John Christopher – författare

Nobody knows how long it has been since the Tripods came. Nobody remembers life on Earth before they enslaved it. Humans live in scattered farms and villages, kept quiet and obedient by the mind-controlling Caps implanted when they reach their teens. Will Parker's time is fast approaching - but a chance encounter with a madman convinces him that it may still be possible to resist the alien masters. So begins an epic tale of survival and defiance - and Will's journey to the White Mountains.

A thought experiment in future-shock survivalism' Robert MacFarlane'Gripping ... of all science fiction's apocalypses, this is one of the most haunting' Financial TimesWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT MACFARLANEA post-apocalyptic vision of the world pushed to the brink by famine, John Christopher's science fiction masterpiece The Death of Grass includes an introduction by Robert MacFarlane in Penguin Modern Classics.At first the virus wiping out grass and crops is of little concern to John Custance. It has decimated Asia, causing mass starvation and riots, but Europe is safe and a counter-virus is expected any day. Except, it turns out, the governments have been lying to their people. When the deadly disease hits Britain, society starts to descend into barbarism. As John and his family try to make it across country to the safety of his brother's farm in a hidden valley, their humanity is tested to its very limits. A chilling psychological thriller and one of the greatest post-apocalyptic novels ever written, The Death of Grass shows people struggling to hold on to their identities as the familiar world disintegrates - and the terrible price they must pay for surviving.John Christopher (1922-2012) was the pen name of Samuel Youd, a prolific writer of science fiction. His novels were popular during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably The Death Of Grass (1956), The World in Winter (1962), and Wrinkle in the Skin (1965), all works depicting ordinary people struggling in the midst of apocalyptic catastrophes. In 1966 he started writing science-fiction for adolescents; The Tripods trilogy, the Prince in Waiting trilogy (also known as the Sword of the Spirits trilogy) and The Lotus Caves are still widely read today.Ifyou enjoyed The Death of Grass, you might like John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.

A thought experiment in future-shock survivalism' Robert MacFarlane'Gripping ... of all science fiction's apocalypses, this is one of the most haunting' Financial TimesWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT MACFARLANEA post-apocalyptic vision of the world pushed to the brink by famine, John Christopher's science fiction masterpiece The Death of Grass includes an introduction by Robert MacFarlane in Penguin Modern Classics.At first the virus wiping out grass and crops is of little concern to John Custance. It has decimated Asia, causing mass starvation and riots, but Europe is safe and a counter-virus is expected any day. Except, it turns out, the governments have been lying to their people. When the deadly disease hits Britain, society starts to descend into barbarism. As John and his family try to make it across country to the safety of his brother's farm in a hidden valley, their humanity is tested to its very limits. A chilling psychological thriller and one of the greatest post-apocalyptic novels ever written, The Death of Grass shows people struggling to hold on to their identities as the familiar world disintegrates - and the terrible price they must pay for surviving.John Christopher (1922-2012) was the pen name of Samuel Youd, a prolific writer of science fiction. His novels were popular during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably The Death Of Grass (1956), The World in Winter (1962), and Wrinkle in the Skin (1965), all works depicting ordinary people struggling in the midst of apocalyptic catastrophes. In 1966 he started writing science-fiction for adolescents; The Tripods trilogy, the Prince in Waiting trilogy (also known as the Sword of the Spirits trilogy) and The Lotus Caves are still widely read today.Ifyou enjoyed The Death of Grass, you might like John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.

The most consistent of all series in terms of language control, length, and quality of story.David R. Hill, Director of the Edinburgh Project on Extensive Reading.

The moral of this story, set in the 21st century, is that freedom has to be won and kept by the young. It won the "Guardian" Prize for Children's Literature.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel changed the world as we know it. He was responsible for building the Great Western Railway main line, introducing regular steamship travel across the Atlantic, building the first tunnel under a major river, and constructing docks, harbours and bridges that enabled Britain to expand and grow as the powerhouse of the world. Without his foresight and imagination, it is possible that nineteenth-century Britain might have been very different. There have been many books written about the man himself, but this book concentrates upon the structures, buildings and legacy of Brunel, introducing the reader to this great engineer and embarking upon a tour around Britain that reveals the many locations with a Brunel connection.

