Paula Byrne is the author the bestselling biographies ‘Perdita’, ‘Mad World’, ‘The Real Jane Austen’, ‘Belle’ and ‘Kick’. She is founder and chief executive of ReLit, the Bibliotherapy Foundation, a charity devoted to the mental health benefits of reading. She is married to Sir Jonathan Bate and lives in Oxford.

“You have the luck of Croesus on stilts (as my Auntie Vi would have said) if you’ve had the sort of career, ups and downs, warts and all that I have in that wondrous little corner of show business called musical theatre.” One of the most successful and distinguished artists of our time, Andrew Lloyd Webber has reigned over the musical theatre world for nearly five decades. The winner of numerous awards, including multiple Tonys and an Oscar, Lloyd Webber has enchanted millions worldwide with his music and numerous hit shows, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera―Broadway’s longest running show―and most recently, School of Rock. In Unmasked, written in his own inimitable, quirky voice, the revered, award-winning composer takes stock of his achievements, the twists of fate and circumstance which brought him both success and disappointment, and the passions that inspire and sustain him. The son of a music professor and a piano teacher, Lloyd Webber reveals his artistic influences, from his idols Rodgers and Hammerstein and the perfection of South Pacific’s ‘Some Enchanted Evening,’ to the pop and rock music of the 1960s and Puccini’s Tosca, to P. G. Wodehouse and T. S. Eliot. Lloyd Webber recalls his bohemian London youth, reminiscing about the happiest place of his childhood, his homemade Harrington Pavilion―a make-believe world of musical theatre in which he created his earliest entertainments. A record of several exciting and turbulent decades of British and American musical theatre and the transformation of popular music itself, Unmasked is ultimately a chronicle of artistic creation. Lloyd Webber looks back at the development of some of his most famous works and illuminates his collaborations with luminaries such as Tim Rice, Robert Stigwood, Harold Prince, Cameron Mackintosh, and Trevor Nunn. Taking us behind the scenes of his productions, Lloyd Webber reveals fascinating details about each show, including the rich cast of characters involved with making them, and the creative and logistical challenges and artistic political battles that ensued. Lloyd Webber shares his recollections of the works that have become cultural touchstones for generations of fans: writings songs for a school production that would become his first hit, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; finding the coterie of performers for his classic rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar; developing his first mega-hit, Evita, which would win seven Tonys Awards, including Best Musical; staking his reputation and fortune on the groundbreaking Cats; and making history with the dazzling The Phantom of the Opera. Reflecting a life that included many passions (from architecture to Turkish Swimming Cats), full of witty and revealing anecdotes, and featuring cameo appearances by numerous celebrities―Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman, David Frost, Julie Covington, Judi Dench, Richard Branson, A.R. Rahman, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Richard Rodgers, Norman Jewison, Milos Forman, Plácido Domingo, Barbra Streisand, Michael Crawford, Gillian Lynne, Betty Buckley, and more―Unmasked at last reveals the true face of the extraordinary man beneath the storied legend.

What pushed Blunt, Burgess, Cairncross, Maclean and Philby into Soviet hands? With access to recently released papers and other neglected documents, this sharp analysis of the intelligence world examines how and why these men and others betrayed their country and what this cost Britain and its allies. Enemies Within is a new history of the influence of Moscow on Britain told through the stories of those who chose to spy for the Soviet Union. It also challenges entrenched assumptions about abused trust, corruption and Establishment cover-ups that began with the Cambridge Five and the disappearance of Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean on the night boat to Saint-Malo in 1951. In a book that is as intellectually thrilling as it is entertaining and illuminating, Richard Davenport-Hines traces the bonds between individuals, networks and organisations over generations to offer a study of character, both individual and institutional. At its core lie the operative traits of boarding schools, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the Intelligence Division, Foreign Office, MI5, MI6 and Moscow Centre. Davenport-Hines tells many stories of espionage, counter-espionage and treachery. With its vast cope, ambition and scholarship, Enemies Within charts how the undermining of authority, the rejection of expertise and the suspicion of educational advantages began, and how these have transformed the social and political temper of modern Britain.

