Pocket Essentials imprint: 60 books

An updated edition just in time for Steven Spielberg's animated film The Adventures of Tintin, premiering December 23, 2011, produced by Peter Jackson and starring Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, and Jamie Bell as Tintin The silhouette of Tintin—a young man wearing golf pants, running with a white fox...

Were they angel-headed hipsters, dope smoking dropouts or the most exciting group of writers in postwar American literature? Their stories of drugs, sex and the search for an alternative to 'squaresville' have cornered the market in cult literature, remaining hip even while being taught on university...

It's one of the most successful—and surprising—of phenomena in the entire crime fiction genre: detectives (and proto-detectives) solving crimes in earlier eras. Barry Forshaw has written a lively, wide-ranging and immensely informed history of the genre, which might be said to have begun in earnest...

All major living writers, new and established, are covered and the characteristics of their different styles of writing are considered. The writers are also mapped across all regions of England as well as Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Brit Noir offers unique, lively insight and, not solely confined...

A compact and authoritative guide to the phenomenally popular genre, by a leading expert in Scandinavian crime fictionThis information-packed study examines and celebrates books, films, and TV adaptations, from Sjöwall and Wahlöö's highly influential Martin Beck series through Henning Mankell's...

With a reputation that is still rising as the world catches up with the prodigious outpouring of his imagination, and Hollywood repeatedly raiding his stories—Blade Runner, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly—Philip K. Dick remains an intriguing literary and cultural figure. At a time when most...

The word "Noir" is used here in its loosest sense: every major living American writer is considered (including the giants Harlan Coben, Patricia Cornwell, James Lee Burke, James Ellroy and Sara Paretsky, as well as non-crime writers such as Stephen King who stray into the genre), often through...

This Pocket Essential explores the awe inspiring world of Bollywood up to 2001. Bombay's prolific Hindi-language film industry is more than just a giant entertainment juggernaut for 1 billion-plus Indians worldwide. It's a part of Indian culture, language, fashion and lifestyles. It's also a great...

For more than 30 years, from his earliest work in underground Arts Lab projects, through the From Hell and America's Best Comics period, to the current and controversial Lost Girls, Moore has pushed the perimeter of the comic's medium. Moore's work crosses genre boundaries like few others, ranging...

London, more than any other city, has a secret history concealed from view. Behind the official façade promoted by the heritage industry lies a city of esoteric traditions, obscure institutions, and forgotten locations. Occult London rediscovers this history, unearthing the hidden city that lies...

In 1978 Superman made audiences believe a man could fly. Since then, superhero movies have shown that man can not only fly, but swing from webs through New York’s concrete canyons, turn monstrous shades of green if suitably angry, and dress as giant rodents to safeguard the city streets. Today,...

An informed introduction to the Christie phenomenon, updated to include new material on the final Poirot adaptation series and Sophie Hannah's The Monogram MurdersSince her debut in 1920 with The Mysterious Affair At Styles, Agatha Christie has become the chief proponent of the English village murder...

From the coronation of Charlemagne in 800 to the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007, an accessible history of the people, ideas, institutions, and events that have shaped Europe during the last 1,200 years This fascinating history for beginners provides a coherent map of the jumbled history of...

A new, updated edition puts all the Doctors under the microscope—including Matt Smith—with facts, figures and opinions on every Doctor Who story televised Doctor Who has seen many ups and downs in its long and colorful history, and this guide tracks all of them. From humble beginnings in November...