A family road trip is supposed to be a lot of fun . . . unless, of course, you’re the Heffleys. The journey starts off full of promise, then quickly takes several wrong turns. Gas station bathrooms, crazed seagulls, a fender bender, and a runaway pig—not exactly Greg Heffley’s idea of a good time. But even the worst road trip can turn into an adventure—and this is one the Heffleys won’t soon forget.

The third volume in the New York Times bestselling Wes Anderson Collection series showcases the best artwork from ';Bad Dads,' an annual exhibition of art inspired by the films of Wes Anderson. Curated by Spoke Art Gallery in San Francisco, ';Bad Dads' has continued to grow and progress as a dynamic group exhibition since its inaugural show in 2011, and has featured work from more than 400 artists from around the world. Those artworks range from paintings to sculptures to limited-edition screen prints and vary greatly in style, making for a diverse and lively show each year. Though each piece is distinct in its own right, the artworks' unifying element is the shared imagery and beloved characters from: Bottle Rocket Rushmore The Royal Tenenbaums The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou The Darjeeling Limited Fantastic Mr. Fox Moonrise Kingdom The Grand Budapest Hotel The book features an original cover by graphic artist Max Dalton, a foreword by writer and director Wes Anderson himself, and an introduction by TV and movie critic Matt Zoller Seitz, author of the bestselling Wes Anderson Collectionbooks. A visual treasure trove, Bad Dads grants fans of Wes Anderson another creative avenue to explore his inspired worlds and movies. Also available from Matt Zoller Seitz: The Oliver Stone Experience, Mad Men Carousel, The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel, and The Wes Anderson Collection.

Wimpy Kid Just Got a Lot Cheesier Now you can enjoy the bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series in a whole new way with this Special CHEESIEST Edition! Relive your favorite moments from the book that started it all, with this collectible version printed on premium paper and with a bold new design. You'll never look at Greg, Rowley, Manny, Rodrick, and Fregley the same way again. This Special CHEESIEST Edition is a must-have for longtime fans of the series and new readers alike. But before you open this book, you might want to cross your fingers-you wouldn't want to get the Cheese Touch!

From such cult hits as Raising Arizona (1987) and The Big Lebowski (1998) to major critical darlings Fargo (1996), No Country for Old Men (2007), and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Ethan and Joel Coen have cultivated a bleakly comical, instantly recognizable voice in modern American cinema. In The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together, film critic Adam Nayman carefully sifts through their complex cinematic universe in an effort to plot, as he puts it, "e;some Grand Unified Theory of Coen-ness."e; The book combines critical text-biography, close film analysis, and enlightening interviews with key Coen collaborators-with a visual aesthetic that honors the Coens' singular mix of darkness and levity. Featuring film stills, beautiful and evocative illustrations, punchy infographics, and hard insight, this book will be the definitive exploration of the Coen brothers' oeuvre.

Greg Heffley is in big trouble. School property has been damaged, and Greg is the prime suspect. But the crazy thing is, he’s innocent. Or at least sort of. The authorities are closing in, but when a surprise blizzard hits, the Heffley family is trapped indoors. Greg knows that when the snow melts he’s going to have to face the music, but could any punishment be worse than being stuck inside with your family for the holidays?

Leo Sabov never imagined a day without his beloved wife Maria. Now he faces the rest of his life alone. After bringing Maria to rest in her native Transylvania, Leo only wants to escape the rumors and superstitions taking over the tiny mountain village. A former Communist Party boss, a string of unexplainable deaths, and an ancient mama dog force him into mysteries he can’t understand or explain. Will Leo survive a test even greater than the heartbreaking?death of his wife, one with life or death consequences?

