester, inspecteert de wijnkelders en huisgerookte prosciutto, schildert en bezoekt regelmatig het bordeel in het dorp, waar hij vriendschap sluit met twee dames. Maar voordat hij echt kan genieten van zijn oude dag, moet hij nog één allerlaatste klus klaren...

Na stránkách této srozumitelné a přesvědčivé monografie o nejrozšířenější droze světa její autor, Martin Booth, shrnuje dějiny konopí od neolitických počátků až do současnosti. Vypráví příběh o pokroku lékařské vědy, o zbožném osvícení, o politických intrikách; o výkonné moci a celnících, o prohnaných pašerácích, pouličních prodejcích, válkách mezi gangy, o spisovatelích, umělcích, hudebnících a bezstarostných hippies a travařích všeobecně. Booth mapuje velice spletitou a často i nejistou cestu, kterou konopí, relativně neškodná bylina, urazilo a na jejímž konci se ocitlo mimo zákon snad všech zemí západního světa. Hovoří o zničujícím dopadu těchto zákonů na celosvětové hospodářství. Především ovšem poukazuje na to, že otázka dekriminalizace konopí zůstává jedním z nejnaléhavějších problémů jedenadvacátého století.

Aleister Crowley, kdysi označovaný bulvárním tiskem za Krále hříchu a Nejzkaženějšího muže na světě, patřil po třicet let mezi nejvíce pomlouvané postavy Británie. Přesto má dnes tento horolezec, světoběžník, básník, esejista, romanopisec a zejména okultista na celém světě své následovníky...

Dvanáctiletý alchymista čelí zlu z dávných věků.. Dvojčata Tim a Pip se nastěhovali s maminkou a tatínkem do starodávného venkovského domu. Prázdniny v překrásném sídle na břehu řeky obklopeném loukami zpočátku probíhají klidně, ale Pip jedné noci uslyší odněkud z hlubin domu naléhavé ťukání. Prastaré dřevěné ostění se začne pomalu otvírat... a z tajné chodby vystoupí zdánlivě docela obyčejný kluk. Sebastian však o sobě tvrdí, že je synem alchymisty a že se narodil před mnoha sty lety. Pro dvě moderní děti tak začíná neuvěřitelné dobrodružství, při kterém jde leckdy málem o život.