A brilliant study of a brilliant woman' LUCY WORSLEY History has forgotten Caroline of Ansbach, yet in her lifetime she was compared frequently to Elizabeth I and considered by some as ‘the cleverest queen consort Britain ever had’. The intellectual superior of her buffoonish husband George II, Caroline is credited with hastening the Enlightenment to Britain through her sponsorship of red-hot debates about science, religion, philosophy and the nature of the universe. Encouraged by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, she championed inoculation; inspired by her friends Leibniz and Samuel Clarke, she mugged up on Newtonian physics; she embraced a salon culture which promoted developments in music, literature and garden design; she was a regular theatre-goer who loved the opera, gambling and dancing. Her intimates marvelled at the breadth of her interests. She was, said Lord Egmont, ‘curious in everything’. Caroline acted as Regent four times while her husband returned to Hanover, and during those periods she possessed authority over all domestic matters. No subsequent royal woman has exercised power on such a scale. So why has history forgotten this extraordinary queen? In this magnificent biography, the first for over seventy years, Matthew Dennison seeks to reverse this neglect. The First Iron Lady uncovers the complexities of Caroline’s multifaceted life: the child of a minor German princeling who, through intelligence, determination and a dash of sex appeal, rose to occupy one of the great positions of the world and did so with distinction, élan and a degree of cynical realism. It is a remarkable portrait of an eighteenth-century woman of great political astuteness and ambition, a radical icon of female power.

The moving true story of a little girl with Asperger syndrome, controlled and abused by the one person she called her friend. Taylor had always struggled to make friends – she felt ‘different’. Taylor never knew her father and her mother wasn’t around much. She just didn’t understand people, and was alone and scared much of the time. That was until, aged just 11, an older married man called Tom befriended her. She loved having someone who would talk to her, listen to her, a protector. But when he moved away a few months later she was easy prey to the gang of drug dealers and petty criminals who groomed and abused her, using her as a form of currency to appease their debtors and amuse their friends. Increasingly isolated and desperate, it began to look as though the pattern of Taylor's life had been set – until she started to fight back, determined to build a safe future for herself, however long it took.

It’s 1983 and best friends Vicky and Lucy swear that they will always be there for each other, that they’ll never let anyone come between them. But fast forward 4 years and life on the Canterbury Estate has gotten very messy.

The true story of 2 year-old Anna, abandoned by her natural parents, left alone in a neglected orphanage. Elaine and Ian had travelled half way round the world to adopt little Anna. She couldn’t have been more wanted, loved and cherished. So why was she now in foster care and living with me? It didn’t make sense. Until I learned what had happened. … Dressed only in nappies and ragged T-shirts the children were incarcerated in their cots. Their large eyes stared out blankly from emaciated faces. Some were obviously disabled, others not, but all were badly undernourished. Flies circled around the broken ceiling fans and buzzed against the grids covering the windows. The only toys were a few balls and a handful of building bricks, but no child played with them. The silence was deafening and unnatural. Not one of the thirty or so infants cried, let alone spoke.

Here for the first time is the full horror and madness of sharing a house, told by someone who’s been there. Birmingham pulls no punches: from dead rats in the kitchen to tent-dwelling lodgers in the living room, you’ll run for the safety of living alone. ‘A rat died in the living room at King Street and we didn’t know. There was at least six inches of compacted rubbish between our feet and the floor. Old Ratty must have crawled in there and died of pleasure. A visitor uncovered him while groping around for a beer.’ Tales of debauchery, drugs, flatmates from hell and nasty things lurking in the kitchen sink abound in Rolling Stone journalist John Birmingham’s hilarious account of sharing houses in Melbourne and Brisbane. He Died with a Felafel in His Hand makes Withnail & I look like a lesson in clean living.

South African born Elon Musk is the renowned entrepreneur and innovator behind PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity. Musk wants to save our planet; he wants to send citizens into space, to form a colony on Mars; he wants to make money while doing these things; and he wants us all to know about it. He is the real-life inspiration for the Iron Man series of films starring Robert Downey Junior. The personal tale of Musk’s life comes with all the trappings one associates with a great, drama-filled story. He was a freakishly bright kid who was bullied brutally at school, and abused by his father. In the midst of these rough conditions, and the violence of apartheid South Africa, Musk still thrived academically and attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he paid his own way through school by turning his house into a club and throwing massive parties. He started a pair of huge dot-com successes, including PayPal, which eBay acquired for $1.5 billion in 2002. Musk was forced out as CEO and so began his lost years in which he decided to go it alone and baffled friends by investing his fortune in rockets and electric cars. Meanwhile Musk’s marriage disintegrated as his technological obsessions took over his life ... Elon Musk is the Steve Jobs of the present and the future, and for the past twelve months, he has been shadowed by tech reporter, Ashlee Vance. Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of Spacex and Tesla is Shaping our Future is an important, exciting and intelligent account of the real-life Iron Man.