This special combination book, Expert Advisor Programming and Advanced Forex Strategies, will provide you with a solid foundation of the techniques required for profiting by combining expert advisor programming with advanced forex strategies. When finished you will have a deep understanding of the forex market from several angles. The emphasis throughout is on practical applications. Part 1: Expert Advisor Programming for Beginners: Maximum MT4 Forex Profit Strategies You will discover step by step along with clear visuals on how to profit with MT4 programming. Automated trading is often shrouded in mystery along with many misconceptions about who it can benefit. We peal away the layers of this misunderstood world in the book. Part 2: Expert Advisor and Forex Trading Strategies: Take Your Expert Advisor and Forex Trading To The Next Level You will learn advanced trading strategies along with easy to understand visuals on how to increase profits. This?is a unique combination of manual and automated trading. Therefore it is for the intermediate to advanced manual trader and those seeking an insight into programmed trading.?

Sometimes the simplest of choices can have the most devastating of consequences.Sometimes falling in love can be a curse.Sometimes being the hard man is the hardest job. Part of?The Love and War Series, novels set during the 20th century's darkest years. Hungary, 1949. Eva,?George?and Zoltan. Three people trying to live by the rules within a system that demands total obedience. Eva, reeling from the?tragedy of losing her baby, Anastasia, falls in love at a time when love is fraught with danger. George, a rising star of Hungarian football, is told to throw a game. Faced with an impossible dilemma, George has to decide – to risk everything to fulfil his dream or, for the sake of his future, obey the rules. Zoltan works for the secret police?where?having a heart is a sign of weakness. A torn man trying to suppress the good within him, his job takes him further and further from the things he values most. Seven years later, in 1956, their destinies collide as Hungary erupts into revolution. Secrets can no longer be hidden as loyalties are pushed to the limit. Set against the violent backdrop of suppression and revolution,?Anastasia?is a tale of people caught in the turmoil of history, where the choices you make determine your fate. And at the heart of the novel, the unseen presence of Anastasia.? “Characters come alive -- you get into their heads. They are empathetic or cruel and heartless, but always interesting. There is the dark side of human nature as well as its opposite.”“Skilfully developed with a suspenseful plot which keeps the story moving.”“The characters are very human, and the descriptions of these tragic events make for an excellent read.”“Impactful. Heart-wrenching. An important read.”Rupert Colley is the founder, editor and writer of the bestselling ‘History In An Hour’ series of ebooks and audio, published by HarperCollins.?Historical fiction with drama and heart.

James Shirley was born in London in September 1596. His education was through a collection of England's finest establishments: Merchant Taylors' School, London, St John's College, Oxford, and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he took his B.A. degree in approximately 1618. He first published in 1618, a poem entitled Echo, or the Unfortunate Lovers. As with many artists of this period full details of his life and career are not recorded. Sources say that after graduating he became "e;a minister of God's word in or near St Albans."e; A conversion to the Catholic faith enabled him to become master of St Albans School from 1623-25. He wrote his first play, Love Tricks, or the School of Complement, which was licensed on February 10th, 1625. From the given date it would seem he wrote this whilst at St Albans but, after its production, he moved to London and to live in Gray's Inn. For the next two decades, he would write prolifically and with great quality, across a spectrum of thirty plays; through tragedies and comedies to tragicomedies as well as several books of poetry. Unfortunately, his talents were left to wither when Parliament passed the Puritan edict in 1642, forbidding all stage plays and closing the theatres. Most of his early plays were performed by Queen Henrietta's Men, the acting company for which Shirley was engaged as house dramatist. Shirley's sympathies lay with the King in battles with Parliament and he received marks of special favor from the Queen. He made a bitter attack on William Prynne, who had attacked the stage in Histriomastix, and, when in 1634 a special masque was presented at Whitehall by the gentlemen of the Inns of Court as a practical reply to Prynne, Shirley wrote the text-The Triumph of Peace. Shirley spent the years 1636 to 1640 in Ireland, under the patronage of the Earl of Kildare. Several of his plays were produced by his friend John Ogilby in Dublin in the first ever constructed Irish theatre; The Werburgh Street Theatre. During his years in Dublin he wrote The Doubtful Heir, The Royal Master, The Constant Maid, and St. Patrick for Ireland. In his absence from London, Queen Henrietta's Men sold off a dozen of his plays to the stationers, who naturally, enough published them. When Shirley returned to London in 1640, he finished with the Queen Henrietta's company and his final plays in London were acted by the King's Men. On the outbreak of the English Civil War Shirley served with the Earl of Newcastle. However when the King's fortunes began to decline he returned to London. There his friend Thomas Stanley gave him help and thereafter Shirley supported himself in the main by teaching and publishing some educational works under the Commonwealth. In addition to these he published during the period of dramatic eclipse four small volumes of poems and plays, in 1646, 1653, 1655, and 1659. It is said that he was "e;a drudge"e; for John Ogilby in his translations of Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey, and survived into the reign of Charles II, but, though some of his comedies were revived, his days as a playwright were over. His death, at age seventy, along with that of his wife, in 1666, is described as one of fright and exposure due to the Great Fire of London which had raged through parts of London from September 2nd to the 5th. He was buried at St Giles in the Fields, in London, on October 29th, 1666.

