Books with author Stephen Bowkett

Commerce meets conquest in this swashbuckling story of the six merchant-adventurers who built the modern worldIt was an era when monopoly trading companies were the unofficial agents of European expansion, controlling vast numbers of people and huge tracts of land, and taking on governmental and military functions. They managed their territories as business interests, treating their subjects as employees, customers, or competitors. The leaders of these trading enterprises exercised virtually unaccountable, dictatorial political power over millions of people.The merchant kings of the Age of Heroic Commerce were a rogue's gallery of larger-than-life men who, for a couple hundred years, expanded their far-flung commercial enterprises over a sizable portion of the world. They include Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the violent and autocratic pioneer of the Dutch East India Company; Peter Stuyvesant, the one-legged governor of the Dutch West India Company, whose narrow-minded approach lost Manhattan to the British; Robert Clive, who rose from company clerk to become head of the British East India Company and one of the wealthiest men in Britain; Alexandr Baranov of the Russian American Company; Cecil Rhodes, founder of De Beers and Rhodesia; and George Simpson, the "Little Emperor" of the Hudson's Bay Company, who was chauffeured about his vast fur domain in a giant canoe, exhorting his voyageurs to paddle harder so he could set speed records.Merchant Kings looks at the rise and fall of company rule in the centuries before colonialism, when nations belatedly assumed responsibility for their commercial enterprises. A blend of biography, corporate history, and colonial history, this book offers a panoramic, new perspective on the enormous cultural, political, and social legacies, good and bad, of this first period of unfettered globalization.

Commerce meets conquest in this swashbuckling story of the six merchant-adventurers who built the modern worldIt was an era when monopoly trading companies were the unofficial agents of European expansion, controlling vast numbers of people and huge tracts of land, and taking on governmental and military functions. They managed their territories as business interests, treating their subjects as employees, customers, or competitors. The leaders of these trading enterprises exercised virtually unaccountable, dictatorial political power over millions of people.The merchant kings of the Age of Heroic Commerce were a rogue's gallery of larger-than-life men who, for a couple hundred years, expanded their far-flung commercial enterprises over a sizable portion of the world. They include Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the violent and autocratic pioneer of the Dutch East India Company; Peter Stuyvesant, the one-legged governor of the Dutch West India Company, whose narrow-minded approach lost Manhattan to the British; Robert Clive, who rose from company clerk to become head of the British East India Company and one of the wealthiest men in Britain; Alexandr Baranov of the Russian American Company; Cecil Rhodes, founder of De Beers and Rhodesia; and George Simpson, the "Little Emperor" of the Hudson's Bay Company, who was chauffeured about his vast fur domain in a giant canoe, exhorting his voyageurs to paddle harder so he could set speed records.Merchant Kings looks at the rise and fall of company rule in the centuries before colonialism, when nations belatedly assumed responsibility for their commercial enterprises. A blend of biography, corporate history, and colonial history, this book offers a panoramic, new perspective on the enormous cultural, political, and social legacies, good and bad, of this first period of unfettered globalization.

Always watching, always waiting...Kell has always dreamed of the world beyond the Enclave and imagined a life of freedom where he could choose his own path.Yet the Enclave is safe and harmonious. Ruled by the All Mother, it has protected the Community from the endless frozen dark and from the fury of the Ice Demon for thousands of years. Those living in the Enclave are led to believe that the All Mother is a benevolent and worldly leader who would never let Kell or any of her people come to harm.But Kell is restless and stifled by the doctrines of the Enclave. He wonders what lies outside this world and begins to ask questions. Too many questions. Dangerous questions. The teachings of the All Mother are sacred and to doubt her is treacherous. Even his beloved friend Shamra thinks he should silence his thoughts of escape for his own protection. There are people watching, knowing and hearing all the time.Soon Kell hears whispers of a rebellion against the All Mother. Whispers of liberation. Whispers of possibility. To be disconnected could be a dream, or a nightmare. Kell realises there is only one way to find out.Ice is a mesmerising adventure of a mythical world locked in snow and ice. It is a troubling vision of a future that has succumbed to a new ice age where some dare to dream of a new beginning. Ice is the first part of The Wintering, a major trilogy.Stephen Bowkett was born and brought up in a mining valley in South Wales. He taught English at secondary school in Leicestershire for many years before becoming a full-time writer, and a qualified hypnotherapist. He has published twenty-five books, mainly science fiction and fantasy, for both adults and children. He also writes poetry, plays and educational non-fiction.

