Charles Lewis, British Waterways Employee 1956-1994

Cycling Book of the Year - Cross British Sports Book Awards When the ‘Iron Curtain’ descended across Europe, Dieter Wiedemann was a hero of East German sport. A podium finisher in The Peace Race, the Eastern Bloc equivalent of the Tour de France, he was a pin-up for the supremacy of socialism over the ‘fascist’ West. Unbeknownst to the authorities, however, he had fallen in love with Sylvia Hermann, a girl from the other side of the wall. Socialist doctrine had it that the two of them were ‘class enemies’, and as a famous athlete Dieter’s every move was pored over by the Stasi. Only he abhorred their ideology, and in Sylvia saw his only chance of freedom. Now, playing a deadly game of cat and mouse, he plotted his escape. In 1964 he was delegated, once and once only, to West Germany. Here he was to ride a qualification race for the Tokyo Olympics, but instead committed the most treacherous of all the crimes against socialism. Dieter Wiedemann, sporting icon and Soviet pawn, defected to the other side. Whilst Wiedemann fulfilled his lifetime ambition of racing in the Tour de France, his defection caused a huge scandal. The Stasi sought to ‘repatriate’ him, with horrific consequences both for him and the family he left behind. Fifty years on, and twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Dieter Wiedemann decided it was time to tell his story. Through his testimony and that of others involved, and through the Stasi file, which has stalked him for half a century, Herbie Sykes uncovers an astonishing tale. It is one of love and betrayal, of the madness at the heart of the cold war, and of the greatest bike race in history.

Bletchley Park's Role

'A brilliant new book' Daily Telegraph 'Well written . . . and often entertaining' The Times 'A sparkling analysis' Prospect When uncertainty is all around us, and the facts are not clear, how can we make good decisions? We do not know what the future will hold, particularly in the midst of a crisis, but we must make decisions anyway. We regularly crave certainties which cannot exist and invent knowledge we cannot have, forgetting that humans are successful because we have adapted to an environment that we understand only imperfectly. Throughout history we have developed a variety of ways of coping with the radical uncertainty that defines our lives. This incisive and eye-opening book draws on biography, history, mathematics, economics and philosophy to highlight the most successful - and most short-sighted - methods of dealing with an unknowable future. Ultimately, the authors argue, the prevalent method of our age falls short, giving us a false understanding of our power to make predictions, leading to many of the problems we experience today. Tightly argued, provocative and written with wit and flair, Radical Uncertainty is at once an exploration of the limits of numbers and a celebration of human instinct and wisdom.

*Now with an exclusive extract from Erica's enchanting new novel, Swallowtail Summer, coming April 2019* 'Someone had made a perfect job of creating a place in which to hide a notebook . . . there was no address, only a date: September 1943 . . .' Ashcombe was the most beautiful house Saskia had ever seen as a little girl. A rambling cottage on the edge of a Suffolk village, it provided a perfect sanctuary to hide from the tragedy which shattered her childhood. Now an adult, Saskia is still living at Ashcombe and as a book restorer devotes her days tending to broken and battered books, daydreaming about the people who had once turned their pages. When she discovers a hidden notebook - and realises someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to hide a story of their own - Saskia finds herself drawn into a heart-rending tale of wartime love.

AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER. What readers are saying about No Less the Devil: 'Ratchets up the tension and keeps it there' ***** 'The plot twist is divine' ***** 'The last quarter of the book goes to an all-time new level' ***** 'MacBride is an absolute master of understated dark humour' ***** 'We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.' It's been seventeen months since the Bloodsmith butchered his first victim and Operation Maypole is still no nearer to catching him. The media is whipping up a storm, the top brass are demanding results, but the investigation is sinking fast. Now isn't the time to get distracted with other cases, but Detective Sergeant Lucy McVeigh doesn't have much choice. When Benedict Strachan was just eleven, he hunted down and killed a homeless man. No one's ever figured out why Benedict did it, but now, after sixteen years, he's back on the streets again - battered, frightened, convinced a shadowy 'They' are out to get him, and begging Lucy for help. It sounds like paranoia, but what if he's right? What if he really is caught up in something bigger and darker than Lucy's ever dealt with before? What if the Bloodsmith isn't the only monster out there? And what's going to happen when Lucy goes after them? ________ 'Stuart MacBride is an automatic must-read for me... always fast, hard, authentic - and different' LEE CHILD 'There can be no question that MacBride is one of this country's finest crime writers' DAILY MAIL 'Wow. What a ride! Exceptional. A must read.' DEBORAH MASSON