Euripides is rightly lauded as one of the great dramatists of all time. In his lifetime, he wrote over 90 plays and although only 18 have survived they reveal the scope and reach of his genius. Euripides is identified with many theatrical innovations that have influenced drama all the way down to modern times, especially in the representation of traditional, mythical heroes as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. As would be expected from a life lived 2,500 years ago, details of it are few and far between. Accounts of his life, written down the ages, do exist but whether much is reliable or surmised is open to debate. Most accounts agree that he was born on Salamis Island around 480 BC, to mother Cleito and father Mnesarchus, a retailer who lived in a village near Athens. Upon the receipt of an oracle saying that his son was fated to win "e;crowns of victory"e;, Mnesarchus insisted that the boy should train for a career in athletics. However, what is clear is that athletics was not to be the way to win crowns of victory. Euripides had been lucky enough to have been born in the era as the other two masters of Greek Tragedy; Sophocles and schylus. It was in their footsteps that he was destined to follow. His first play was performed some thirteen years after the first of Socrates plays and a mere three years after schylus had written his classic The Oristria. Theatre was becoming a very important part of the Greek culture. The Dionysia, held annually, was the most important festival of theatre and second only to the fore-runner of the Olympic games, the Panathenia, held every four years, in appeal. Euripides first competed in the City Dionysia, in 455 BC, one year after the death of schylus, and, incredibly, it was not until 441 BC that he won first prize. His final competition in Athens was in 408 BC. The Bacchae and Iphigenia in Aulis were performed after his death in 405 BC and first prize was awarded posthumously. Altogether his plays won first prize only five times. Euripides was also a great lyric poet. In Medea, for example, he composed for his city, Athens, "e;the noblest of her songs of praise"e;. His lyric skills however are not just confined to individual poems: "e;A play of Euripides is a musical whole....one song echoes motifs from the preceding song, while introducing new ones."e; Much of his life and his whole career coincided with the struggle between Athens and Sparta for hegemony in Greece but he didn't live to see the final defeat of his city. Euripides fell out of favour with his fellow Athenian citizens and retired to the court of Archelaus, king of Macedon, who treated him with consideration and affection. At his death, in around 406BC, he was mourned by the king, who, refusing the request of the Athenians that his remains be carried back to the Greek city, buried him with much splendor within his own dominions. His tomb was placed at the confluence of two streams, near Arethusa in Macedonia, and a cenotaph was built to his memory on the road from Athens towards the Piraeus.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on February 27th, 1807 in Portland, Maine. As a young boy, it was obvious that he was very studious and he quickly became fluent in Latin. He published his first poem, "e;The Battle of Lovell's Pond"e;, in the Portland Gazette on November 17th, 1820. He was already thinking of a career in literature and, in his senior year, wrote to his father: "e;I will not disguise it in the least... the fact is, I most eagerly aspire after future eminence in literature, my whole soul burns most ardently after it, and every earthly thought centers in it...."e; After graduation travels in Europe occupied the next three years and he seemed to easily absorb any language he set himself to learn. On September 14th, 1831, Longfellow married Mary Storer Potter. They settled in Brunswick. His first published book was in 1833, a translation of poems by the Spanish poet Jorge Manrique. He also published a travel book, Outre-Mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea. During a trip to Europe Mary became pregnant. Sadly, in October 1835, she miscarried at some six months. After weeks of illness she died, at the age of 22 on November 29th, 1835. Longfellow wrote "e;One thought occupies me night and day... She is dead - She is dead! All day I am weary and sad"e;. In late 1839, Longfellow published Hyperion, a book in prose inspired by his trips abroad. Ballads and Other Poems was published in 1841 and included "e;The Village Blacksmith"e; and "e;The Wreck of the Hesperus"e;. His reputation as a poet, and a commercial one at that, was set. On May 10th, 1843, after seven years in pursuit of a chance for new love, Longfellow received word from Fanny Appleton that she agreed to marry him. On November 1st, 1847, the epic poem Evangeline was published. In 1854, Longfellow retired from Harvard, to devote himself entirely to writing. The Song of Haiwatha, perhaps his best known and enjoyed work was published in 1855. On July 10th, 1861, after suffering horrific burns the previous day. In his attempts to save her Longfellow had also been badly burned and was unable to attend her funeral. He spent several years translating Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. It was published in 1867. Longfellow was also part of a group who became known as The Fireside Poets which also included William Cullen Bryant, John Greenleaf Whittier, James Russell Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes Snr. Longfellow was the most popular poet of his day. As a friend once wrote to him, "e;no other poet was so fully recognized in his lifetime"e;. Some of his works including "e;Paul Revere's Ride"e; and "e;The Song of Haiwatha"e; may have rewritten the facts but became essential parts of the American psyche and culture. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died, surrounded by family, on Friday, March 24th, 1882. He had been suffering from peritonitis.

