Quercus: 997 books

4 A.M. End of December . . . Clinton Street, New York. A lonely goldsmith reflects on his life. He decides to return to his home village in Spain, hoping to see again an older woman with whom he had a passionate affair as a teenager. Instead he meets a young woman who captivates him...

A leading Israeli musician and her protégé return to Jerusalem for three days to perform with the Philharmonic Orchestra. Both women - one a gifted young cellist, one a Holocaust survivor saved by her extraordinary musical talent - have been in America for some time, are quickly caught up in tangled...

Mozart's Vienna. A crucible for scientific experimentation and courtly intrigue, as Europe's finest minds vie for imperial favour. In a colourful, chaotic private hospital that echoes with the shrieks of hysterical patients, Franz Anton Mesmer is developing a series of controversial cure-alls...

For the vagabond pack of ex-pat Europeans, Indian Tanzanians and wealthy Africans at Moshi's International School, it's all about getting high, getting drunk and getting laid. Their parents - drug dealers, mercenaries and farmers gone to seed - are too dead inside to give a damn. Outwardly...

'The prose is colourful and vigorous ... Jubber's journeying has indeed been epic, in scale and in ambition. In this thoughtful travelogue he has woven together colourful ancient and modern threads into a European tapestry that combines the sombre and the sparkling' Spectator 'A genuine epic' Wanderlust Award-winning...

Two young men from very different backgrounds. Christian is the son of Danish ex-pats; Marcus works as a house boy for a Swedish family, hoping they will eventually take him back to Europe with them. Their friendship defines a divided continent. When they decide to go into business...

It is the middle of the roaring twenties, and Gittel is living The Hague with her parents, whose blazing rows are the traditional preserve of Sundays and public holidays. What luck, then, that Gittel is Jewish, and must submit to "the double helping of public holidays that is the lot of Jewish...

A suitcase of stolen cash has brought three criminals together. One has a bullet in his side. One has blood on his hands. One has vengeance on his mind. Each has run from their past. Each will now fight for their future. A modern noir thriller, The Low Road highlights our desire to outrun our demons, and the dark consequences we face when we are forced to confront them.

Hitler's expansionist policies are arousing both anger and admiration, not least in Helsinki's Wednesday Club. The members of this relaxed gentleman's club are old friends of lawyer Claes Thune. But this year it is apparent that the political unrest in Europe is having an effect on the cohesion of the...

Although 1989 and 1991 witnessed more spectacular events, 1990 was a year of embryonic change in Russia: Article 6 of the constitution was abolished, and with it the Party's monopoly on political power. This fascinating collection of documentary evidence crystalizes the aspirations of the Russian...

This is Dubai: a place where the confines of the imagination no longer apply. Dubai has become the watchword for all things new, glittering and very bling - a billionaire's dream world and a haven for international expatriates promising a fantasy land of tax-free fun, sun and sin. In less than...

Explore the extraordinary stories behind some of the greatest - and strangest - adventures and explorations in human history.

"I've had thousands of problems in my life, most of which never actually happened." Mark Twain. As never before, our lives are bombarded with daily events that stir fear - real or imagined - in both our individual and collective psyches. From financial worries to social anxiety, from public...

It is Christmas in the alpine town of Furth am See and a six-year-old girl is playing ludo with her grandfather. The doorbell rings, and the old man goes to answer. The next time the girl sees him, he is lying with his skull broken, his face a red pulp against the white snow. From that time on, she...