Interested in learning more about Charlie Chaplin but short on time for lengthy biographies? Join The History Journals for a concise, hourly history tour of his life. Charlie Chaplin's enduring legacy is etched in the timeless films that continue to bring laughter to audiences of all generations, transcending language barriers. As you delve deeper into the life of the man behind the beloved Tramp persona, you'll gain a newfound appreciation for the undisputed King of silent comedy. This journal takes you on a journey through his remarkable life. You'll discover: - Charlie's birthplace and early life in slums, including time in workhouses - His parents' struggle with poverty and alcoholism, the stigma of state assistance - His mother's battle with insanity, her commitment, and his early stage experiences - The pivotal role of Mack Sennett, his debut in movies, and the rise of the Tramp character - The million-dollar contract, his time with Essenay Films, and tumultuous marriages - His meeting with Oona Chaplin, ostracism, and move to Switzerland, as well as awards and legacy Embark on this fascinating tour to uncover the life and times of Charlie Chaplin, the iconic figure in silent comedy.

Frankenstein's Gothic horror meets H. P. Lovecraft's otherworldly entities in a thrilling fusion of both classic works. Reeling from the loss of his mother, seventeen-year-old Victor Frankenstein vows to conquer death before it claims anyone else he loves. When Victor attends Ingolstadt University and discovers a murdered professor's research on reviving the dead, he's certain salvation is within reach. There's just one problem: the research is incomplete. What Victor revives is a mockery of life. Victor's volatile schoolmate Joseph Curwen, who has his own alchemical methods of reanimation, might be the only person Victor can turn to if he wants to defeat death. Even if Curwen is one excuse away from making Victor his next experiment. Yet the two reanimators cannot afford to be enemies. Ingolstadt is rife with dangers that threaten to devour them both—and the rest of humanity. Their alliance is the only hope for survival, but they must survive each other first. Blending Frankenstein's themes of unchecked obsession with Lovecraft's cosmic dread, The Shadow Beneath Ingolstadt is a dark tale of insanity, prejudice, and what makes a monster in a gripping dark academia narrative that's perfect for new readers and longtime fans alike.

Dragonscale is a terrifying new plague. A highly contagious, deadly spore imprints its hosts with beautiful black and gold marks across their bodies—before causing them to burst into flames. Millions are infected. There is no cure. No one is safe. Nurse Harper Grayson has discovered the telltale gold-flecked designs on her skin. When the outbreak first began, she and her husband, Jakob, made a pact that they would take matters into their own hands if they became infected. But now Harper wants to live…until the fetus she is carrying comes to term. Convinced that his wife has made him sick, Jakob abandons her as their placid New England community collapses in terror. The chaos gives rise to armed, self-appointed posses roaming the streets and woods to exterminate those who carry the spore. But a stranger in a firefighter’s jacket, carrying a hooked iron bar, straddles the abyss between insanity and death. Known as The Fireman, he is afflicted with Dragonscale but has learned to control the fire within himself, using it as a shield to protect the hunted...and as a weapon to avenge the wronged.

Reflected in You will take you to the very limits of obsession - and introduce you to a hero you'll never forget . . . One of the bestselling love stories of the century _______ He is a bright, scorching flame singeing me with the darkest of pleasures . . . Gideon Cross. As beautiful and flawless on the outside as he was damaged and tormented on the inside. Yet I couldn't stay away. I didn't want to. He was my addiction . . . my every desire . . . mine. And my past was as violent as his, and I was just as broken. We'd never work. It was too hard, too painful . . . except when it was perfect. Those moments when the driving hunger and desperate love were the most exquisite insanity. We were bound by our need. And our passion would take us beyond our limits to the sharpest edge of obsession . . . Daringly sensual and intensely romantic, this is a love story that will have you glued to the page. _______ Praise for Sylvia Day: 'A hundred degrees hotter than anything you've ever read before' Reveal 'Riveting, sensual . . . You won't be disappointed' 5***** Reader Review 'Lots of sex and gripping story lines' Sun 'A powerful love story' 5***** Reader Review

The appearance of a hastily-constructed barbed wire entanglement through the heart of Berlin during the night of 12-13 August 1961 was both dramatic and unexpected. Within days, it had started to metamorphose into a structure that would come to symbolise the brutal insanity of the Cold War: the Berlin Wall. A city of almost four million was cut ruthlessly in two, unleashing a potentially catastrophic East-West crisis and plunging the entire world for the first time into the fear of imminent missile-borne apocalypse. This threat would vanish only when the very people the Wall had been built to imprison, breached it on the historic night of 9 November 1989. The Berlin Wall reveals the strange and chilling story of how the initial barrier system was conceived, then systematically extended, adapted and strengthened over almost thirty years. Patrolled by vicious dogs and by guards on shoot-to-kill orders, the Wall, with its more than 300 towers, became a wired and lethally booby-trapped monument to a world torn apart by fiercely antagonistic ideologies. The Wall had tragic consequences in personal and political terms, affecting the lives of Germans and non-Germans alike in a myriad of cruel, inhuman and occasionally absurd ways. The Berlin Wall is the definitive account of a divided city and its people.