A dark and horrifying tale of Druidism, madness and murder. The Oaks is an idyllic, up-market country club - but its ornately carved walls hides a horrific past. Sixty years ago the house was an asylum, home to crazed psychopaths. One night all of them disappeared, never to be seen again. Jack Reed, the owner of The Oaks, has no idea about the building's terrible history. It is only when Jack's son is dragged into the walls of the mansion that he realizes what happened sixty years ago - and just where the inmates have been living all this time . . .

Follow on from The Power of Now

'There was none like her before and there's been none like her since' Dawn French In the five years since Victoria Wood's death, one great sadness has been the realisation that we will never again be surprised by new material from her. But as part of the research for Let's Do It, the critically acclaimed Sunday Times bestseller, her official biographer Jasper Rees uncovered a treasure chest of unseen work. From her first piece of comic prose, for the school magazine, through to material written for the great TV shows of her maturity, this joyful hoard of unreleased material spans nearly half a century. Victoria Wood: Unseen on TV is a unique and intimate insight into the working of an irreplaceable genius of comedy. From the first to the last, here are sketches, songs and stand-up monologues that no one else could have written, which will make you laugh in the way that only she could. 'He was a lovely man he had a lovely gap between his two front teeth. I specially noticed it cos he had a mushy pea stuck in it. He said can I take you home I said hang on I haven't finished my Tizer. So, we get home he says can I come in for a coffee. I said I haven't got any coffee but you can come in for a Horlicks if you don't mind sucking your own lumps.' Praise for Let's Do It: 'Rees pulls off the trick of writing a brilliant tribute while also - somehow, almost - bringing Victoria Wood back to life in all her complicated glory.' Guardian 'An immersive, authoritative book' Spectator 'Impeccable' Daily Telegraph 'A must-read' Daily Mirror 'A joy' Daily Mail

It was the house of their dreams. Now it's their worst nightmare . . . THE GRIPPING NEW SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH 'A well-plotted tale . . . Intriguing. Twisty. Surprising. Touching. Enjoyed it' DOROTHY KOOMSON 'I couldn't think of anything else whilst reading this. The plot was so well crafted, the characters so realistic' 5***** READER REVIEW 'Secrets, skeletons, mothers and daughters - and some absolutely corking twists! A cracking thriller, I loved it' EVE CHASE 'Spine-chilling' SUNDAY TIMES _________ When Saffron Cutler and boyfriend Tom move into 9 Skelton Place, they didn't expect to find this. Two bodies, buried under the patio over thirty years ago. When the police launch a murder investigation, they ask to speak to the cottage's former owner - Saffy's grandmother, Rose, whose Alzheimer's clouds her memory. But it is clear she remembers something . . . What happened thirty years ago? What part did her grandmother play? And is Saffy now in danger? . . . _________ 'This book has everything I love: murder, a taut and fiendishly clever plot and nail-biting tension' EMMA CURTIS 'Combines a tight, gripping, plot and truly shocking twist, with beautiful writing and emotion. A thriller with a heart' NUALA ELLWOOD 'A darkly absorbing mystery' CRIME MONTHLY 'Twisty, nail-biting, and utterly absorbing, you won't be able to put The Couple at No. 9 down' LOUISE O'NEILL 'Expansive, emotional, with one of the very best end twists I've ever read. Douglas at her heart-stopping best' GILLIAN MCALLISTER 'Devotees of domestic noir will love the multiple perspectives and shifts in time that Claire Douglas uses to complicate her nervy narrative' THE TIMES CRIME CLUB NEWSLETTER 'The perfect gripping holiday read' LESLEY PEARSE Praise for Claire Douglas 'Few people do psychological thrillers as claustrophobic and as creepy as Claire Douglas' Tim Weaver, bestselling author of No One Home 'Thrillingly tense and twisty' B. A. Paris, bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors 'Stunning . . . with a killer twist' Closer 'Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train' Marie Claire 'Twisty, exciting yet so very real' Gillian McAllister, bestselling author of Anything You Do Say