Vrnd s fac un dar poeilor romni – de la care n tineree am primit inestimabile daruri, Nichita, Cezar, Grigore – am ndrznit o versiune romneasc a intraductibilelor i abstruselor poeme rilkeene. Mostre supreme ale unui discurs poetic somnambulic, desfidnd nu numai logica i sintaxa curent dar i cea poetic, aceste Elegii… sunt, cred eu, un vrf dac nu un monument al spiritualitii moderne europene. Sunt fericit ca limba romn a strmoilor mei i a marilor poei romni a primit i a putut cuprinde arta poetului austriac, ce se clatin i cuvnt ntr-un aer de o tensiune insuportabil, ntre Pindar i Holderlin, un monument de vrf inegalabil, cu siguran, al creaiei europene.“ (Nicolae Breban)

Volumul lui Cornel Mihai Ungureanu cuprinde interesante interviuri cu mari personalit??i ale culturii rom?ne?ti, din sfere multiple. Printre al?ii, Ana Blandiana, Gabriel Andreescu, Liviu Antonesei, Gellu Dorian, Bogdan Suceav?, Lucian Dan Teodorovici sau Daniel Cristea?Enache. Cititorul va g?si ?n paginile c?r?ii comentarii provocatoare privind operele ?i biografiile intervieva?ilor, precum ?i pagini din istoria tulbure din perioada comunist? ?i din cea contemporan?.

Volumul Marianei Damian reconstituie via?a celui mai iubit poet latin, Publius Ovidius Naso, ?n contextul istoric, politic ?i cultural al perioadei lui Augustus. Cartea este o radiografie am?nun?it? a fr?m?nt?rilor poetului roman ?n urma exil?rii sale la marginea imperiului, pe malul M?rii Negre, invit?ndu-i pe cititori la o relectur? a operei ovidiene din perspectiva motivelor ?nstr?in?rii, singur?t??ii ?i nostalgiei.

Volumul Save Point e un prilej bun de ?mp?care intre cele 2 p?r?i vitale autorului, cea tehnologic? ?i cea literat?, un mediu analog ?n care se gasesc instantanee, deseori in format ludic, ale unor lumi ?n care au loc evenimente at?t de mici ?i at?t de subit ?nc?t s-ar putea spune despre ele c? aproape nu au avut loc vreodat?.

ntre crile de poezie ale autoarei, Inima ca un pumn de boxeur este una dintre cele mai interesante deveniri“, una dintre multiplele sale viei“ artistice. Prima via a acestei cri a nceput n 1982 prin publicarea volumului la Editura Cartea Romneasc, constituind mpreun cu Scrisori neexpediate i Opinii despre durere revenirea n literatur a Norei Iuga dup aproape un deceniu n care poeta a avut interdicie de publicare. (Cezar Gheorghe)

Nu ?tiu c?nd au trecut 15 ani. ?n mai 2000 nu m-am g?ndit o clip? unde voi fi peste 15 ani, ?tiam c? voi face acest ziar, dac? m? va ?ine Dumnezeu ?n via??, ?nc? un an, doi, zece, dar nu m-am v?zut o clip? m?car peste un num?r at?t de mare de ani. Pentru o publica?ie, de orice fel, 15 ani ?nseamn? enorm, aproape istorie, mai ales c?nd traverseaz? vremuri de criz?, cu fluctua?ii economice uria?e, cu schimb?ri politice care pot pune cap?t ?i celui mai minunat proiect.

E textul pe baza cruia am fcut spectacolul Habemus bebe, n primvara lui 2014, mpreun cu soul meu, regizorul Robert Blan. Iniial nu-l voiam publicat, apoi m-am rzgndit, publicarea i d o via textului pe care scena nu i-o poate da (i invers cred c e la fel de valabil). Non Stress Test va fi un poem mai lung, pe o tem care nu a fost i nici nu este la mod: maternitatea. E nsoit i de un set de fotografii, sper s fie o carte mito. i de data asta m-am jucat cu limitele genului: o variant a textului a aprut deja n traducere (n bulgar i n maghiar) ca text de teatru”. (Elena Vldreanu)

