Giles Foden – författare

At the start of World War One, German warships controlled Lake Tanganyika in Central Africa. The British had no naval craft at all upon 'Tanganjikasee', as the Germans called it. This mattered: it was the longest lake in the world and of great strategic advantage. In June 1915, a force of 28 men was despatched from Britain on a vast journey. Their orders were to take control of the lake. To reach it, they had to haul two motorboats with the unlikely names of Mimi and Toutou through the wilds of the Congo.The 28 were a strange bunch -- one was addicted to Worcester sauce, another was a former racing driver -- but the strangest of all of them was their skirt-wearing, tattoo-covered commander, Geoffrey Spicer-Simson. Whatever it took, even if it meant becoming the god of a local tribe, he was determined to cover himself in glory. But the Germans had a surprise in store for Spicer-Simson, in the shape of their secret 'supership' the Graf von Gotzen . . .Unearthing new German and African records, the prize-winning author of The Last King of Scotland retells this most unlikely of true-life tales with his customary narrative energy and style.Fitzcarraldo meets Heart of Darkness, this is rich, vivid and flashmanesque in its appeal - military history at its most absorbing and entertaining

'Every new novel by Giles Foden is something to celebrate - my hand leaps to the shelf' PAUL THEROUX'The most original and interesting novelist of his generation' ALLAN MASSIE, SCOTSMAN2039, the Skeleton Coast of Namibia. 160,000 kilometres-square of ocean-crashed desert, littered with bones, shipwrecks and shattered dreams.Cat Brosnan, a young scientist, has just arrived, aiming to track down a much-needed water source believed to lie hidden within this vast and hostile landscape.Six years before, the search for that same fabled aquifer had led Cat's own mother to abandon her daughter in Ireland, never to be heard of again.Now Cat is ready to find out what happened to her mother, to succeed where she failed and finally discover the whereabouts of a freshwater reserve hidden under sand and rock.But she's not the only one looking for the aquifer: mining corporations want it, foreign governments too, never mind all those others who need it just to survive.In a world of sand, sun and water wars, the aquifer begins to seem like a fantasy, Cat's quest for it a mission to find her own true self.

Nicholas Garrigan has fled his native Scotland, and his parents'' expectations, to take a position as a doctor in a remote rural outpost of Central Africa. Shortly after his arrival in Uganda, he is called to the scene of a bizarre car accident: Idi Amin, manically driving his red Maserati down the dirt tracks of Garrigan''s small village, has run over a cow. Garrigan binds Amin''s sprained wrist and puts the incident behind him, until a letter arrives from the Minister of Health informing him that Amin--in his obsession with all things Scottish--has ap-pointed Garrigan his personal physician. Garrigan is instructed to settle into State House, on the grounds of Amin''s residence, immediately.  Later, Garrigan will reflect that had he known what awaited him, had he foreseen the terrifying concatenation of events this decision would set in motion, he would have boarded the first plane back to Scotland. He will wonder why it never occurred to him to simply say no. But--flattered, disarmed, and intrigued, if uneasily, by the pros-pect of entering Amin''s inner circle--he steps into the role of caring for the man who will turn out to be one of the most brutal dictators of all time.  So begins Nick Garrigan''s journey into a Con-radian heart of darkness, as his own moral centerbattles weakly against, and then succumbs to, the dark and irresistible seductions of Idi Amin Dada, whose cruelty and cunning are masked by brilliant rhetoric, hilarious wit, and electrifying personal magnetism. When at last Nick awakens to the horrors of Amin''s regime, he must awaken also to his own complicity in it--he cared for Amin, as a doctor and as a friend--and to the knowledge that he is both a traitor to his own country and a prisoner in his new one. By turns comic and chilling, Giles Foden''s The Last King of Scotland is a masterful debut from a remarkable talent--a riveting history of "blood, misery and foolishness" that lingers in the mind long after the last page is turned, and a profound meditation on conscience, charisma, and the slow corruption of the human heart.

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Pearson English Readers bring language learning to life through the joy of reading.

 

Well-written stories entertain us, make us think, and keep our interest page after page. Pearson English Readers offer teenage and adult learners a huge range of titles, all featuring carefully graded language to make them accessible to learners of all abilities.

 

Through the imagination of some of the world’s greatest authors, the English language comes to life in pages of our Readers. Students have the pleasure and satisfaction of reading these stories in English, and at the same time develop a broader vocabulary, greater comprehension and reading fluency, improved grammar, and greater confidence and ability to express themselves.

 

Find out more at english.com/readers

'Every new novel by Giles Foden is something to celebrate' Paul Theroux'An amazing and profound work, rich in memorable detail' Jay Parini'Foden has cleverly reworked the grand African adventure novel' Aminatta Forna, Guardian'A perceptive, compassionate history of an enormously complex conflict' Irish Times'Sharp and fast-paced. Foden does a fine job of locating the reader in the maelstrom of this brutal period in Congo's past, taking us deep into the heart of a complex conflict' Observer1996: in a Ugandan dive bar, the 'freight dogs' gather. An anarchic group of mercenary pilots from Texas, Russia, Kenya and Belgium who transport weapons between warring African nations, without allegiance.And tonight they have a new recruit - Manu, a nineteen-year-old cowherd fleeing Congo's bloody war.Taken in by this band of unlikely brothers, Manu hopes to reinvent himself. But no matter how fast he flies, trouble always seems to follow closely behind...

