{"title":"Neil Hanson","description":"NEIL HANSON is the author of \"\"The Custom of the Sea\"\" (Wiley) and thirty other books under his own name and a variety of pen names. He lives in West Yorkshire, England.","products":[{"product_id":"the-great-fire-of-london-in-that-apocalyptic-year-1666-paperback","title":"The Great Fire of London: In That Apocalyptic Year, 1666 - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe tragic story of the disastrous London fire is told here from both a human and architectural point of view, as the fire destroyed lives along with buildings such as the original St. Paul's cathedral.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcclaim for \"\"The Great Fire of London\"\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\"Popular narrative history at its best, well researched, imaginatively and dramatically written. . . . The author marshals his story and his mass of contemporary quotations with great skill.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e--\"\"Times Literary Supplement\"\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\"The brilliance of its narrative chapters . . . a marvelous eye for evocative detail. Hanson's prose is animated by the ferocious energy of the fire and seems to be guided by its inexorable movement. He creates the literary equivalent of the special effects in a disaster movie. . . . A rich mixture of imagination and research.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e--\"\"The Daily Telegraph\"\" (London)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\"He writes with knowledge and verve. As if making a television documentary on a natural disaster, he includes a gripping technical chapter on the mechanism and chemistry of combustion. This works brilliantly. . . . The book gains immeasurably from the author's eye for detail and from his understanding of the beliefs and prejudices of the day. . . . Informative and lively account.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e--\"\"The Sunday Times\"\" (London)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\"The best depiction of the Great Fire seen to date. . . . He manages to describe not only the atmosphere of the event itself, but also the experience of living in seventeenth-century Britain.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e--\"\"Soho Independent\"\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\"A riveting book for those who like their history with a bit of mystery.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e--\"\"The Brisbane News\"\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\"A rollicking good yarn.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e--\"\"The Age\"\" (Melbourne)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\"Blends high-class original research with a narrative style that mimics fiction. . . . Horrific subjects have served this man well and he has a knack for plugging into the dark themes that run like molten rivers beneath our social veneer.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e--\"\"New Zealand Herald\"\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\"Neil Hanson's descriptions of the inferno are like CNN reports from Kosovo.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e--\"\"Camden New Journal\"\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\"It's not the technical data which makes the book so riveting though. It's the flair with which Hanson invests his account with qualities usually reserved for novels-narrative drive, persuasive character sketches, vivid scene stealing.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e--\"\"Sunday Star Times\"\" (New Zealand)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51367544193247,"sku":"9781620458389","price":21.55,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/rHmaiv-K1u9781620458389.webp?v=1789109785"},{"product_id":"the-custom-of-the-sea-a-shocking-true-tale-of-shipwreck-murder-and-the-last-taboo-paperback","title":"The Custom of the Sea: A Shocking True Tale of Shipwreck, Murder, and the Last Taboo - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe inspiration for the Broadway musical \u003ci\u003eSwept Away\u003c\/i\u003e: \"An exciting, historically accurate depiction of a disastrous 19th-century sea journey.\" --\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In the late 1800s, the Essex coast of England was known for producing the toughest, most skilled seamen. Tom Dudley was one of them. Though a well-known and respected figure among the local yacht-racing community, he had little experience of deep-sea sailing. Still, Tom agreed to sail more than ten thousand miles to deliver a yacht to its new owner in Sydney, Australia. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Almost immediately, the twenty-year-old \u003ci\u003eMignonette\u003c\/i\u003e starts taking on water--a harbinger for events to come. Tom stops for repairs at Southampton, where his crew abandons him. After recruiting three new men--including a teenage boy who lies about his age--Tom sets off, filled with optimism and dreams of new opportunities in a new land. But then a savage storm sinks the \u003ci\u003eMignonette\u003c\/i\u003e, leaving Tom and his crew in a thirteen-foot-long dinghy a thousand miles from land. In a shark-filled sea, with no water and little food, the men face a horrific fate--and must sacrifice their very humanity to survive . . . \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Four men set out on the \u003ci\u003eMignonette\u003c\/i\u003e, but only three will make it back alive. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"The nightmarish events of the shipwreck are reported with real power.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Makes astonishing reading . . . extraordinary.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A gripping tale of four sailors adrift at sea . . . Gruesome and completely fascinating.\" --\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A terrific story . . . a riveting read.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51368264073439,"sku":"9781504096898","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/18txZoYrF89781504096898.webp?v=1789125139"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/neil-hanson.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}