John Galsworthy was born at Kingston Upon Thames in Surrey, England, on August 14th 1867 to a wealthy and well established family. His schooling was at Harrow and New College, Oxford before training as a barrister and being called to the bar in 1890. However, Law was not attractive to him and he travelled abroad becoming great friends with the novelist Joseph Conrad, then a first mate on a sailing ship. In 1895 Galsworthy began an affair with Ada Nemesis Pearson Cooper, the wife of his cousin Major Arthur Galsworthy. The affair was kept a secret for 10 years till she at last divorced and they married on 23rd September 1905. Galsworthy first published in 1897 with a collection of short stories entitled "e;The Four Winds"e;. For the next 7 years he published these and all works under his pen name John Sinjohn. It was only upon the death of his father and the publication of "e;The Island Pharisees"e; in 1904 that he published as John Galsworthy. His first play, The Silver Box in 1906 was a success and was followed by "e;The Man of Property"e; later that same year and was the first in the Forsyte trilogy. Whilst today he is far more well know as a Nobel Prize winning novelist then he was considered a playwright dealing with social issues and the class system. Here we publish Villa Rubein, a very fine story that captures Galsworthy's unique narrative and take on life of the time. He is now far better known for his novels, particularly The Forsyte Saga, his trilogy about the eponymous family of the same name. These books, as with many of his other works, deal with social class, upper-middle class lives in particular. Although always sympathetic to his characters, he reveals their insular, snobbish, and somewhat greedy attitudes and suffocating moral codes. He is now viewed as one of the first from the Edwardian era to challenge some of the ideals of society depicted in the literature of Victorian England. In his writings he campaigns for a variety of causes, including prison reform, women's rights, animal welfare, and the opposition of censorship as well as a recurring theme of an unhappy marriage from the women's side. During World War I he worked in a hospital in France as an orderly after being passed over for military service. He was appointed to the Order of Merit in 1929, after earlier turning down a knighthood, and awarded the Nobel Prize in 1932 though he was too ill to attend. John Galsworthy died from a brain tumour at his London home, Grove Lodge, Hampstead on January 31st 1933. In accordance with his will he was cremated at Woking with his ashes then being scattered over the South Downs from an aeroplane.