A NEW WORLD … A LEGENDARY EVILKell has left the Enclave of his childhood where he was nurtured, protected and controlled by the stifling presence of the All Mother – escaping into a wonderful but terrifying new world…A world of intense cold and blizzards, yet one of stunning beauty: a world of animals that have survived the cruelties of the ice for countless centuries: a world of people who struggle to prevail through incredible hardships – yet who now face obliteration in the teeth of a gathering storm.By an accident of fate Kell now runs with the Wulfen, the massive and fiercely intelligent descendants of wolves. He has spilled his blood with them: he has found kinship.But kinship comes at a price.For now Kell must confront a mortal enemy, the mythical Slaughterer of the Wulfen…Follow Kell and his new friends and foes on a riveting journey in ‘Storm’, a tale of gruelling battles with grotesque monsters and foes and of a people struggling to reclaim their homeland.Storm is the sequel to Ice, an enthralling young-adult fantasy adventure in the Wintering series. Perfect for fans of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials.Praise for Stephen Bowkett:‘It begins with excitement and action and moves into a deeper mystery, with chilling moments of revelation and wonder.’ SF Site‘[A] cleverly constructed plot’ Infinity PlusStephen Bowkett was born and brought up in a mining valley in South Wales. He taught English at secondary school in Leicestershire for many years before becoming a full-time writer, and a qualified hypnotherapist. He has published twenty-five books, mainly science fiction and fantasy, for both adults and children. He also writes poetry, plays and educational non-fiction.

A new world … an old enemyIn the third and final part of major trilogy ‘The Wintering’, Kell fights fiercely for a new world. The enchanting possibility of freedom is now within reach, yet Kell knows that death lurks around every corner. Despite all that he has done and witnessed he is still only a boy. He has destroyed the city of Thule, the immense weight of one of the massive metal sky orbs sent crashing down on the city by his merest thought.Kell is still only a player in the ancient enigma of the Weird’s game. The web of obstacles is vast and the only way to find a way through the Weird’s mysteries is to trust to his feelings. Kell must follow his instincts and stand firm no matter how terrifying the battle becomes.The biggest obstacle of all, the All Mother, is not defeated. Kell must return to Perth, the enclave where he grew up, stifled by the false warmth and lies of the All Mother and face his oldest enemy. Only by making this perilous journey can he finally be free…Thaw is the final instalment of Stephen Bowkett’s thrilling Wintering Trilogy, following the adventures of Kell through a dangerous and mystic fantasy world.Praise for Stephen Bowkett:‘It begins with excitement and action and moves into a deeper mystery, with chilling moments of revelation and wonder.’ SF Site ‘[A] cleverly constructed plot’ Infinity Plus Stephen Bowkett was born and brought up in a mining valley in South Wales. He taught English at secondary school in Leicestershire for many years before becoming a full-time writer, and a qualified hypnotherapist. He has published twenty-five books, mainly science fiction and fantasy, for both adults and children. He also writes poetry, plays and educational non-fiction.

Among the explorers made famous for revealing hitherto impenetrable cultures—T. E. Lawrence and Wilfred Thesiger in the Middle East, Richard Burton in Africa—Knud Rasmussen stands out not only for his physical bravery but also for the beauty of his writing. Part Danish, part Inuit, Rasmussen made a courageous three-year journey by dog sled from Greenland to Alaska to reveal the common origins of all circumpolar peoples. Lovers of Arctic adventure, exotic cultures, and timeless legend will relish this gripping tale by Stephen R. Bown, known as "Canada's Simon Winchester."

The story of the world's largest, longest, and best financed scientific expedition of all time, triumphantly successful, gruesomely tragic, and never before fully told The immense 18th-century scientific journey, variously known as the Second Kamchatka Expedition or the Great Northern Expedition, from St. Petersburg across Siberia to the coast of North America, involved over 3,000 people and cost Peter the Great over one-sixth of his empire's annual revenue. Until now recorded only in academic works, this 10-year venture, led by the legendary Danish captain Vitus Bering and including scientists, artists, mariners, soldiers, and laborers, discovered Alaska, opened the Pacific fur trade, and led to fame, shipwreck, and "one of the most tragic and ghastly trials of suffering in the annals of maritime and arctic history."

Among the explorers made famous for revealing hitherto impenetrable cultures-T. E. Lawrence and Wilfred Thesiger in the Middle East, Richard Burton in Africa-Knud Rasmussen stands out not only for his physical bravery but also for the beauty of his writing. Part Danish, part Inuit, Rasmussen made a courageous three-year journey by dog sled from Greenland to Alaska to reveal the common origins of all circumpolar peoples. Lovers of Arctic adventure, exotic cultures, and timeless legend will relish this gripping tale by Stephen R. Bown, known as "Canada's Simon Winchester."