Books published by publisher Metropolitan Publishing

ONE DYING PLANET. TWO WORLDS AT WAR.THREE TEENS FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL. When Parker Kittridge, a quirky science student from New York City, is lured to her terrace by a frisky hummingbird, she slips and plunges 18 stories to the street and awakens in Spyridon, a planet destroyed by climate change and locked in civil war. Parker quickly discovers she is not alone. Two other teens have also been kidnapped and they must join forces to save the planet if they have any chance to return to Earth.The teens' struggle for survival is fierce: murders, deceptions, power plays, love triangles and magical fantasy elements make this a high-stakes, coming-of-age adventure pitted against a race with time.A Note from the AuthorThe Virago Fantasies are meant for everyone interested in the thrill of an adventure and our planet’s sustainability. As technology evolves and career opportunities change, I hope my books enhance interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and inspire the advancement of women in STEM. A percentage of the sales of my books will be donated to organizations that benefit these interests.

ONE DYING PLANET. TWO WORLDS AT WAR.THREE TEENS FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL.When Parker Kittridge, a quirky science student from New York City, is lured to her terrace by a frisky hummingbird, she slips and plunges 18 stories to the street and awakens in Spyridon, a planet destroyed by climate change and locked in civil war. Parker quickly discovers she is not alone. Two other teens have also been kidnapped and they must join forces to save the planet if they have any chance to return to Earth.The teens' struggle for survival is fierce: murders, deceptions, power plays, love triangles and magical fantasy elements make this a high-stakes, coming-of-age adventure pitted against a race with time.A Note from the AuthorThe Virago Fantasies are meant for everyone interested in the thrill of an adventure and our planet’s sustainability. As technology evolves and career opportunities change, I hope my books enhance interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and inspire the advancement of women in STEM. A percentage of the sales of my books will be donated to organizations that benefit these interests.

Mary Berry is one of Britain's most respected and well-loved gurus of the kitchen. The undisputed 'Queen of the Aga' has been the focus of many television shows and regularly contributes her expertise on Woman's Hour. The recent hit BBC show The Great British Bake Off has once again put Mary back into the limelight and has reignited a passion for baking across the nation. Inspired by domestic science classes at school, Mary took a catering course at her local college before gaining a qualification from the Cordon Bleu school in Paris. After a stint working for the Electricity Board where she demonstrated to new owners of electric cookers how to operate them by cooking a Victoria sponge, and then as editor for Housewife and Ideal Home magazine, Mary published her first cookbook, The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook, in 1970 and hasn't looked back since. As well as cookery books, Mary has collaborated with her daughter Annabel to produce their own range of dressings and sauces which are now sold worldwide. But her personal life has also been touched by tragedy, as her son William was killed in a car accident at the age of just 19. With over 70 cookery books under her belt, there is no doubt that Mary Berry is one of Britain's most successful cookery writers. Awarded the CBE in 2012, her gentle personality and classic 'family' cooking style are a remarkable contrast to some of the more outspoken celebrity television chefs - just one of the reasons why, even after over forty years in the industry, she is so well loved. This is her fascinating story.

Belinda Brewin has experienced more in her life than most people ever will. Never far away from trouble, she recently made the headlines when, having started a new job, her boss and his family were murdered and, in a sickening twist of fate, the prime suspect turned out to be the man who claimed to be in love with her. Even more disturbingly, it transpired that the bodies of the victims had been temporarily buried in her back garden.By the time the book is published, Belinda will have given evidence as a key witness at the trial. Her colourful life has also included being best friend and confidante to Paula Yates, being arrested with a car boot full of cocaine and subsequently being exonerated at her trial. This is a breath-taking and scandalous read.