William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939) is best described as Ireland's national poet in addition to being one of the major twentieth-century literary figures of the English tongue. To many literary critics, Yeats represents the 'Romantic poet of modernism,' which is quite revealing about his extraordinary style that combines between the outward emphasis on the expression of emotions and the extensive use of symbolism, imagery and allusions. Yeats also wrote prose and drama and established himself as the spokesman of the Irish cause. His fame was greatly boosted mainly after he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923. His life was marked by his many love stories, by his great interest in oriental mysticism and occultism as well as by political engagement since he served as an Irish senator for two terms. Today, although William Butler Yeats's contribution to literary modernism and to Irish nationalism remains incontestable. Here we publish a collection of his short plays that offer a rich harvest from the talents of such an esteemed artist.

If ever a writer needed an introduction Arthur Conan Doyle would not be considered that man. After all, Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the foremost literary detective of any age. Add to this canon his stories of science fiction and his poems, his historical novels, his plays, his political campaigning, his efforts in establishing a Court Of Appeal and there is little room for anything else. Except he was also an exceptional writer of short stories of the horrific and macabre. Something very different from what you might expect. Born in Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 at 11 Picardy Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. From 1876 - 1881 he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh following which he was employed as a doctor on the Greenland whaler Hope of Peterhead in 1880 and, after his graduation, as a ship's surgeon on the SS Mayumba during a voyage to the West African coast in 1881. Arriving in Portsmouth in June of that year with less than GBP10 (GBP700 today) to his name, he set up a medical practice at 1 Bush Villas in Elm Grove, Southsea. The practice was initially not very successful. While waiting for patients, Conan Doyle again began writing stories and composed his first novel The Mystery of Cloomber. Although he continued to study and practice medicine his career was now firmly set as a writer. And thereafter great works continued to pour out of him.

Herbert George Wells was born on September 21st, 1866 at Atlas House, 46 High Street, Bromley, Kent. He was the youngest of four siblings and his family affectionately knew him as 'Bertie'. The first few years of his childhood were spent fairly quietly, and Wells didn't display much literary interest until, in 1874, he accidentally broke his leg and was left to recover in bed, largely entertained by the library books his father regularly brought him. Through these Wells found he could escape the boredom and misery of his bed and convalescence by exploring the new worlds he encountered in these books. From these humble beginnings began a career that was, after several delays, to be seen as one of the most brilliant of modern English writers. Able to write comfortably in a number of genres he was especially applauded for his science fiction works such as The Time Machine and War of the Worlds but his forays into the social conditions of the times, with classics such as Kipps, were almost as commercially successful. His short stories are miniature masterpieces many of which bring new and incredible ideas of science fiction to the edge of present day science fact. Wells also received four nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Despite a strong and lasting second marriage his affairs with other women also brought the complications of fathering other children. His writings and work against fascism, as well as the promotion of socialism, brought him into increasing doubts with and opposition to religion. His writings on what the world could be in works, such as A Modern Utopia, are thought provoking as well as being plausible, especially when viewed from the distressing times they were written in. His diabetic condition pushed him to create what is now the largest Diabetes charity in the United Kingdom. Wells even found the time to run twice for Parliament. It was a long, distinguished and powerfully successful career by the time he died, aged 79, on August 13th, 1946.