Am nceput s scriu pentru c aa am simit chemarea. E la fel ca preoia: devii pstor de suflete pentru c ai trimitere de sus, de la Tata. Aa s-a croit i destinul meu. Probabil c obria mea flticenean e de vin. n acest loc binecuvntat am crescut i am primit educaie. colile, dasclii, istoria literar a oraului – nesat de nume mari i sonore, care au trecut i trit pe aici – mi-au creat creuzetul. Mai departe a trebuit s muncesc singur, ca un rob, pe aceast plantaie plin ochi de litere, cuvinte i fraze. Aa am fost, sunt i voi rmne: un ego ce intersecteaz anii pe orizontal i vertical, aducndu-mi i eu, la rndul meu, contribuia pe care un ora minunat, numit Flticeni, mi-o cere. Mark Twain spunea: Dou zile sunt importante n viaa unui om: ziua n care s-a nscut i ziua n care a aflat de ce. Tu, cititorule, ai aflat” (Romulus Andriescu)

ntunericul (noaptea i nebunia), abisul (mormntul) i focul (sngele) se ntreptrund, cele trei constituind treptat o adncire n infern, trei bolgii care se continu la nesfrit. Poetul i, odat cu el, cititorul, este obligat s le parcurg pe toate trei. Din infernul lui Bolea nu exist scpare… (Cristina Nemerovschi) Tocmai excesul de recuzit transform poemele din volum ntr-o parodie a reportajului mizerabilist cultivat de poeii promoiei 2000, lsnd n cele din urm sentimentul mistificrii, al farsei enorme, n timp ce poetul pare a da n permanen cu tifla unui cititor tot mai derutat, care nu mai tie dac autorul glumete sau vorbete serios, dac are de-a face cu un nihilist autentic sau cu un parodist care demonteaz mecanismele liricii autenticiste, i-i caricaturizeaz cu verv locurile comune. (Octavian Soviany) Rzboi civil mi amintete de black metal i de nordul fioros i ngheat. (iQ 666) Poemele lui tefan Bolea sunt o oglind n care se reflect luciul mizeriei contemporane, sunt un colaj de ridicol i neimportant”, de beie i metafizic, de sublim i grotesc, de ncruntare i de (ne)linite. Poate de aceea versurile lui au prospeimea (edenic) a celui care spune lucrurilor pe nume.(Petrior Militaru) Rzboi civil este, cu siguran, cartea resureciei, à rebours. Prin atitudinea ironic-demolatoare, debutul lui Stefan Bolea este unul ct se poate de interesant, l aeaz pe autor, n mod meritat, n rndurile din fa ale noii generaii. (Silviu Gongonea) Ghidul turistic, care este tefan Bolea, st la malul existenei noastre i ne ndeamn s intrm i noi, de fapt, s deschidem ochii i s vedem c suntem deja acolo, unii pn la glezne, alii pn la genunchi, unii mai norocoi pn la nas, unde mirosul aburind al noroiului se mperecheaz cu suflul nostru vital, contaminndu-se reciproc. (Drago Fabian) Pentru c nici un poet nu poate exista fr o poezie-manifest, care s-i defineasc crezul literar, Bolea are ca art poetic: Imn pentru generaia 2000+. Bolea devine un postmodernist extrem sau neo-avangardist n acest moment. (Marcela Iuga) Referindu-ne la concepia postmodern de chirurgie cosmetic, Bolea folosete aceast metod ntr-un mod manierist, efectund operaii cosmetice asupra textelor sale, jucndu-se constant cu dimensiunile i perspectiva, cu deformarea i hiperbola… (Eva Theodora)