Bringing together all Charles Dickens' ghost stories - twenty in all - including several longer tales. Here are chilling histories of coincidence, insanity and revenge. To paraphrase Joe in The Pickwick Papers: Charles Dickens 'wants to make your flesh creep'. Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. Ghost Stories is illustrated by various artists, with an afterword by David Stuart Davies. Throughout his illustrious writing career, Dickens often turned his hand to fashioning short pieces of ghostly fiction. Even in his first successful work, The Pickwick Papers, you will find five ghost stories, all of which are included in this collection. Dickens began the tradition of 'the ghost story at Christmas', and many of his tales in this genre are presented here, including the brilliant novella 'The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain', which deserves to be as well-known as A Christmas Carol. While all his supernatural tales aim to send a shiver down the spine, they are not without the usual traits of Dickens' flamboyant style: his subtle wit, biting irony, humorous incidents and moral observations. It is a mixture that makes these stories fascinating and entertaining as well as unsettling.

New from Sarah Pekkanen, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Glass and co-author of The Wife Between Us. A shocking psychological thriller about the complex bonds of sisterhood-and what happens when they are stretched to the breaking point, The Locked Ward "will leave you guessing until the very end" (Jeneva Rose, bestselling author of The Perfect Marriage). Some doors should never be opened. Was it bitter, all-consuming jealousy? Pathological sibling rivalry? Pure insanity? Whatever the cause-and everyone has a theory-it's the Crime of the Decade when glamorous Georgia Cartwright, who was adopted as a newborn, is accused of killing the biological daughter of her wealthy, Southern family. Georgia is locked in a psychiatric institution where the most violent offenders are held while she awaits trial. The only words she whispers when her estranged twin sister Amanda visits are, "I didn't do it. You've got to get me out of here." Amanda doesn't trust Georgia, but she can't abandon her in a place so eerie and menacing that it seems to exist in another dimension. Is Georgia the victim of a powerful family that's so depraved murder is the least of their crimes? Or is Amanda being led down a path of madness into the web of a master manipulator?

Spud is the hilarious debut novel by John van de Ruit It's 1990. Apartheid is crumbling, Nelson Mandela has just been released from prison and thirteen-year-old Spud Milton is about to start his first year at an elite boys-only boarding school. Cursed with embarrassingly dysfunctional parents, a nutty granny and a dormitory full of strange characters, Spud has his hands full trying to adapt to his new home. With only his wits and his diary, he takes readers on a rowdy boarding school romp full of illegal midnight swims, catastrophic cricket matches, ghostbusting escapades, girls and disastrous holidays. South African comedian John van de Ruit invites the reader into the mind of a young boy whose eyes are being opened to love, friendship and complete insanity! Some rave reviews from South Africa: 'Funny, fast-paced and wonderfully observant' - The Daily News 'Once you pick it up it's almost as if the pages turn themselves' - Metrobeat 'Achingly funny' - Sunday Times Lifestyle John van de Ruit was born in Durban, South Africa. He went to the University of Natal where he completed a Masters degree in Drama and Performance. Since 1998 he has been a professional actor, playwright and producer, winning numerous awards. Spud is his first novel.

" Gothic horror for the ages... Combining shiver-inducing horror with sharp-fanged social commentary, this more than merits comparison to Dracula and other genre titans." - Publishers Weekly, Starred Review *** "I'm in your blood, and you are in mine..." The Netherlands, 1887. Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell. She refuses to eat, mumbles nonsensically, and is increasingly obsessed with a centuries-old corpse recently discovered on her husband's grand estate. The doctor has diagnosed her with temporary insanity caused by a fever of the brain. To protect her twin from a terrible fate in a lunatic asylum, Lucy must unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's condition, but it's clear her twin is hiding something. Then again, Lucy is harbouring secrets of her own, too. Then, the worst happens. Sarah's behaviour takes a turn for the strange. She becomes angry...and hungry. Lucy soon comes to suspect that something is trying to possess her beloved sister. Or is it madness? As Sarah changes before her very eyes, Lucy must reckon with the dark, monstrous truth - or risk losing her forever. A haunting gothic tale for fans of all things supernatural, Blood on Her Tongue is refreshingly biting and unashamedly chilling, taking its place as a horror story for the ages. Tropes Gothic Horror Sapphic Love LGBTQ+ Supernatural Books