The archetypal Routemaster is arguably the most recognised vehicle in the world, as witnessed at the recent Beijing Olympic handover ceremony. Buses have been operating on London's streets since 1829, originally with horse-drawn omnibuses, and the London Omnibus Company was founded in 1855 to regulate the various services. The first motorised buses made an appearance in 1902 with the LGOC beginning to manufacture the buses itself two years later. For six decades London went its own way with specially designed buses. More recent innovations such as the 'bendy' bus have not been popular, but today practicality of pushchair and wheelchair access has consigned the Routemaster to a nostalgic, but much-loved, position. With full-colour photographs, this book comprehensively tells the story behind London's famous red buses.

The SS Great Britain Story is a concise account of one of the most famous steamships ever built. The great Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel embraced the latest innovations, including an iron hull and a screw-propeller, to create an ocean liner that was decades ahead of its time. Launched by Prince Albert in 1843, the SS Great Britain was nearly lost three years later when she ran aground in Dundrum Bay, Ireland. Fortunately she weathered the winter storms and went on to enjoy a long and chequered career. She spent many years transporting emigrants to Australia, served as a cargo vessel, and almost ended her days stranded on the Falkland Islands. Following an incredible rescue mission in the 1970s, fully documented here, she was returned to dry-dock in Bristol, where she was originally built, and is now the centrepiece of a fascinating and ongoing restoration project.

Monstrous machines rule the Earth, but a few humans are fighting for freedom in this repackaged start to a classic alien trilogy ideal for fans of Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave.Will Parker never dreamed he would be the one to rebel against the Tripods. With the approach of his thirteenth birthday, he expected to attend his Capping ceremony as planned and to become connected to the Tripods—huge three-legged machines—that now control all of Earth. But after an encounter with a strange homeless man called Beanpole, Will sets out for the White Mountains, where people are said to be free from the control of the Tripods. But even with the help of Beanpole and his friends, the journey is long and hard. And with the Tripods hunting for anyone who tries to break free, Will must reach the White Mountains fast. But the longer he’s away from his home, the more the Tripods look for him…and no one can hide from the monstrous machines forever.

LONDON needed rebuilding after the great fire of 1666. Eighty-eight churches had been destroyed and a grand plan to rebuild them was started by Sir Christopher Wren. In the end, he designed fifty-one new churches and the splendour that is St Paul's Cathedral. Of the fifty-one churches, many have been lost, either to a combination of Victorian indifference, fire, subsidence or German bombs. Twelve Wren City churches survive in their original form, while many of the remaining churches have been rebuilt or substantially altered. Wren left an amazing legacy and John Christopher takes us on a tour of the churches, showing them as built and showing us a comparison scene of today.

Bournemouth Through Time is a wonderful collection of old and new photographs of Bournemouth. The older images are printed alongside a contemporary full colour photograph, which illustrates the same scene. The contrasting illustrations show how the area has changed and developed during the last 100 years. The photographs illustrate shops, schools, garages, churches, houses and street scenes.As you browse through the photographs, you will notice the increase in the number of vehicles on the roads and the number of residents, how shops and other businesses have evolved and the changes and developments in modes of transportation and the architecture of the area.

Intended for the British Army as a contract for a small, Jeep-like, air-portable vehicle, the Mini Moke was a failure at this role and found its success as a fun, sunshine toy, equally at home on the beach as in the mountains. Over 50,000 were made and many still survive. Its most famous role was in the cult TV series The Prisoner. The Moke was manufactured in Britain and later in Australia and Portugal. With Mini running gear, the Moke is a practical and fun vehicle for the summer and this explains why so many survive to the present day. John Christopher tells the story of the Moke and the varieties from development to preservation.