'A gripping tale of tropical corruption' Spectator'A genuine imaginative achievement' Daily Telegraph'As convincing and terrifying a portrait of a capricious tyrant as I have ever read' Evening StandardIn an incredible twist of fate, a Scottish doctor on a Ugandan medical mission becomes irreversibly entangled with one of the world's most barbaric figures: Idi Amin. Impressed by Dr. Garrigan's brazen attitude in a moment of crisis, the newly self-appointed Ugandan President Amin hand picks him as his personal physician and closest confidante. Though Garrigan is at first flattered and fascinated by his new position, he soon awakens to Amin's savagery - and his own complicity in it. Horror and betrayal ensue as Garrigan tries to right his wrongs and escape Uganda alive.

'Each flick of the page suggests the tick of a countdown' New York Times Books Review'Artfully well-orchestrated' Sunday Times'Splendidly tense' Los Angeles TimesThe D-day landings - the fate of millions of men and the entire future of Europe depends on the right weather conditions on the English Channel on a single morning. A team of Allied scientists is charged with agreeing on an accurate forecast five days in advance. But is it even possible to predict the weather so far ahead? Will Wallace Ryman, reclusive pacifist and renowned forecaster, divulge his secrets to the team? Can Henry Meadows, a young maths prodigy, save the day? Or will turbulence prove even more elusive than imagined and events, like the weather, begin to spiral out of control?FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

'A fascinating read: Wilbur Smith meets William Boyd in the warm seas and spice-scented air of Zanzibar' New Statesman'A riveting thriller' ObserverThe year is 1998. Nick, a marine biologist, is working on coral reef protection off the idyllic island of Zanzibar. While on a trip to mainland Tanzania, he meets Miranda, who works in the US embassy there. As romance blooms, the couple could be forgiven for thinking they are living in paradise - until they find themselves embroiled in a desperate terrorist conspiracy.From the bestselling author of the LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

'Captivating ... A highly accomplished historical novel' Washington Post 'Superbly described ... achieves a subtle, disconcerting effect' New York Review of BooksIn the dying days of the 19th century, the world's eyes turn to the small South African town of Ladysmith. Under siege from Boer forces, British soldiers and townsfolk wait for rescue. They try to keep their spirits up with parties and cricket matches, but General Buller's relief column cannot break through. All that arrives is danger, disease and starvation.Amongst a cast of characters ranging from Irish Republican renegades to London literary editors, from Churchill to Gandhi, is one young woman. For Bella Kiernan, the siege represents an unexpected chance to rebel against constricting social and domestic bonds and pursue a life of romance and adventure.From the bestselling author of THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

'Every new novel by Giles Foden is something to celebrate - my hand leaps to the shelf' PAUL THEROUX'The most original and interesting novelist of his generation' ALLAN MASSIE, SCOTSMAN2039, the Skeleton Coast of Namibia. 160,000 kilometres-square of ocean-crashed desert, littered with bones, shipwrecks and shattered dreams.Cat Brosnan, a young scientist, has just arrived, aiming to track down a much-needed water source believed to lie hidden within this vast and hostile landscape.Six years before, the search for that same fabled aquifer had led Cat's own mother to abandon her daughter in Ireland, never to be heard of again.Now Cat is ready to find out what happened to her mother, to succeed where she failed and finally discover the whereabouts of a freshwater reserve hidden under sand and rock.But she's not the only one looking for the aquifer: mining corporations want it, foreign governments too, never mind all those others who need it just to survive.In a world of sand, sun and water wars, the aquifer begins to seem like a fantasy, Cat's quest for it a mission to find her own true self.

‘He is the sickness and you maintain that sickness.’Idi Amin is the self-declared President of Uganda. When Scottish medic Nicholas Garrigan becomes his personal physician, he is catapulted into Amin's inner circle. A useful asset for the British Secret Service, is Garrigan the man on the inside, or does he have blood on his hands too?Giles Foden's multi-award-winning novel The Last King of Scotland is an electrifying thriller about corruption and complicity. This stage adaptation by Steve Waters premiered at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, in September 2019, directed by Gbolahan Obisesan.

Namibia's Skeleton Coast.A place of vast dunes and rusting ship hulks, where the cold Benguela current rises dense ocean fogs, and black-maned lions eke out the last of their subspecies.It once seemed to Irish scientist Ailidh Conroy that she could find water there. But her search for an aquifer left her with nothing but a Russian military cap and a baby on the way.Twenty-four years later, when Ailidh's daughter Chalice is summoned to Africa, she seems likely to follow the same fatal path as her parents. Haunted by memoires of the Russian military cap that used to hang on her mother's bedroom door, Chalice is forced to reckon with the same dangers and mysteries that her parents faced before her. And that's all before Chalice finds, on the slippery ledges of the fabled underground aquifer, another set of human remains - those of her parents.But as she discovers them, lions approach . . .How will Chalice escape the twin threats, human and animal, that she faces? Is there a chance for her to lie to rest the mysteries of her past? And what does it mean for the lions, whether humans control the aquifer? These are the questions arising in a novel that continues Giles Foden's project of investigating abuse of power in Africa.