Bringing together all Charles Dickens' ghost stories - twenty in all - including several longer tales. Here are chilling histories of coincidence, insanity and revenge. To paraphrase Joe in The Pickwick Papers: Charles Dickens 'wants to make your flesh creep'. Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. Ghost Stories is illustrated by various artists, with an afterword by David Stuart Davies. Throughout his illustrious writing career, Dickens often turned his hand to fashioning short pieces of ghostly fiction. Even in his first successful work, The Pickwick Papers, you will find five ghost stories, all of which are included in this collection. Dickens began the tradition of 'the ghost story at Christmas', and many of his tales in this genre are presented here, including the brilliant novella 'The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain', which deserves to be as well-known as A Christmas Carol. While all his supernatural tales aim to send a shiver down the spine, they are not without the usual traits of Dickens' flamboyant style: his subtle wit, biting irony, humorous incidents and moral observations. It is a mixture that makes these stories fascinating and entertaining as well as unsettling.

This last book from beloved Hollywood icon Carrie Fisher is the crown jewel of ideal Star Wars gifts. The Princess Diarist is an intimate, hilarious, and revealing recollection of what happened behind the scenes on one of the most famous film sets of all time. When Carrie Fisher discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Before her passing, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon was indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a teenager with an all-consuming crush on her costar, Harrison Ford. With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, The Princess Diarist is Fisher’s intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time—and what developed behind the scenes. Fisher also ponders the joys and insanity of celebrity, and the absurdity of a life spawned by Hollywood royalty, only to be surpassed by her own outer-space royalty. Laugh-out-loud hilarious and endlessly quotable, The Princess Diarist brims with the candor and introspection of a diary while offering shrewd insight into one of Hollywood's most beloved stars.

The appearance of a hastily-constructed barbed wire entanglement through the heart of Berlin during the night of 12-13 August 1961 was both dramatic and unexpected. Within days, it had started to metamorphose into a structure that would come to symbolise the brutal insanity of the Cold War: the Berlin Wall. A city of almost four million was cut ruthlessly in two, unleashing a potentially catastrophic East-West crisis and plunging the entire world for the first time into the fear of imminent missile-borne apocalypse. This threat would vanish only when the very people the Wall had been built to imprison, breached it on the historic night of 9 November 1989. The Berlin Wall reveals the strange and chilling story of how the initial barrier system was conceived, then systematically extended, adapted and strengthened over almost thirty years. Patrolled by vicious dogs and by guards on shoot-to-kill orders, the Wall, with its more than 300 towers, became a wired and lethally booby-trapped monument to a world torn apart by fiercely antagonistic ideologies. The Wall had tragic consequences in personal and political terms, affecting the lives of Germans and non-Germans alike in a myriad of cruel, inhuman and occasionally absurd ways. The Berlin Wall is the definitive account of a divided city and its people.

This last book from beloved Hollywood icon Carrie Fisher is the crown jewel of ideal Star Wars gifts. The Princess Diarist is an intimate, hilarious, and revealing recollection of what happened behind the scenes on one of the most famous film sets of all time. When Carrie Fisher discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Before her passing, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon was indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a teenager with an all-consuming crush on her costar, Harrison Ford. With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, The Princess Diarist is Fisher’s intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time—and what developed behind the scenes. Fisher also ponders the joys and insanity of celebrity, and the absurdity of a life spawned by Hollywood royalty, only to be surpassed by her own outer-space royalty. Laugh-out-loud hilarious and endlessly quotable, The Princess Diarist brims with the candor and introspection of a diary while offering shrewd insight into one of Hollywood's most beloved stars.

New from Sarah Pekkanen, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Glass and co-author of The Wife Between Us. A shocking psychological thriller about the complex bonds of sisterhood-and what happens when they are stretched to the breaking point, The Locked Ward "will leave you guessing until the very end" (Jeneva Rose, bestselling author of The Perfect Marriage). Some doors should never be opened. Was it bitter, all-consuming jealousy? Pathological sibling rivalry? Pure insanity? Whatever the cause-and everyone has a theory-it's the Crime of the Decade when glamorous Georgia Cartwright, who was adopted as a newborn, is accused of killing the biological daughter of her wealthy, Southern family. Georgia is locked in a psychiatric institution where the most violent offenders are held while she awaits trial. The only words she whispers when her estranged twin sister Amanda visits are, "I didn't do it. You've got to get me out of here." Amanda doesn't trust Georgia, but she can't abandon her in a place so eerie and menacing that it seems to exist in another dimension. Is Georgia the victim of a powerful family that's so depraved murder is the least of their crimes? Or is Amanda being led down a path of madness into the web of a master manipulator?

