Bantam books Hereward. End of Days Wilde James

Blades are sharpened, battle lines drawn. Now is the time for heroes • 1081: The bloody battle for the crown of the Holy Roman Empire begins • Within the city of Constantinople itself, three mercenary factions will go to any lengths, including murder, to seize the throne • And outside the city's walls, twin powers threaten a siege that will crush the once-mighty empire forever: to the west, the voracious forces of the most feared Norman warlord are gathering, while in the east, the Turkish hordes are massing - theirs is a lust for slaughter • And in the midst of this maelstrom of brutality and betrayal, Hereward and his English spear-brothers prepare to make what could be their final stand

A century has always had a special resonance, in all walks of life, and none more so than in cricket. Scoring one hundred runs is the ultimate for a batsman. As former England captain Andrew Strauss admits, it's incredibly hard to do; for Ricky Ponting, it's a transformational moment in the career of a cricketer. Or in the words of Geoffrey Boycott, 'a century has its own magic' • In The Art of Centuries, Steve James applies his award-winning forensic insight to the very heart of batting. Through interviews with the leading run-scorers in cricket history and his own experiences, Steve discovers what mental and physical efforts are required to reach those magical three figures. Despite his own haul of 47 first-class tons, he himself felt at times that he was poorly equipped for the task

It is on the field of battle that heroes are made...and legends born • 1073: Under the merciless sun of the East, a dark force has risen - a Norman adventurer with intensely bloody ambition. He has conquered his land, he has built his fortress and he has amassed his army. And now he has taken Constantinople's ruler as his prisoner • It falls to Hereward to rescue this precious captive. For this great English warrior-in-exile and his spear-brothers, it will mean mounting a raid that could prove the most dangerous of their lives • Assisting them in their task will be an elite and legendary band of fighters, the Immortals - so-called because they believe they cannot die in battle • But it will not be enough - for enemies hide within the jewelled heart of Byzantium who want to see the English dead at any cost

In this poignant, moving book, Muhammad Ali shares the beliefs he has come to live by and which he has passed on to his children. Some of the wisdom is his own; some comes from the teachings of true Islam, from his spiritual studies, and from people he has met in the course of his extraordinary life. Here, as he recalls his early days as a young warrior in Louisville, Kentucky, and his meteoric rise to fame as Heavyweight Champion of the World, a title he won three times, he tells of the many battles he won and lost, both inside and outside the ring and his conversion to Islam in the 1960s. Now, working tirelessly as a worldwide ambassador for peace, he talks of the damage caused when religion is used to tear people apart, the essential need for unity in this troubled world, and how his faith sustains him on this, the most important journey of his life - the journey to forgiveness and peace

In the remote snow-covered mountains near Tibet lies a community long thought to be a mere myth called Shambhala, or Shangri-La. Here, in this place, is knowledge that has been kept hidden for centuries, and an insight that can have a profound impact on the way each of us lives our lives. Your search for Shambhala begins with the words of a child and the vision of an old friend. Those slender clues and a powerful synchronicity will lead to Kathmandu, Nepal, and then to Lhasa, Tibet • Amid blowing snows and perilous mountains, you will meet the members of the secret Tibetan sect that guards mysterious legends - the verbal instructions handed down for centuries that describe the inner changes one must undergo before entering Shambhala • Finally, with Chinese Agents in pursuit, you will pass through regions where anger and compassion struggle for ascendancy, and arrive at a place where the stunning reality about human prayer-energy - our underdeveloped ability to increase the synchronicity in our lives and influence what will happen to us in the future - is revealed

The radio war of 1939-45 is one of the great scientific battles in history • This is the story of that war • Relying on first-hand accounts as well as papers recently released by the Admiralty, The Battle of the Beams fills a huge missing piece in the canon of WW2 literature • It combines history, science, derring do and dogged determination and will appeal as much to fans of WW2 history as to those fascinated by the science behind the beams that changed our lives • The British believed that, through ingenuity and scientific prowess, they alone have a war-winning weapon: radar. They are wrong. The Germans have it too • They believe that their unique maritime history means their pilots have no need of navigational aids. Flying above the clouds they, like the seafarers of old, had the stars to guide them, and that is all that is required

Following the 6th Light Dragoons' successful campaign in the state of Coorg and the deposition of its deranged Rajah, Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey is looking forward to a few months' respite for his regiment, for himself and his family. Indeed, with his reputation restored, he's rarely felt so content. Alas, such tranquillity is not to last • India's governor-general believes Hervey is just the man to lead a force against the Thuggee and Dacoity gangs whose increasingly vicious attacks threaten not only the stability of a number of friendly princely states but also, of course, the East India Company's interests in the sub-continent • And so Hervey reluctantly leads the Sixth into the field once more. It's a mission that will prove infinitely more complex, brutal and bloody than anyone predicted

Edgehill, 1642: Surveying the disastrous scene in the aftermath of the first battle of the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell realizes that war can no longer be made in the old, feudal way: there has to be system and discipline, and therefore - eventually - a standing professional army • From the 'New Model Army' of Cromwell's distant vision, former soldier Allan Mallinson shows us the people and events that have shaped the army we know today. How Marlborough's momentous victory at Blenheim is linked to Wellington's at Waterloo; how the desperate fight at Rorke's Drift in 1879 underpinned the heroism of the airborne forces at Arnhem in 1944; and why Montgomery's momentous victory at El Alamein mattered long after the Second World War was over

At the bloody siege of Badajoz, Matthew Hervey must overthrow the French - or die in the attempt • Allan Mallinson brings us another compelling and deeply atmospheric adventure featuring Matthew Hervey. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, you will love this!

An idyllic island. An all-consuming romance. The best summer of your life • But what if everything you remember was a lie? • Rachel has loved Alistair since she was seventeen • Even though she hasn't seen him for sixteen years and she's now married to someone else • Even though she was a teenager when they met • Even though he is almost twenty years older than her • Now in her thirties, Rachel has never been able to forget their golden summer together on a remote, sun-trapped Greek island. But as dark and deeply suppressed memories rise to the surface, Rachel begins to understand that Alistair - and the enigmatic, wealthy man he worked for - controlled much more than she ever realized • Rachel has never once considered herself a victim - until now

This sweeping historical novel is shaped by the quest for a mysterious relic, guarded through generations, and by one man that might yet save the threatened Byzantine empire • In an age of clashing empires, dark forces from the east are endangering the first light of the western Renaissance. It is an age of ruthless rulers, divided churches, fractured dynasties and intrepid traders. It is an age of great cities like Venice and Constantinople; an age of conquerors like Tamerlane who will drown the world in blood; an age when only a hero of exceptional gifts can make a difference • Luke Magoris is that hero. Born the son of one of the Varangian guards who had sworn to keep the secret relic safe, he will find himself committed to a long journey to discover - and try to avoid - his destiny

A retired widow in rural Connecticut wakes to an unexpected visit from her childhood best friend whom she hasn't seen in forty-nine years • A man arrives at a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania hotel to introduce his estranged father to his newborn daughter and finds him collapsed on the floor of the lobby • A sixty-seven-year-old taxi driver in Kauai receives a phone call from the mainland that jars her back to a traumatic past • These seemingly disconnected lives come together as half-century-old secrets begin to surface over the course of one fateful day