Mike Dash Knihy

On 12 January, less than three months ago, the coronavirus was confined to China only. But by 13 January, the virus became a global problem. Cases were reported from South Korea, Japan, and Thailand. Soon the US followed. And slowly the numbers swelled across the globe, and it turned into a pandemic. A work four years in the making, Queen Corona Coronation is a poignant attempt to document the COVID-19 pandemic that sent ripples across the entire world. From the ever-increasing tally of new cases and new deaths to the ever-changing, ever-inconsistent guidance for keeping safe, to the ever-elusive hunt for a vaccine, these memoirs offer a unique perspective, chronicling the monotony, fear and uncertainty that gripped the entire world. Recounting both life under lockdown and the realities of life at sea in a slowly recovering world, the author paints a stark picture of dread, isolation and, above all, hope in an unprecedented time.

In 1628 the Dutch East India Company loaded the Batavia, the flagship of its fleet, with a king’s ransom in gold, silver, and gems for her maiden voyage to Java; the ship itself was a tangible symbol of the world’s richest and most powerful monopoly. The company also sent along a new employee to guard its treasure. He was Jeronimus Corneliszoon, a disgraced and bankrupt man with great charisma and dangerously heretical ideas. With the help of a few disgruntled sailors, he hatched a plot to seize the ship and her riches. The mutiny might have succeeded, but in the dark morning hours of June 3, 1629, the Batavia smashed through a coral reef and ran aground on a small chain of islands near Australia. The captain and skipper escaped the wreck, and in a tiny lifeboat they set sail for Java—some 1,500 miles north—to summon help. More than 250 frightened survivors waded ashore, thankful to be alive. Unfortunately, Jeronimus and the mutineers had survived too, and the nightmare was only beginning.

Before Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, there was the one-fingered, cunning Giuseppe Morello and his murderous coterie of brothers. Had it not been for Morello, the world may never have heard of 'men of honour', the code of omerta or Mafia wars. This explosive book tells the story of the first family of New York, and how this extended close-knit clan of racketeers and murderers left the backwaters of Sicily to successfully establish themselves as the founding godfathers of the New World. Combining strong narrative and raw violence, The First Family is a compelling portrait of the early years of organised crime. This is how it really happened.

The story of the notorious Indian Thugee cult, from its beginnings in the late 17th century to its eventual demise at the hands of East India Company officer, William Sleeman, in 1840. In the intervening centuries as many as 30,000 people disappeared on the roads of northern India.

A captivating examination of human greed and self-deception, as well as a homage to our timeless quest for beauty.