From the dark and dangerous alleys of Tudor London to the busy streets of today’s city, spies have always found plenty of work. In this book, you can read about how the Gunpowder Plot was uncovered, who the highest-ever paid spy was, Elizabeth I’s wily spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham, the code-cracking boffins of World War II, and the real James Bond.
How would you spot a witch or a wizard? And how exactly would you describe one? Do they all wear pointy hats, use wands, and sport pointy beards, or are they more difficult to detect? Are they simply misguided hippies or do they really exist? Make up your own mind as you read about London’s witching times, including stories about the real Philosopher’s Stone, Elizabeth I’s favorite wizard, the witch-hunting craze that swept Britain, and how being a lonely old lady with a fondness for pets could be your undoing.
Everything you always wanted to know about Victorian London: - What was The Great Stink (not a Victorian teenager's bedroom)? - Life (or most likely death) in the workhouse - Chimney sweeps and apprentices--the life of an average working child - Begging and pickpocketing--survival on the streets - The diary of Queen Vic (the woman, not the pub) - Life in the rookeries - Jack the Ripper, opium dens and the Victorian underworld - Charles Dickens, Avenging Angel - Public hangings and other entertainments - The turn of the tide--the age of reform From the audacious Crystal Palace--a symbol of the age--to the slums of St Giles, Victorian London is a place of greater contrasts than in any other period. The more shocking because it is the most recent period in the series, here the streets are teeming with gents and pickpockets, vicars and prostitutes, philanthropists and murderers.
There's no doubt about it, London has always attracted a better class of royal killer. After all, they get big viewing figures for executions of their enemies (and they say today's TV is dumbing down). And just think about the facilities at the Tower of London - it's a torturer's paradise.But just how bloody were these monarchs? Among other favourite royal baddies, you'll find:- Henry VIII: Husband from Hell, or just a man with a big heart?- Richard III: Murdering uncle or misunderstood softie?- Elizabeth I: Vengeful harpie or brilliant babe?- Bloody Mary: Say no more, or mixed-up kid?- King John: Rotten ruller or just a shortie with a height complex?With body counts and torture tellies for each king and queen, you can decide for yourself which one was the capital's most murderous monarch.
Everything you always wanted to know about Tudor London: - The Elizabethan underworld--spies and secret agents - A day in the life of a Thames waterman (Tudor cabbie) - Hanging, drawing and quartering--the Tudors' delight - Tudor food--from the court to the slums - Execution hotspots - Life on the dockside - Bloody Mary's witch dilemma--to hang or to burn, that is the question - Going out--the new theatres, bear baiting, cock and bull fighting - How to play religious musical chairs - How to play Elizabethan football A trip back to Tudor London is to experience all the contrasts of the period--the wealth and poverty, the opulence and misery. With letters, diaries, death warrants, poems, days in the lives of Tudor children, rich and poor, and a guide to the impossibly dark and dangerous streets of the city.
A mummy is stolen from the museum, and Kit and her friends follow the East End Mob to Egypt, but in the temple, the villains and Kit find a terrible power of Egypt.
Kit's second adventure, set in India, involves dark secrets at the maharajah's palace, lost treasure, a bear attack in the Himalayas, and a naughty monkey, filled with an ancient evil When world-famous explorer Gustav Champlon disappears just before a trip to India to find lost treasure, Kit Salter is determined to discover why. Tiny footprints in Gustav’s room put her on the trail of a naughty Indian monkey. Before long, she and her friends are aboard a steamer to India on a quest to find the monkey and save Champlon. Welcomed into the palace of the boy Maharajah, a fabulous adventure ensues, complete with tiger hunts, court intrigue, and a mountain expedition to find the lost paradise of Shambala.
Oxford, 1872: Abenteuerlust liegt der 12-jährigen Kit Salter im Blut. Deshalb will sie unbedingt dabei sein, wenn die Mumie des berühmten Ptah-Hotep der Öffentlichkeit präsentiert werden soll. Mit ihren Freunden schleicht sich Kit ins Museum. Doch der Sarkophag ist leer! Ein geheimnisvoller Unbekannter hat die ägyptische Mumie gestohlen und dadurch einen Fluch heraufbeschworen. Einen Fluch, der Kit und ihre Gefährten in einer rasanten Jagd um die halbe Welt führt.
Oxford 1873: Wo das Abenteuer wartet, ist Kit Salter nicht weit. Doch auf diese Reise hätte sie lieber verzichtet: Die skrupellosen Baker-Brüder zwingen sie und ihre Freunde, sich auf den Weg ins ferne China zu machen. Dort sollen die jungen Abenteurer das mysteriöse Buch der Knochen aufspüren. Der Legende nach birgt es das Geheimnis ewiger Jugend. Doch die Suche ist ein Wettlauf gegen die Zeit, denn in Kits Adern fließt ein tödliches Gift.
