Bøker av Keith Roberts

Osprey's survey of British soldiers during the English Civil War (1642-1651) period. When civil war erupted in England in 1642, it quickly involved every level of society throughout the British Isles. On one side the King and his supporters fought for traditional government in Church and State. On the other, the supporters of Parliament sought radical changes in religion and economic policy, and a greater share of power at the national level. This is the first of two volumes in the Elite series exploring the recruitment, organisation, and tactics of the soldiers of the English Civil War. This book opens with an account of the origins of the military theory used by both sides, before discussing the weapons, logistics and management of the infantry throughout the Civil War campaign.

To understand business and its political, cultural, and economic context, it helps to view it historically, yet most business histories look no further back than the nineteenth century. The full sweep of business history actually begins much earlier, with the initial cities of Mesopotamia. In the first book to describe and explain these origins, Roberts depicts the society of ancient traders and consumers, tracing the roots of modern business and underscoring the relationship between early and modern business practice. Roberts's narrative begins before business, which he defines as selling to voluntary buyers at a profit. Before business, he shows, the material conditions and concepts for the pursuit of profit did not exist, even though trade and manufacturing took place. The earliest business, he suggests, arose with the long distance trade of early Mesopotamia, and expanded into retail, manufacturing and finance in these command economies, culminating in the Middle Eastern empires. (Part One) But it was the largely independent rise of business, money, and markets in classical Greece that produced business much as we know it. Alexander the Great's conquests and the societies that his successors created in their kingdoms brought a version of this system to the old Middle Eastern empires, and beyond. (Part Two) At Rome this entrepreneurial market system gained important new features, including business corporations, public contracting, and even shopping malls. The story concludes with the sharp decline of business after the 3rd century CE. (Part Three) In each part, Roberts portrays the major new types of business coming into existence. He weaves these descriptions into a narrative of how the prevailing political, economic, and social culture shaped the nature and importance of business and the status, wealth, and treatment of business people. Throughout, the discussion indicates how much (and how little) business has changed, provides a clear picture of what business actually is, presents a model for understanding the social impact of business as a whole, and yields stimulating insights for public policy today.

At 2:54 a.m. on Friday October 12, 1984, an active service unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated an explosive device on the sixth floor of the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England.Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and senior members of her government were in the hotel attending their annual party conference. The device had been placed behind a bath panel in room 629 a month earlier, and was irrefutably “the most destructive single assault on the government since the attempt to blow up Parliament 380 years earlier. The object was to wipe out most of the British government, which was uncharacteristically, in a single location,” (The Times, Friday, October 12, 1984).Ten years later, in April 1994, the trial of six members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army was heard in Tucson, Arizona. The six were indicted for conspiracy to purchase explosives and weapons for use by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.This story is based on those two incidents and involves two characters: an Irishman who was one of the gang convicted for the Grand Hotel bombing, and a former British Police officer who had been on the Thatcher security detail. Their paths cross again in Northern Mexico with horrendous results, and the former policeman goes on a rampage.About the Author: This is the first novel by Keith Roberts, a former guardsman in Her Majesty’s Brigade of Guards. After retiring from the British Police, he immigrated to the USA. “I grew up in Coventry, an industrial city in the middle of England, and now live the cowboy life in Tucson, Arizona, with three horses, three dogs, and the occasional rattlesnake.Publisher’s website: http://sbprabooks.com/KeithRoberts 

A collection of 10 science fiction stories by acclaimed master Keith Roberts, author of "Pavane" and "The Chalk Giants."

The definitive alternate history - an engrossing future that never was.