Shakespeares Strangest Tales

Download or read book Shakespeare's Strangest Tales written by Iain Spragg and published by Portico. This book was released on 2016-04-04 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating playbill of stories from the weird and wonderful world of Shakespearean theatre through the centuries, including distinguished actors falling off stages, fluffed lines, performances in the dark, and why you must never, ever say the name of that Scottish play, especially if you are Peter O'Toole. Discover a wealth of Shakespearean shenanigans over the years, including the terrible behaviour of the groundlings at Shakespeare's Globe, how the 'rude mechanicals' in A Midsummer Night's Dream got recast as a bunch of ladies from the WI, and how Dame Maggie Smith got even with Sir Laurence Olivier. Published to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, this treasury of curious tales is a must-read for all Shakespeare lovers and theatre fans. Word count: 45,000

Download or read book Teachers' Strangest Tales written by Iain Spragg and published by Portico. This book was released on 2016-06-09 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A hilarious assortment of the weirdest and wackiest tales ever to come out of the classroom – and they’re all true. Featuring the flamboyant swimming teacher who spent his spare time fighting bears, the story of how a fight with his teacher paved the way for Al Capone’s infamous crime empire, and the bizarre tale of the American teacher who sued her own pupils for not paying attention in her lesson, this book is a real education. An ideal end-of-year teacher gift, this fascinating book is also a must-read for anyone who’s ever been to school. So stop talking at the back, pay attention and start reading! Word count: 45,000

Download or read book Sailing's Strangest Tales written by John Harding and published by Portico. This book was released on 2016-08-08 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating collection of entertaining stories from the seven seas reveals unusual and bizarre sailing trips, vessels and characters, and recounts perilous journeys in freak weather and other legendary tales. Within these pages you’ll find stories of pirates holding ships to ransom and the gruesome fates of some of the shipmates who dared cross them. The sailors forever lost in the Bermuda triangle, the poor family who were encircled by a school of sharks to the spooky tales of the lighthouse haunted by drunkard lightship keeper John Herman. The tales within these pages are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious and, most importantly, true. Revised, redesigned and updated for 2016, this book is the perfect gift for both keen sailors to the armchair Captains. Word count: 45,000

Download or read book London's Truly Strangest Tales written by Tom Quinn and published by Portico. This book was released on 2017-03-16 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More extraordinary but true stories from London’s history. In this fascinating follow-up to his bestselling London’s Strangest Tales, Tom Quinn makes a further foray into the weirder side of the capital, bringing us a splendiforous collection of bizarre-but-true stories that explore a thousand years of London’s history. Discover the ghosts that stalk West End theatres, the mysterious mummy who lives in a City church cupboard, and secret tunnels under the Thames. Find out why there’s a TARDIS at Earl’s Court, why frogs once rained from the skies, and why the mulberry tree in the gardens at Buckingham Palace isn’t quite what it was supposed to be. A dip-in-and-outable treasure trove of London lore, London’s Truly Strangest Tales is both an ideal gift for dyed-in-the-wool Londoners who want to find out more about the great city they live in, and the perfect souvenir for people just passing through. Word count: 58,000

Download or read book Railways' Strangest Tales written by Tom Quinn and published by Portico. This book was released on 2018-02-15 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating collection of bizarre but true stories from nearly 200 years of railway history. Right from the very start, when George Stephenson’s famous Rocket knocked over and killed a government minister at the opening of the Liverpool to Manchester line in 1830, the world’s railways have given rise to plenty of intriguing stories. In this fascinating book, revised and updated with a new selection of tales, railway buff Tom Quinn explores the more bizarre side of train travel, featuring weird weather conditions, audacious robberies, hair-raising accidents, vanishing passengers, an infestation of maggots and a mysterious missing mummy. From the dawn of rail travel, when speeds of 15mph were considered dangerous to health and people mistook engines for fire-breathing demons, through the Victorian heyday of royal trains and seaside specials to today’s more prosaic leaves on the line, this whistlestop tour through railways’ long and storied history is the perfect gift for armchair travellers, history fans and trainspotters. Word count: 60,000

Download or read book Royalty's Strangest Tales written by Geoff Tibballs and published by Portico. This book was released on 2017-07-13 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A rollicking collection of stories featuring the craziest, daftest and most outrageous monarchs the world has ever known. Packed with royal stories from 2,000 years of history, from the immortality-obsessed first Emperor of China to the master of tact and diplomacy, Prince Philip, this book will leave the reader fascinated, entertained and occasionally appalled. We’ll meet all sorts of colourful royal characters, including the Roman Emperor Caligula, who was unspeakably cruel to his subjects but worshipped his horse, Charles VI of France, convinced he was made of glass, and Frederick William I of Prussia, who recruited – and sometimes kidnapped – the tallest men in Europe to form his private army. There are tales of scandal, including secret marriages, illegitimate offspring, royal pickpockets and alleged vampirism, and madness, cross-dressing and pigeon-fancying also crop up! Fully updated with a selection of new stories, this absorbing book is the perfect gift for history fans.

Download or read book Cricket's Strangest Matches written by Andrew Ward and published by Portico. This book was released on 2016-04-04 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cricket’s Strangest Tales is a fascinating collection of cricketing weirdness – and there’s a lot of it to choose from! Within these pages you’ll find a game that was played on ice, meet a plague of flying ants who failed to dampen players’ enthusiasm, and examples of the grand old tradition of one-armed teams versus one-legged teams. The stories in this book are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious, and, most importantly, true. Fully revised, redesigned and updated with a selection of new material for 2016, this book is the perfect gift for the cricket fanatic in your life. Word count: 45,000 words