'Who in the rainbow can draw the line where the violet tint ends and the orange tint begins? Distinctly we see the difference of the colours, but where exactly does the one first blendingly enter into the other? So with sanity and insanity.' Sadly left unfinished by his death in 1891, Melville's novella Billy Budd is acclaimed by critics and quickly took its place in the literary canon. Billy Budd, a handsome sailor working on a British naval ship in the eighteenth century, is falsely accused of mutiny against the ship's captain by the master-at-arms, John Claggart. Billy, who unfortunately obtains a speech impediment, is overcome by the accusation and unable to verbally defend himself against Claggart's unfounded hate for him. Instead, he lashes out at Claggart, much to his own demise. An instant classic once published, Billy Budd is a tragic tale that has been adapted into film, plays and even an opera. This audiobook edition is narrated by the talented Christopher Ragland. Herman Melville (1819 – 1891) was a novelist and poet of the American Renaissance, best known for his works in adventure and travel writing, including Mody Dick (1851) and Typee (1846). His writing was met with mixed reviews by his contemporaries; it wasn't until the early twentieth century that he gained recognition for his literary genius.

Im Jahr 2070 kämpft Detective David Hume vom Citizen Protection Bureau in einer düsteren, von Großkonzernen dominierten Welt gegen das Verbrechen. Nach dem Tod seines Partners wird er mit Ian Farve, einem geheimen „Alpha Class“-Androiden, zusammengebracht. Sie ermitteln in einem Fall, der sie mit einer mächtigen Firma und einem mysteriösen Androiden-Hybriden aus nicht-menschlicher DNA konfrontiert. Episoden: 01. Maschinenträume, Teil 1 (Machine Dreams, Part 1) 02. Maschinenträume, Teil 2 (Machine Dreams, Part 2) 03. Tödliches Experiment (Self-Inflicted) 04. Unwiderstehlich (Allure) 05. Geheimprojekt Echelon (Infiltration) 06. Dreckiger Job (Nothing Like the Real Thing) 07. Am Rande des Wahnsinns (Rough Whimper of Insanity) 08. Die nächste Generation (First Wave) 09. Gen-Kontrolle (Baby Lottery) 10. Fremdgesteuert (Brain Fever) 11. Alpha-Technologie (Begotten Not Made) 12. Nexus (Brightness Falls) 13. Die Erleuchteten (Burning Desire) 14. Element 1–3–1 (Astral Projecti ons) 15. Ein falsches Leben (Paranoid) 16. Geschenkte Erinnerung (Restitution) 17. Menschenmaschinen (Bones Beneath My Skin) 18. Leise Zweifel (Assessment) 19. Eine einzige Zeugin (Eye Witness) 20. Das Alpha-Gen (Personal Effects) 21. Die Wächter der Ordnung (Virtual Justice) 22. Der Schöpfer (Meet My Maker) Diese deutsch-kanadische Koproduktion wurde von den Kultfilmen "Total Recall" (Schwarzenegger) und "Blade Runner" (Harrison Ford) inspiriert. Produziert mit einem hohen Budget von etwa 1,5 Millionen Dollar pro Episode, setzt die Science Fiction-Reihe auf aufwändige Spezialeffekte. Die düstere, noir-artige Ästhetik und die Handlung, die sich mit der Natur des Menschseins und künstlicher Intelligenz auseinandersetzt, machen "Total Recall 2070" nicht nur für Genrefans sehenswert.

" Gothic horror for the ages... Combining shiver-inducing horror with sharp-fanged social commentary, this more than merits comparison to Dracula and other genre titans." - Publishers Weekly, Starred Review *** "I'm in your blood, and you are in mine..." The Netherlands, 1887. Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell. She refuses to eat, mumbles nonsensically, and is increasingly obsessed with a centuries-old corpse recently discovered on her husband's grand estate. The doctor has diagnosed her with temporary insanity caused by a fever of the brain. To protect her twin from a terrible fate in a lunatic asylum, Lucy must unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's condition, but it's clear her twin is hiding something. Then again, Lucy is harbouring secrets of her own, too. Then, the worst happens. Sarah's behaviour takes a turn for the strange. She becomes angry...and hungry. Lucy soon comes to suspect that something is trying to possess her beloved sister. Or is it madness? As Sarah changes before her very eyes, Lucy must reckon with the dark, monstrous truth - or risk losing her forever. A haunting gothic tale for fans of all things supernatural, Blood on Her Tongue is refreshingly biting and unashamedly chilling, taking its place as a horror story for the ages. Tropes Gothic Horror Sapphic Love LGBTQ+ Supernatural Books

