Melvyn Bragg

What drives a musician to write extraordinary songs? How do writers create their worlds? How does an actor achieve greatness? For over thirty years of The South Bank Show, Melvyn Bragg has interviewed many of the greatest cultural icons of our age. These interviews offer revelatory insights into the lives and work of writers, actors, artists and musicians. In The South Bank Show: Final Cut he has revisited some of these artists and used the interviews as the basis for fuller portraits. The range of artists is remarkable and this book is true to The South Bank Show's ethos of seeking out the highest quality whatever the art form. Melvyn Bragg's unique perspective makes this book indispensable for anyone interested in the work and lives of some of the best artists of our time.

Richard Burton: star. The roaring boy from the Welsh coal valleys who came to sport on the banks of the old Nile, playing great Antony to Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra. From the West End to Hollywood, from Camelot to Shakespeare, he drank, dazzled and despaired, playing out his life on the public stage. But there was another, quieter, off-stage Richard Burton, a face hidden from the multitude. Melvyn Bragg, allowed free access to the never-before-revealed Burton private notebooks, and with the cooperation of friends who have never spoken about him before, has brought together the private and public sides for the first time. Rich is the complete Richard Burton: a revelation.

'An inspiring, fascinating and stimulating book'Irish Times'Bragg writes with passion . . . exciting and accessible'IndependentWhen we think of great events in the history of the world, we tend to think of war, revolution, political upheaval or natural catastrophe. But throughout history there have been moments of vital importance that have taken place not on the battlefield, or in the palaces of power, or even in the violence of nature, but between the pages of a book. In our digitised age of instant information it is easy to underestimate the power of the printed word. In his fascinating new book accompanying the ITV series, Melvyn Bragg presents a vivid reminder of the book as agent of social, political and personal revolution. Twelve Books that Changed the World presents a rich variety of human endeavour and a great diversity of characters. There are also surprises. Here are famous books by Darwin, Newton and Shakespeare - but we also discover the stories behind some less well-known works, such as Marie Stopes' Married Love, the original radical feminist Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman - and even the rules to an obscure ball game that became the most popular sport in the world . . .

THE FIRST NOVEL IN 'ONE OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED LITERARY SERIES IN RECENT TIMES' (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)'His masterpiece'Sunday Times'Outstandingly good'Scotsman'A great achievement'ObserverWhen Sam Richardson returns in 1946 from the 'Forgotten War' in Burma to Wigton in Cumbria, he finds the town little changed. But the war has changed him, broadening his horizons as well as leaving him with traumatic memories. In addition, his six-year-old son now barely remembers him, and his wife has gained a sense of independence from her wartime jobs. As all three strive to adjust, the bonds of loyalty and love are stretched to breaking point in this taut, and profoundly moving novel.

Explore the twelve greatest minds in the history of science with some of today's top scientific thinkers Ranging from the foundation of hydrostatics in the third century b.c. to the discovery of DNA's structure in our own time, On Giants' Shoulders is an accessible and thought-provoking round table on the seminal discoveries of science and the originators behind them. "Well-known English journalist Melvyn Bragg presents stimulating portraits . . . and] well-rounded evaluations of each pioneer's life and influence."-Publishers Weekly "What makes this book work so well is that Bragg is a fine journalist applying his skills as an outsider to blow away the pretensions and reveal some of the mechanics and motivations of what is still a remarkably closed world." -New Scientist "Each life is pored over in a brief but brilliant intellectual postmortem with the help of prominent contemporary scientists. . . . Here are the paranoia, the blind alleys of research, the rivalry, and many collisions of intellectual heavyweights. . . . On Giants' Shoulders holds delights for both scientist and lay person."-KEVIN O'SULLIVAN, Irish Times "What makes the result special is Bragg's unusual relationship to his subject. His gentle probing and the selection of material address exactly the questions about science and scientists that interest outsiders."-JOHN GRIBBIN, The Independent "This is an enchanting book, because it is a book produced by a clever man listening intently. . . . Science is not, in truth, a daunting alien territory. But characteristically, it seems to want to tell us the answers dogmatically, before we are sure what questions we would like to ask. On Giants' Shoulders asks just those kinds of questions."-LISA JARDINE, The Times (London)

A novel set in Cumberland between 1889 and the 1920s and telling the story of one man's struggle to break free from the status of a 'hired man'. The first part of the CUMBRIAN TRILOGY.