January 2011 Publications

Nicholas Mark Harding's Sunsphere will now appear, finally, in January. Publication Date is slated for 17th, that special day beloved of the Priory of Sion. Although they don't feature in Nick's novel, we thought the date apt, given that the POS is largely a load of BS, a subject SS sends up (or does it?). The delays have largely been caused by Mr Lish, who has taken longer than usual to edit the MS, and Mr Caxton, who has fallen foul of the Spanish Inquisition (whom nobody, of course, expects).

Louise S. Milne's Carnvals and Dreams: Pieter Bruegel and the History of the Imagination appears on 30th, in a revised, monochrome edition. The revisions are typographical; no new material has been added to the book for this edition. We are issuing this as a monochrome edition, i.e. all the illustrations will be black and white. This is in the service of bringing Louise's groundbreaking book to a wider public. It will retail at less than half the price of the first edition. (We will also be publishing the revised edition in full colour, but a publication date has yet to be decided.)

The Shop is Now Open

Our shop is now open. Go here to buy our current titles.

Please note, we only accept PayPal and Google Checkout at the moment.

Please click on 'Go to Checkout' and NOT the Google button if you want to pay via PayPal. (Clicking on the Google button will take you straight to the Google checkout, and won't give you the option of PayPal. Obviously an example of Google trying to be as fascistic as Amazon...)

You can also pay by cheque, as long as it's in sterling (AKA British pounds), drawn from a UK bank.

Happy Shopping!

Carnivals and Dreams Reviewed

We have just received a glowing review of Louise Milne's Carnivals and Dreams, from Professor Christopher Wood at Yale University. Prof Wood writes:

Louise Milne’s Carnivals and Dreams is one of the most searching and imaginative studies of Pieter Bruegel’s art ever published. Milne tracks the transformation, in sixteenth-century Europe and in Bruegel’s paintings, of the folk ritual of Carnival into a societal nightmare of disorder and violence. Bruegel’s art, in her analysis, dramatizes the historical breakdown of community, the interrupted continuity between the living and the dead, and the licensing of misogyny and self-interest. She has the courage to return to the original insight of the Surrealists that the fantastical imagery developed by Bruegel and Hieronymus Bosch was a way of thinking about the nature of dreams. This allows us to see, with Bruegel, that religious and social boundaries were finally a set of controls on the body and the sexual imagination. Milne’s sophisticated commentary on Bruegel’s paintings contributes to a new history of early modern European mentalities.

The World's First Weather Journal

Another of our autumn 2010 titles will be a new edition of the very first weather journal ever written. Weather Diary, 1337-1344 is the work of William Merle, fellow of Merton College Oxford and rector of the parish of Driby in Lincolnshire. It's unique in that it predates all other known weather journals by two centuries, and also makes no mention of anything else except the weather. No portents, no omens, no religion. Just a lot of wind and rain. Few books provide a new glimpse into the Middle Ages. Weather Diary, 1337-1344 does, collapsing the 650 years between Merle's time and ours in an instant. Just goes to show, English summers have always been a washout....

The book will feature an introduction by Sean Martin, author of The Knights Templar: The History and Myths of the Legendary Military Order and The Gnostics: The First Christian Heretics.

Losses Three by Ian Stephen

We can now reveal the title of Ian Stephen's book of sea and folk tales. It will be called Losses Three and will be out in the autumn. The book will be in English, Doric and Basque.

For more info on Ian, please visit his website.

New Title: Anglesey - A Megalithic Journey

The extraordinary wealth of ancient and historical sites on the Welsh island of Anglesey represents a microcosm of British history, from the deep Neolithic past to the Roman occupation, through the rise of the Welsh princes to the heyday of the Victorian resort of Beaumaris. It was on Anglesey that the ancient Druids took their last stand against the Roman invaders.

Neil McDonald is an expert on the mythic and historical geography of Anglesey. In this fascinating book, he explores the island’s heritage and countryside, providing vivid descriptions and rich historical backgrounds for its landmarks and culture.

Anglesey, A Megalithic Journey combines clear writing with excellent historical understanding, the perfect guide to your own tour of the island.

Paperback: 90 pages
Published: 1 June 2010
ISBN-10: 0955523060
ISBN-13: 978-0955523069
RRP: £11.99

New Title: Sunsphere

Three Keys
Two Spheres
One Secret

Two enigmatic 18th century manuscripts appear to authenticate the events described in Sunsphere, a novel by Mark Arden, best-selling author of historical conspiracy thrillers. Had Arden inadvertently stumbled upon a genuine mystic secret when he wrote his latest blockbuster? Is there a real mystery to be unravelled?

Three friends, all experts in mysterious antiquities, decide to investigate. With the reluctant Arden in tow, they unearth a secret code in the Somerset country house where the first manuscript was discovered. The clues point to Venice, to its famous Customs House on the Grand Canal. Here, it seems, the golden globe of Fortuna, high above the building, conceals a great secret – exactly as Arden wrote in Sunsphere.

But does the author know more than he’s letting on? Who are the sinister people shadowing their every move? Could the solution to the mystery blow apart one of the world’s major religions? The most cynical member of the team has his doubts, the truth is even stranger, and all is not as it seems....

PUBLISHED 28 JUNE 2010

978-0-9555230-5-2

RRP: £8.99

Anglesey on Amazon

Anglesey: A Megalithic Journey by Neil McDonald is now up on Amazon. It should be available for preorder next month. This is the first guide to Anglesey's old stones for quite some time.

Meanwhile, you can check out more of Neil's activities here.

New Books in the Pipeline

We can now add substance to the rumours that new books are afoot. Nick Harding's novel Sunsphere should be out by Easter, followed by Neil McDonald's Anglesey: A Megalithic Journey. We are also hoping to do an artist's book with Hebridean poet-sailor Ian Stephen. More news anon.