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM, was born in Kirriemuir, Angus the ninth of ten children on May 9th, 1860. From early formative experiences, Barrie knew that he wished to follow a career as an author. His family wished otherwise and sought to persuade him to choose a profession, such as the ministry. The compromise was that he would attend university to study literature at the University of Edinburgh. He graduated with an M.A. on April 21st, 1882. His first job was as a staff journalist for the Nottingham Journal. The London editor of the St. James's Gazette "e;liked that Scotch thing"e; in Barrie's short stories about his mother's early life. They also served as the basis for his first novels. Barrie though was increasingly drawn to working in the theatre. His first play, a biography of Richard Savage, was only performed once and critically panned. Undaunted he immediately followed this with Ibsen's Ghost in 1891, a parody of Ibsen's plays Hedda Gabler and Ghosts. Barrie's third play, Walker, London, in 1892 led to an introduction to his future wife, a young actress by the name of Mary Ansell. The two became friends, and she helped his family to care for him when he fell very ill in 1893 and 1894. Barrie proposed and they were married, in Kirriemuir, on July 9th, 1894. By some accounts the relationship was unconsummated and indeed the couple had no children. The story of Peter Pan had begun to formulate when Barrie became acquainted with the Llewelyn Davis family in 1897, meeting George, Jack and baby Peter with their nanny in London's Kensington Gardens. In 1901 and 1902, Barrie had back-to-back theatre successes with Quality Street and The Admirable Crichton. The character of "e;Peter Pan"e; first appeared in The Little White Bird in 1902. This most famous and enduring of his works; Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up had its first stage performance on December 27th, 1904. Peter Pan would overshadow everything written during his career. He continued to write for the rest of his life contributing many other fine and important works. Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM, died of pneumonia on June 19th,1937 and was buried at Kirriemuir next to his parents and two of his siblings.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca, more readily known as Seneca the Younger, was born at Cordoba in the Roman province of Baetica in Hispania in approx 4 BC.Seneca attests that he was taken to Rome at a young age and educated in literature, grammar, and rhetoric; the standard education of high-born Romans. He also received philosophical training.Much of his life is not well documented but accounts do lean towards a pattern of ill-health at times. His breathing difficulties are thought to be the result of asthma and during his mid-twenties he contracted tuberculosis.He was sent to Egypt to live with his aunt, whose husband, Gaius Galerius, was Prefect of Egypt. In 31 AD he returned to Rome with her and, with her influence, was elected quaestor and with it the right to sit in the Roman Senate.Seneca's early career as a senator was successful and he was fulsomely praised for his oratory. A story related that emperor Caligula was so offended by Seneca's oratorical success that he ordered him to commit suicide. Seneca's ill-health prevented that.In 41 AD, Claudius became emperor, and Seneca was promptly cited by the new empress Messalina of adultery with Julia Livilla, the sister of Caligula and Agrippina.After trial the Senate pronounced a death sentence, which Claudius then commuted to exile. Seneca was to now spend the next eight years in Corsica. From this period of exile survive two of his earliest works-both consolations.In 49 AD Agrippina married her uncle Claudius, and through her Seneca was recalled to Rome. Agrippina appointed him, as tutor to her son, the future emperor Nero.Nero's early rule, during which he followed the advice of Seneca and Burrus, was competent. However, within a few years both Seneca and Burrus had lost their influence.In 58 AD the senator Publius Suillius Rufus made a series of public attacks on him saying that, Seneca had acquired a personal fortune of three hundred million sestertii. In response, Seneca brought a series of prosecutions for corruption against him. Suillius was dispatched into exile.After Burrus's death in 62 AD, Seneca's influence further declined. He adopted a quiet lifestyle at his country estates, concentrating on his studies and seldom visiting Rome. It was during these final few years that he composed two of his greatest works: 'Naturales Quaestiones'-an encyclopedia of the natural world; and his 'Letters to Lucilius'-which document his philosophical thoughts.In AD 65, Seneca was caught up in the aftermath of the Pisonian plot to kill Nero. Nero ordered him to kill himself. Seneca followed tradition by opening several veins in order to bleed to death. It was a sad conclusion for a man who has been called the first great Western thinker on the complex nature and role of gratitude in human relationships.