i acest volum intr ?n seria celor pregtitoare, anun?nd O istorie politic a literaturii rom?ne postbelice. Nu e vorba de un ?rzboi cu estetismul”, reanim?nd fantoma lui Gherea, ci de reevaluri pe temei estetic, la mai multe m?ini, folosind achiziiile criticii literare; i, firete, de recontextualizri (interog?nd epoca), in?nd cont, ?ns, de fluctuaiile recepiei i de capricioasa meteorologie politic. ?n fond, suntem consecveni cu programul, anunat ?nc de la debut (Orizontul lecturii, 1983), ?neleg?nd c, sociologic judec?nd, nu putem examina fenomenul literar retez?ndu-i ombilicul istoric. Generaia orfelin discut, prin profiluri sintetizatoare, despre o serie creatoare, av?nd drept numitor comun vitregele condiii formative; ea a fost modelat de interdicii (lecturi clandestine, maetri ?ascuni”, biblioteci epurate), provoc?nd o reacie polemic (ruptura) i promov?nd, astfel, la start, un program negativ. Dar, ?n acelai timp, este o generaie auroral, cu rol de verig, redescoperind – euforic – tradiia, definind o stare de spirit, angaj?ndu-se, prin combustie creatoare, la o lucrare comun, recuperatoare, fecund, susinut, prin propulsie adjectival, de o critic solidar, risipind i cronici ?tactice”, cum recunotea Matei Clinescu. Chiar dac noi discutm, ?n acest volum, poeii ei, evident nu poate fi vorba doar despre o generaie de poei, transport?nd legenda Labi, anun?nd, prin voci tinere, o nou epoc de lirism. Nu e vorba, aadar, de o compact ?echip” liric, ci de un buchet de personaliti, cu voci distincte, evolu?nd ?n direcii imprevizibile, isc?nd, ?n timp, disensiuni, controverse ?nfierb?ntate, ierarhizri provizorii. i propun?nd un inventar tematic, hrnind un imaginar, p?n la un punct, comun, definind o fizionomie specific. (Adrian Dinu Rachieru)

Tr?g?nd linie, am spune c? ne afl?m ?n prezen?a unui demers pertinent de mare actualitate, a unui pre?ios instrument de lucru menit s? umple un gol ?n literatura didactico-?tiin?ific? de specialitate, dar totodat? put?nd deveni util ?i unor cercuri intelectuale interesate de evolu?ia fenomenului poetic rusesc ?n secolul XX, situate ?n afara comunit??ii universitare. (Mircea Croitoru) E o bibliotec? umbl?toare. A citit mii de c?r?i ale altora ?i a scris c?teva ale sale. ?l recuno?ti dintr-o mie. Ziarele, revistele, c?r?ile ?i sunt lipite de degete. Merge pe strad? ?i cite?te, a?teapt? lini?tit la o coad? ?i cite?te. Absent pentru lumea aceasta viermuitoare ?i pragmatic?, el s-a retras protector ?n spatele ziarelor ?i c?r?ilor, ?i a rezistat. Cu o ?inut? sobr?, de o ?epeno?enie verde, demn? de ?ara Fagilor de unde-?i trage ob?r?ia, nu-i po?i da anii pe care, incredibil, ?i are. (…) Dac? te duci la el acas?, totul pare sprijinit pe tomuri, iar dac? ai proasta inspira?ie s? clinte?ti ceva, acea ?arhitectur? intelectual?“ ??i poate fi fatal?. Un soi de Manole Anapoda, zidit ?n chip de An? ?ntr-o m?n?stire de c?r?i. Prietenii ?i spun Dima. Am tradus ?mpreun? din Bulat Okudjava volumul de versuri C?ntecul esen?ial ?i, din mul?i al?i poe?i contemporani ru?i, ?n periodice. Metodic, punctual, suferind de acribie ?i, bine?n?eles, scufundat ?ntr-o lectur? atunci c?nd nu lucram ?mpreun?, a dovedit c? nu e doar un consumator de literatur?, ci ?i un excelent cunosc?tor al limbii din care traducea, ?i chiar un creator. ?l invidiez pentru felul sfid?tor ?n care ?tie s? uite de televizor ?i de calculator. Dima cite?te. El e scufundat ?n ecranul unei file de carte, al unei pagini de ziar sau de revist?. ?ntr-o vreme ?n care aceste dou? ustensile subjug? lumea obosind-o, nevroz?nd-o, ?mb?tr?nind-o, f?c?nd abstrac?ie de mirajul lor, el a r?mas ?nc? proasp?t, zdrav?n ?i t?n?r. (Passionaria Stoicescu)

Kívánom, adjanak er?t ezek a k?ltemények sokaknak! Azokhoz szólok most, akiknek valamikor, valamije fájt már életében, és/vagy ismernek olyan embert, aki tudja, hogy a szó szoros értelmében mit jelent az a szó: jaj! Tetovált társaim! Ti egyt?l egyig tisztában vagytok ennek a fogalomnak a jelentésével, és azzal is, hogy ez a választott életérzés megéri, méghozzá busásan. Akiknek jelen pillanatban is fáj valami, azoknak pedig… Nekik drukkolok leginkább!