Books with author James Barr

The magical Peter Pan comes to the night nursery of the Darling children, Wendy, John and Michael. He teaches them to fly, then takes them through the sky to Never-Never Land, where they find Red Indians, wolves, Mermaids and Pirates. The novel was inspired by Barrie's friendship with the Llewelyn Davies family, and the character's name comes from two sources: Peter Llewelyn Davies, one of the boys, and Pan, the mischievous Greek god of the woodlands.

In 1840 Scotland, a young lass named Babbie revels in the country life and frolics with the locals, simple weavers whose livelihood is threatened by increasing industrialization. When Lord Rintoul attempts to rout the rebellious weavers, Babbie always manages to send word in time to prevent their being taken by surprise. Gavin, new minister to the town, falls in love with Babbie, and his relationship with the young gypsy almost costs him his position. But what Gavin and his parishioners do not know is that Babbie is actually Lady Babbie, ward of Lord Rintoul. Author of Peter Pan.

The plot line reveals that, as a baby, Peter Pan fell out of his carriage and was taken by fairies to Neverland, where he can fly and is the champion of the Lost Boys. Revisiting England, Peter becomes involved with Wendy Darling and her younger brothers. Invited by Peter to come to Neverland to be the Lost Boys’ mother, Wendy and her brothers fly with Peter to an island populated by pirates (including Peter’s sworn enemy, Captain Hook of the brig Jolly Roger); a crocodile with a taste for human flesh; Tinker Bell, the irritable fairy; and Tiger Lily, a Native American princess in competition with Wendy and Tinker Bell for Peter’s affection. Peter, however, shows little reciprocal interest: that sort of thing is for grown-ups, like caring and responsibility. The delight of the book lies in their magical adventures—their flights above the trees and the fights with Captain Hook—and behind it all is the never-stopping, ever-present tick of the clock that the crocodile swallowed (in addition to Hook’s hand, which Peter had cut off). The Darling children eventually return home, taking the Lost Boys with them and leaving Peter Pan to his perpetual boyhood.

Indian Territory, 1881. Brody Martin, at 15, has survived a gunpowder explosion, a bear attack, a panther attack, and more than one attempt on his life. But now he is wanted in Fort Smith for a crime he did not (exactly) commit, and bounty hunters are on his trail. In an effort to elude them, he finds a crack in the face of a ridge and slips into a cavern known as the Devil's Den, trapped by the men who would like to redeem the price on his head dead or alive.Separated from his closest friend Ames, a former slave and Civil War veteran, and Wolf, a Cherokee tracker and unlikely ally, Brody is left to contemplate his options and the friends and family he may never see again.

The cinematic phenomenon that is Star Wars has touched many people all over the world so, ahead of its new dawn beginning with The Force Awakens, this is the tale of one person's 30-odd year love affair with something which sprung from the mind of one man back in the 1970s.You won't believe the lengths the author went to to see The Phantom Menace back in 1999, but what happened during that first eventful viewing will make you point and laugh at him!What defences did the author use, as a young lad, to protect himself against Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine?How has the promotional drive for The Force Awakens been received, and why was Warwick Davis ticked off at a recent event in London?Gasp as the author imagines a late-night discussion between C-3PO and a rather inebriated R2-D2!And you'll be rewarded for your purchase with a link to a podcast involving two Star Wars geeks drinking beer and commentating over one of the films.All this and much more awaits you - punch it, Chewie!

This collection of ten papers investigates the Norse colonization of the North Atlantic region, starting with Viking expansion in Arctic Norway and ending with a discussion of the longterm implications of medieval Scandinavian exploration of the New World. Each chapter provides a short regional synthesis of the archaeological evidence and, where appropriate, addresses three interrelated themes: the relationship between native and newcomer; the creation of local identities in the settlement period; the relationship between archaeology, history and the construction of modern national identities. In sequence, the chapters focus on North Norway, the Faeroes, Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, the Inuits of Smith Sound, L'Anse aux Meadows and Vinland, together with introductory and concluding chapters.