LONDON needed rebuilding after the great fire of 1666. Eighty-eight churches had been destroyed and a grand plan to rebuild them was started by Sir Christopher Wren. In the end, he designed fifty-one new churches and the splendour that is St Paul''s Cathedral. Of the fifty-one churches, many have been lost, either to a combination of Victorian indifference, fire, subsidence or German bombs. Twelve Wren City churches survive in their original form, while many of the remaining churches have been rebuilt or substantially altered. Wren left an amazing legacy and John Christopher takes us on a tour of the churches, showing them as built and showing us a comparison scene of today.

Cornwall marks the extreme south-western extent of Brunel’s kingdom and the county is surprisingly rich in his works. The Royal Albert Bridge, which crosses the River Tamar, connected the broad gauge network with the Cornwall and West Cornwall railways – both engineered by Brunel – to take the trains coming from Paddington all the way to Penzance via a series of over sixty spectacular timber viaducts. The original viaducts have gone now, either modified or replaced over the years, but in many cases the masonry piers remain like rows of monolithic sentinels. As a result there is much to reward the Brunel hunter, including the branch line to Falmouth and many surviving examples of his railway stations. There are other connections, literally. His Great Eastern steamship was the first vessel to successfully lay a telegraphic cable to connect Europe and the USA – a story told at the historic Porthcurno Telegraph Museum near Land’s End. John Christopher, an acknowledged expert on Brunel, takes us on a tour of Cornwall, exploring his works in the county. This is the latest in a series of books which are about rediscovering Brunel’s works in your area.

In 1948, on the Isle of Anglesey, the first prototype Land Rover was put through its paces. It was a utilitarian four wheel-drive vehicle, designed for farmers, who could use it for a multitude of purposes. The vehicle, made to be simple and rugged, had an aluminium alloy body with a steel chassis. Intended as a simple stopgap for Rover, while post-war car production restarted, the Land Rover has proved to be an enduring British icon, advertised as the ''best 4x4 x far''. Infinitely flexible, Land Rovers have appeared in short, medium and long wheelbase variants, with a host of body styles and conversions to everything from six-wheeled fire engines to motor homes. Over sixty years after the prototype was built, the Land Rover of today still resembles the original - although creature comforts may be more evident on the current Defender. Whatever form it takes, the Land Rover is still one of the few vehicles that can be found on every continent of the world, and well over 50 per cent of all Land Rovers made are still in daily use. From the Outback to the Sahara, from the plains of America to the mountains of Norway, from the savanna of Africa to the jungles of Borneo, Land Rovers are still the best 4x4 x far.

Based on a confidential wartime British Government report, this in-depth dossier details the inner workings of Organisation Todt, which not only built the Reichsautobahns, but also Germany's Siegfried Line and the Atlantic Wall. Founded by the charismatic Fritz Todt, the OT was responsible for the construction of all of the major military works across Europe - from the Siegfried Line and Atlantic Wall, to the U-Boat pens and V1 and V2 weapon sites. When Fritz Todt died in a fl ying accident in 1942 he was succeeded by Hitler's chief architect, Albert Speer, who was also appointed as Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production. Although the OT was not a military organization as such, it literally underpinned the Nazis' stranglehold on the occupied territories. Not just through the fortifications but also through the systematic and highly controversial use of enforced labour drawn from the populations of the vanquished countries. At its peak the OT consisted of a force of almost two million men and women, and it is through the depth of detail revealed in this handbook that we discover the largely untold human story.

Bradshaw’s Guide of 1863 was the staple book on what’s what and where’s where for the mid-Victorians and it gives the modern reader a unique insight into the world of the nineteenth-century railway travellers. Built primarily to provide a passenger service, the railways of Ireland would go on to open up the country to tourism in new ways. They also brought communities closer together and many journeys that once took days to complete could now be undertaken in hours. This illustrated guide records the sights to be seen in the towns and cities encountered along the various routes.John Christopher and Campbell McCutcheon take us on the railways of Ireland, using contemporary Victorian and Edwardian photographs and postcards to illustrate the scenes that the readers of Bradshaw’s Guide to the Railways would have experienced. This volume covers several of Ireland’s railways at the time, including the Great Southern Railway, the Dublin & Kingstown Railway, the Great Southern & Western Railway, the Midland Great Western Railway, and including those of Northern Ireland.