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in late April 1565 and baptised there on 26th April. He was one of eight children. Little is known about his life but what is evident is the enormous contribution he has made to world literature. His writing was progressive, magnificent in scope and breathtaking in execution. His plays and sonnets helped enable the English language to speak with a voice unmatched by any other. William Shakespeare died on April 23rd 1616, survived by his wife and two daughters. He was buried two days after his death in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church. The epitaph on the slab which covers his grave includes the following passage, Good friend, for Jesus's sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed me the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones. Here we publish his comedy from 1611 'The Tempest'.

For many of us DH Lawrence was a schoolboy hero. Who can forget sniggering in class at the mention of Women In Love or Lady Chatterley's Lover? Lawrence was a talented if nomadic writer whose novels were passionately received, suppressed at times and generally at odds with Establishment values. This of course did not deter him. At his death in 1930 at the young age of 44 he was more often thought of as a pornographer but in the ensuing years he has come to be more rightly regarded as one of the most imaginative writers these shores have produced. As well as his novels and of course his poetry - he wrote in excess of 800 of them he was also a very talented playwright. These works have not been given quite the attention they deserve. Here we publish 'The Fight For Barbara'.

Philip Massinger was baptized at St. Thomas's in Salisbury on November 24th, 1583.Massinger is described in his matriculation entry at St. Alban Hall, Oxford (1602), as the son of a gentleman. His father, who had also been educated there, was a member of parliament, and attached to the household of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. The Earl was later seen as a potential patron for Massinger.He left Oxford in 1606 without a degree. His father had died in 1603, and accounts suggest that Massinger was left with no financial support this, together with rumours that he had converted to Catholicism, meant the next stage of his career needed to provide an income.Massinger went to London to make his living as a dramatist, but he is only recorded as author some fifteen years later, when The Virgin Martyr (1621) is given as the work of Massinger and Thomas Dekker.During those early years as a playwright he wrote for the Elizabethan stage entrepreneur, Philip Henslowe. It was a difficult existence. Poverty was always close and there was constant pleading for advance payments on forthcoming works merely to survive.After Henslowe died in 1616 Massinger and John Fletcher began to write primarily for the King's Men and Massinger would write regularly for them until his death.The tone of the dedications in later plays suggests evidence of his continued poverty. In the preface of The Maid of Honour (1632) he wrote, addressing Sir Francis Foljambe and Sir Thomas Bland: "e;I had not to this time subsisted, but that I was supported by your frequent courtesies and favours."e;The prologue to The Guardian (1633) refers to two unsuccessful plays and two years of silence, when the author feared he had lost popular favour although, from the little evidence that survives, it also seems he had involved some of his plays with political characters which would have cast shadows upon England's alliances.Philip Massinger died suddenly at his house near the Globe Theatre on March 17th, 1640. He was buried the next day in the churchyard of St. Saviour's, Southwark, on March 18th, 1640. In the entry in the parish register he is described as a "e;stranger,"e; which, however, implies nothing more than that he belonged to another parish.

Arthur Conan Doyle's The Poison Belt is another work of fiction by the author of the celebrated masterpiece The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The novella centers around apocalyptic disasters that threaten to end human existence on Earth. Professor Challenger, an English scientist who is interested in preserving nature and human life, anticipates the Earth's contact with a poison belt of ether. The dangerous gas is believed to have the power to suffocate all living beings to death. Professor Challenger invites his closest companions, Malone, Roxton and Summerlee, to join him and his wife in his house. They are asked to bring oxygen tanks with them to find that Challenger has prepared a sealed room to protect their lives. Later, from their little shelter, Challenger's team watch the destruction of the outside world and the dying of almost everything. When they finally run out of oxygen, they are pushed to get out of the sealed room. Yet, to their surprise, they do not die. The Earth has passed through the poison belt and humanity has survived.