We have all touched wood to ward off misfortune, or seen a bride throw a bouquet over her head at a wedding, but how often do we stop to think about where such customs come from, or why we still use them? The truth is that behind many of our daily rituals and beliefs lies a fascinating history of weird and wonderful notions, some rational, others fanciful, that provide a rich and entertaining addition to our lives. In this charming and endlessly diverting book, best-selling author Harry Oliver has delved into the stories behind our rich traditions to explain them to us with characteristic wit and flair, in a gem of a volume that will clear up any of the niggling doubts you may have about our everyday beliefs. So before you search for any more four-leaf clovers, worry about the next Friday 13th or tell someone that chocolate will give them spots, dip into this amazing tome and discover the truth about our diverse beliefs so that next time your ear itches you'll know if someone's really talking about you!

Since their foundation during the Second World War, the Parachute Regiment has acquired a formidable reputation as tough, fearless soldiers. 'The Red Devils' have played a key role in many of the battles of the past sixty years - the capture of Sicily, the D-Day landing, the heroic but doomed attempt to capture the bridge at Arnhem. In the savage wars of 'peace' since the Second World War, the Paras have seen action all over the world - from Cyprus, Palestine, Egypt, Borneo and the Falklands to Bosnia. For his authoritative book, John Parker has gathered together the testimony of numerous veterans of the Parachute Regiment. Their first-hand accounts of the major events in their history make enthralling reading, bringing home the reality and cruelty of combat.

On the eve of the Great War, they had the world at - and watching - their feet. If God is in the details, they were divine.Vernon and Irene Castle were the world's first true celebrity couple. He, an Englishman, was tall and slim, as poised as an elegant evening out, a template for the Hollywood idols who would follow. In a staid age, she, a New Yorker, was a glorious, modern beauty, with her haired cropped into a 'shock', a disdain for crippling corsets, a love of a martini and a good time.Together, they beat the censors and made their vibrant dancing acceptable for all. In the fashionable quarters of New York they opened a dance school and night clubs to which Society flocked. They broke the rules by touring with black musicians, and led the way forward to the Charleston-galloping Gatsby Generation. They enlightened and enchanted from London to Paris to New York, spreading a breathless joy, as though their music had one note, and their dances one step, too many. Launching one racy dance craze after another, they taught the world to dance - and often dress - the way we do today. Adored and acclaimed, they were stars long before the celebrity constellations grew crowded.Yet the whirlwind story of perhaps the most influential dance team ever is also one of tragedy. Their timing, so perfect in everything else, saw Vernon Castle, at the height of their fame, return to England to enlist in the Royal Flying Corps; he saw action as a pilot on the Western Front, winning the Croix de Guerre, while his wife made special appearances to support the Allied war effort. And then, in February 1918, he was killed in a flying accident in Texas, while training American pilots for war. Irene received a last note from him: 'When you receive this letter I shall be gone out of your sweet life. You may be sure that I died with your sweet name on my lips… be brave and don't cry, my angel.'She and many others did cry, for as far as the world was concerned Vernon and Irene Castle could have danced all night, and for ever.'The afternoon was already planned; they were going dancing - for those were the great days: Maurice was tangoing in "Over the River", the Castles were doing a stiffed-leg walk in the third act of the 'Sunshine Girl' - a walk that gave the modern dance a social position and brought the nice girl into the café, thus beginning a profound revolution in American life. The great rich empire was feeling its oats and was out for some not too plebeian, yet not too artistic fun.' - F. Scott Fitzgerald, 'The Perfect Life', one of the Basil and Josephine Stories, first published in the Saturday Evening Post, 5 January 1929.

Stanley Aylett's remarkable account of six years' service as a front-line surgeon with the British Army is that rare thing: a complete narrative from the first week of the Second World War until months after the fi nal capitulation of Nazi Germany.That war was the last Western conflict in which military surgeons performed operations immediately behind the front line, often in makeshift theatres set up in tents or abandoned, battle-scarred buildings. This memoir records the resilience and resourcefulness of the medical teams, fighting to save each wounded soldier's life, and the advances in medicine such as penicillin and plastic surgery that transformed their experience. The author draws on his extensive diaries to describe the first advance into France at the start of the 'Phoney War' in 1939; the chaos of the retreat to Dunkirk and subsequent evacuation of British and French forces; the sea voyage round the Cape to join the Eighth Army in Egypt; leading a Field Service Medical Unit in the Western Desert; the Allied invasion of France following the D-Day landings; crossing the Rhine into Germany; and VE Day, which Lieutenant-Colonel Aylett spent amid the horror of the Sandbostel concentration camp in northern Germany.Alongside the challenge of serving the wounded and dying, Surgeon at War also reveals the passions of a young man - in search of lasting love, exasperated by the incompetence of his superiors, encountering different peoples and cultures, anxious that the narrow focus of battle surgery will not jeopardise his medical career when peace returns.Few war testimonies have the scope of this account. Stanley Aylett signed up in the week war was declared, and survived to tell his story, edited here by his daughter with extensive use of his own photographs and letters home. It is a narrative of courage, duty and endurance amid the fog of war, but above all a tribute to the skill and humanity of those whose daily lives revealed mankind at both its best, and its worst.