A man battles his addiction to a devastating nanotech drug that steals identities and threatens the survival and succession of mankind as a galactic species. After the Nova-Insanity shattered Earth s civilization, the Genes and Fullerenes Corporation promised to bring humanity back from the brink. Many years later, various factions have formed, challenging their savior and vying for a share of power and control. Glow follows the lives of three very different beings, all wrestling mental instability in various forms; Rex a confused junkie battling multiple voices in his head; Ellayna the founder of the GFC living on an orbital satellite station and struggling with paranoia; and Jett a virtually unstoppable robotic assassin, questioning his purpose of creation. All of them are inextricably linked through the capricious and volatile Glow; an all controlling nano-tech drug that has the ability to live on through multiple hosts, cutting and pasting memories and personas in each new victim. In this tech-crazed world where nothing seems impossible, many questions are posed: what makes us who we are? What is our ultimate purpose and place in this world? And, most frightening of all, what are we capable of doing to survive? File Under: Science Fiction [ Hivemind | One More Fix | No Escape | Run Like Hell ]

Im Jahr 2070 kämpft Detective David Hume vom Citizen Protection Bureau in einer düsteren, von Großkonzernen dominierten Welt gegen das Verbrechen. Nach dem Tod seines Partners wird er mit Ian Farve, einem geheimen „Alpha Class“-Androiden, zusammengebracht. Sie ermitteln in einem Fall, der sie mit einer mächtigen Firma und einem mysteriösen Androiden-Hybriden aus nicht-menschlicher DNA konfrontiert. Episoden: 01. Maschinenträume, Teil 1 (Machine Dreams, Part 1) 02. Maschinenträume, Teil 2 (Machine Dreams, Part 2) 03. Tödliches Experiment (Self-Inflicted) 04. Unwiderstehlich (Allure) 05. Geheimprojekt Echelon (Infiltration) 06. Dreckiger Job (Nothing Like the Real Thing) 07. Am Rande des Wahnsinns (Rough Whimper of Insanity) 08. Die nächste Generation (First Wave) 09. Gen-Kontrolle (Baby Lottery) 10. Fremdgesteuert (Brain Fever) 11. Alpha-Technologie (Begotten Not Made) 12. Nexus (Brightness Falls) 13. Die Erleuchteten (Burning Desire) 14. Element 1–3–1 (Astral Projecti ons) 15. Ein falsches Leben (Paranoid) 16. Geschenkte Erinnerung (Restitution) 17. Menschenmaschinen (Bones Beneath My Skin) 18. Leise Zweifel (Assessment) 19. Eine einzige Zeugin (Eye Witness) 20. Das Alpha-Gen (Personal Effects) 21. Die Wächter der Ordnung (Virtual Justice) 22. Der Schöpfer (Meet My Maker) Diese deutsch-kanadische Koproduktion wurde von den Kultfilmen "Total Recall" (Schwarzenegger) und "Blade Runner" (Harrison Ford) inspiriert. Produziert mit einem hohen Budget von etwa 1,5 Millionen Dollar pro Episode, setzt die Science Fiction-Reihe auf aufwändige Spezialeffekte. Die düstere, noir-artige Ästhetik und die Handlung, die sich mit der Natur des Menschseins und künstlicher Intelligenz auseinandersetzt, machen "Total Recall 2070" nicht nur für Genrefans sehenswert.

Brought to you by Penguin. In a forbidding Gothic castle on a hilltop in the heart of Nazi Germany, an unlikely band of British officers spent the Second World War plotting daring escapes from their Nazi captors. Or so the story of Colditz has gone, unchallenged for 70 years. But that tale contains only part of the truth. The astonishing inside story, revealed for the first time by bestselling historian Ben Macintyre, is a tale of the indomitable human spirit, but also one of class conflict, homosexuality, espionage, insanity and farce. Through an astonishing range of material, Macintyre reveals a remarkable cast of characters, wider than previously seen and hitherto hidden from history, taking in prisoners and captors who were living cheek-by-jowl in a thrilling game of cat and mouse. From the Indian doctor whose hunger strike and eventual escape reads like a thriller, to America's oldest paratrooper and least successful secret agent, the soldier-prisoners of Colditz were astonishingly imaginative in their escape attempts; but there were many other ways to survive while awaiting their unknown fate. Deeply researched and full of incredible colour, this is the definitive book on one of the greatest war stories ever told. (c) Ben MacIntyre 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022