Barry Unsworth Knihy

Passionate, erotic and haunting, this is a brilliant novel by one of Britain's most important novelists. Simon Rakes - a conservation expert - is restoring the Stone Virgin, a statue that cost the life of its creator in the 14th century. The statue is of great beauty but its past is soaked with a history of violence, sexual passion and human greed. As Simon's work continues and he meets Chiara, the enigmatic and beautiful wife of another sculptor, the past spills uncontrollably into the present.

A New York Times Notable Book In medieval England, a runaway scholar-priest named Nicholas Barber has joined a traveling theater troupe as they make their way toward their liege lord’s castle. In need of money, they decide to perform at a village en route. When their traditional morality plays fail to garner them an audience, they begin to stage the “the play of Thomas Wells”—their own depiction of the real-life drama unfolding within the village around the murder of a young boy. The villagers believe they have already identified the killer, and the troupe believes their play will be a straightforward depiction of justice served. But soon the players soon learn that the details of the crime are elusive, and the lines between performance and reality become blurred as they discover, scene by scene, line by line, what really happened. Thought-provoking and unforgettable, Morality Play is at once a masterful work of historical fiction, a gripping murder mystery, and a literary work of the first order.

Román Barryho Unsworthe zavede čtenáře na Sicílii 12. století. Na bohatý a vzkvétající dvůr dorazí i normanský šlechtic Thurstan… Mladý Thurstan Beauchamp je muž, s nímž si osud hned několikrát pohrál. Připravoval se na dráhu křesťanského rytíře, ovšem nakonec skončil jako úředník muslimského dívánu. A když už se smířil s tím, že si bude pomalu budovat kariéru dvorského úředníka, vstoupily do jeho života dvě ženy. Obě jej neodolatelně přitahují a každá z nich představuje jeden aspekt sicilské společnosti. Ta se zmítá v chaosu, který hrozí každou chvíli přerůst v otevřený konflikt. Někdejší idyla soužití křesťanů a muslimů se rozplývá. Král Roger, jenž vyrostl mezi muslimy a obklopil se muslimskými rádci, se ocitá pod čím dál větším tlakem římské kurie a navíc zvenčí musí čelit nebezpečí byzantského vpádu. Nesemele soukolí dvorských intrik i mladého Thurstana, který se stále ještě nevzdává svého rytířského snu? A se kterou z žen nakonec spojí svůj osud? Stejně jako v předchozích románech Cukr a rum nebo Posvátný hlad, i zde Barry Unsworth osvědčil schopnosti nabídnout čtenářům strhující příběh na dokonale prokresleném pozadí. A stejně jako v minulých románech, i zde jej přitahuje nostalgický obraz země, jež kdysi harmonicky vzkvétala, ale kterou teď ničí vnitřní svár.

n 1914, an English archaeologist called Somerville is fulfilling a lifelong dream - to direct an excavation in the desert of Mesopotamia. Yet forces beyond his control threaten his work. The Great War is looming, and various interest groups - Turkish, German, English and American - are vying for control over the land and its strategic and economic prizes. The Germans are securing trade routes with a new railway; a major in the Royal Engineers is working undercover, secretly mapping for the British the areas rich in oil; the Bedouin Jehar takes what he can from his new paymasters. The greatest idealist is Somerville, whose intention is to discover and preserve the land's ancient treasures. As he weaves these stories together in a powerful narrative, Unsworth provides a brilliant commentary on imperial ambition in the Middle East, and an acute historical perspective on the land that became modern Iraq.

A Turkish spy for twenty years, Basil Pascali is puzzled by the arrival of a mysterious Englishman posing as an archaeologist.

A nautical tour-de-force featuring tales by some of the outstanding writers of the genre, including:Jonathan SwiftCharles DickensDaniel DefoeRobert Louis StevensonEdage Allan PoeHerman MelvilleFrancois RabelaisJules VerneDante AlighieriGiovanni BoccaccioChristopher ColumbusSir Walter Raleigh

Nominee for the 1992 Booker Prize for Fiction Sacred Hunger is a stunning and engrossing exploration of power, domination, and greed. Filled with the "sacred hunger" to expand its empire and its profits, England entered full into the slave trade and spread the trade throughout its colonies. In this Booker Prize-winning work, Barry Unsworth follows the failing fortunes of William Kemp, a merchant pinning his last chance to a slave ship; his son who needs a fortune because he is in love with an upper-class woman; and his nephew who sails on the ship as its doctor because he has lost all he has loved. The voyage meets its demise when disease spreads among the slaves and the captain's drastic response provokes a mutiny. Joining together, the sailors and the slaves set up a secret, utopian society in the wilderness of Florida, only to await the vengeance of the single-minded, young Kemp. From Publishers Weekly Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In twelfth-century Norman Sicily, King Roger presides over Palermo in the aftermath of the Second Crusade. For the time being, Latins and Greeks, Arabs and Jews are living together in uneasy harmony. Within this milieu, young Thurstan Beauchamp serves faithfully as a civil servant of the king, his daily environment filled with tiny accountings, schemes, machinations, and bribes. When he is dispatched to investigate a conspiracy against the king, he will find his loyalties tested—and, when he encounters both his childhood sweetheart and a seductive dancer, his heart torn. An extraordinary tale of ambition, politics, and the loss of innocence, set against the glittering backdrop of medieval Europe, The Ruby in Her Navel powerfully traces the clash of civilizations from its historical origins, with deep resonances for today.

When he receives a tip about some mines for sale in East Durham, Kemp sees the business opportunity he has been waiting for, and he too makes his way north, to the very same village that Sullivan is heading for...