This is the thrilling account of heroism, ambition and scandal of three remarkable men whose actions at the 1908 Olympics overshadowed the first London Olympic Games…. A diminutive Italian, Dorando Pietri, who fell five times, and was practically carried across the finish line. Scottish sprinter, Wyndham Halswelle and American competitor, Johnny Hayes who were drawn into a dispute between the United States and the British Empire about sporting superiority which spilled over into politics, lifestyle and ethics, with allegations of cheating, drug-taking and professionalism. John Bryant delves into the lives of these three extraordinary men in a tale that stretches from rural Italy to the battlefields of the Boer War and beyond to explore the foundations of the modern sporting and marathon movement.

Charles Burgess Fry, known as C. B. Fry was an English polymath; an outstanding sportsman, politician, diplomat, academic, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer. Fry's achievements on the sporting field included representing England at both cricket and football, an F.A. Cup Final appearance for Southampton F.C. and equalling the then world record for the long jump. But he was much more than a sportsman. He won a major scholarship to Oxford, where his friends numbered Max Beerbohm, Hilaire Belloc, and F.E. Smith. He wrote several books, including an autobiography and a novel, and he was one of the most successful journalists of his day. He was a friend of many prominent Labour and Liberal politicians, but flirted with Fascism, meeting Hitler in 1934. He tried out for Hollywood, represented India at the League of Nations, and stood for Parliament three times. 'A most incredible man . . . the most variously gifted Englishman of any age . . . the pre-eminent all-rounder, not merely of his own age but, so far as is measurable, of all English history.' John Arlott; 'This is a well-researched, well-rounded picture of one of England's great sporting heroes.' - Jeremy Paxman, Mail on Sunday; 'He has written what should come to be regarded as one of the very best sporting biographies. I could not put it down.' - Michael Kennedy, Sunday Telegraph; 'This is a book that rises to its subject's level in fascination, entertainment and brilliance.' - Tim Rice, Literary Review

When Nirvana first exploded onto the music scene in 1991 with the anthemic 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', few people could've predicted their subsequent global impact. No one knew then that Nevermind would become one of the seminal albums of the decade, selling over 30 million copies worldwide and spearheading a whole new 'grunge' movement. In so doing, the band's lead singer Kurt Cobain was transformed into one of music's most enduring and iconic figures.As drummer for the British group Captain America - one of the two support bands on Nirvana's Nevermind UK tour - Andy Bollen had a ringside seat at the exact moment that Nirvana went massive. Afforded the sort of access a journalist could only dream of, Andy Bollen wrote up his own personal diary in Nirvana's dressing room. Here, he spoke candidly to Cobain: from his fears of losing original fans to his love of the Bay City Rollers. He saw firsthand how Nirvana worked, the relationships that made them tick and the dynamic that made them one of the great bands.Nirvana - A Tour Diary is a warm, affectionate, funny and, at times, brutally honest account, written by a guy on the periphery, waiting in the wings, a mixture of Woody Allen's Zelig and Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. Drawing on diaries kept at the time, the book brings to life a pivotal moment in rock history making it a must-read for the many millions of Nirvana fans and lovers of iconic rock stories everywhere. If you ever wanted to know what it was like to be there, backstage, at the start of the Nirvana phenomenon, then read on …