Infinitely flexible, they have appeared in short, medium and long wheelbase variants, with a host of body styles and conversions for everything from sixwheeled fire engines to motor homes. It is more than sixty years since the prototype was built in 1948 and the Land Rover of today still resembles the original – although creature comforts may be more evident on the latest Defender models. Whatever form it takes, the Land Rover is one of the few vehicles that can be found on every continent of the world, and it is said that around 70 per cent of all Land Rovers ever made are still in daily use.Multiple Land Rover owner John Christopher tells the story of the ‘proper’ Landys, the Series I, II, IIA, III and the Defender. He also looks at the FCs, the military and emergency service vehicles, special projects, off-roading and the celebrity cars.

Nobody knows how long it has been since the Tripods came. Nobody remembers life on Earth before they enslaved it. Humans live in scattered farms and villages, kept quiet and obedient by the mind-controlling Caps implanted when they reach their teens. Will Parker's time is fast approaching - but a chance encounter with a madman convinces him that it may still be possible to resist the alien masters. So begins an epic tale of survival and defiance - and Will's journey to the White Mountains.John Christopher's classic dystopian series is available for the first time in ebook format.

Will Parker and his friends have escaped the mind-controlling alien Tripods, and found sanctuary in the White Mountains - but when an opportunity arises for them to infiltrate a Tripod city, they realise they have a chance to strike back against the invaders. What they learn there may hold the key to liberating humanity - if they can survive the beauty and terror of the City of Gold and Lead.The second book in John Christopher's classic dystopian series is available for the first time as an ebook.

The final battle for the Earth has begun, as the human resistance strikes back against their alien Tripod masters. Will Parker and his friends prepare to lead daring commando raids against the cities of the invaders, with nothing less than the fate of the world at stake. The thrilling conclusion to John Christopher's classic dystopian series is available for the first time as an ebook.

When the alien Tripod machines land on Earth, they don't seem much of a threat. The first skirmishes end in victory for the human forces. But the real danger - the insidious mind-controlling powers of the Tripod Masters - is only just beginning. Laurie and his family must flee their homes as the invaders tighten their tentacled grip - and find a place to start the fight back...The thrilling and eerie prequel John Christopher's classic dystopian Tripods series is available for the first time in ebook format.

John and Brea have lived very different lives. His began as a near orphan in New York City, where he became involved with, and practically raised by, the mob; accepted as a man of honor by his fellow mobsters, young and old. His involvement in an incident, one resulting in the death of his childhood friend, lands him in prison. He now wears not only some physical scars, he carries a consuming agony and guilt over this night that took the life of his friend. Brea Rhodes is a golden girl, a sweetheart of Hollywood. A famous starlet, she is swarmed by rumor-hungry paparazzi; despite her success, however, theres something sad about the young beauty.

After his release from prison, John accepts an offer from a senior fellow mobster, and also fatherly figure to John, to head out west and tend to a faltering businesshe, seemingly by chance, runs into Brea one day at a deli. He also makes the acquaintance of enigmatic Hollywood agent to the stars named Gabe. Something about John interests Gabe, and Gabe invites John to a fancy celebrity gala hes hosting. Brea also happens to attend, and soon John and Brea find they have more in common than they imagined.

Their love affair is rapid and passionate. They cant get enough of each other, and John feels the need to keep her protected from his past and from the paparazzi. Soon, turmoil resulting from the death of his fatherly, senior mobster back east, calls John home. He must now choose between the life he once lived and the life he hopes to start with Brea. What will his final alliance be, and will John be able to protect his butterfly from the oncoming storm?

FOR THE LOVE OF A BUTTERFLY is a story of love, compassion, divine beauty and divine redemption. It is a heartfelt tale of love, with philosophical undertones that contemplate good and evil, right and wrong, pain, sacrifice, loneliness, and the divinity found in sincerity, found in truth.