Nicholas Booth

the incredible wartime exploits of double agent Eddie Chapman

Zig zag

Elizabeth Howell

The Greatest Scientific Detective Story of All Time

The Search for Life on Mars

Eddie Chapman was a womaniser, blackmailer and safecracker. He was also a great hero - the most remarkable double agent of the Second World War. Chapman became the only British national ever to be awarded an Iron Cross for his work for the Reich. He was also the only German spy ever to be parachuted into Britain twice. But it was all an illusion: Eddie fooled the Germans in the same way he conned his victims in civilian life. He was working for the British all along. Until now, the full story of Eddie Chapman's extraordinary exploits has never been told, thwarted by the Official Secrets Act. Now at last all the evidence has been released, including Eddie's M15 files, and a complete account of what he achieved is told in this enthralling book.

The incredible wartime exploits of double agent Eddie Chapman

Zigzag

Late in 1873, London was gripped by the astonishing story emerging from the highest court in the land, where four American conmen were on trial for attempting the greatest financial scam the world had ever seen. Their leader, Austin Bidwell, had hatched a plan of devilish ingenuity that, were it not for one tiny stroke of bad luck, would have ended with him walking out of the Bank of England with £1 million in cash – a heist that would have plunged London into financial meltdown and put Bidwell’s name alongside the legends of criminal history.In The Thieves of Threadneedle Street, Nicholas Booth tells the extraordinary true story of Bidwell and his gang. It is the tale of a charming criminal genius – then only 27 years old – who committed frauds all over the world before attempting the most audacious heist of the nineteenth century, but who, on the brink of escaping with his fortune, saw his luck finally run out. With access to as yet unopened archives, Nicholas Booth has unearthed one of the greatest untold crime stories.

The Victorian Fraudsters Who Almost Broke the Bank of England

The Thieves of Threadneedle Street

Kate Beacham had had a bad day. After almost being assaulted in an alley by three masked bigots, she arrived home to find her beloved stallion lying dead in her driveway with a note reading YoU'Re nExt. Too tough a cookie to crumble, Kate got out her shotgun and loaded it. Then she saw the book on her nightstand -- a guide book to a place she had never heard of: Glenraven.When she opened it, words magically appeared: Get out of the house, quick. Still holding the shotgun, she obeyed; and saw riders on horseback gallop from a hole in midair, pursued by a nightmarish flying thing like a cross between a dragon and a shark. Good thing she had the shotgun, or there would have been no hope for Kate, the riders, and both their worlds.Once before a woman from our world had saved the realm of Glenraven. Now another must do it again -- or her own world will be forfeit, too....

The Truth about the Ozone Hole

How Soon is Now?

In the summer of 1873, four American forgers went on trial at the Old Bailey for the greatest fraud the world had ever seen. The attempted crime: stealing five million dollars from the Bank of England from under the noses of its unsuspecting officials. Nicholas Booth tells the extraordinary true story of the forgers' earliest escapades in Chicago, Louisville, and Manhattan, culminating with the heist at the world’s leading financial institution.With its cast of improbable villains, curious coincidences, and extraordinary adventures, it is an astounding international caper with twists and turns that often defy belief. It includes a colorful cast of supporting characters — crooked policemen, corrupt officials, bribable warders, and love interests of varying hues of respectability: femme fatales, innocent lovers, hookers, and dupes. With access to previously unopened archives, Nicholas Booth has unearthed the greatest untold crime saga of the Victorian Era.

Late in 1873, London was gripped by the astonishing story emerging from the highest court in the land, where four American conmen were on trial for attempting the greatest financial scam the world had ever seen. Their leader, Austin Bidwell, had hatched a plan of devilish ingenuity that, were it not for one tiny stroke of bad luck, would have ended with him walking out of the Bank of England with £1 million in cash – a heist that would have plunged London into financial meltdown and put Bidwell’s name alongside the legends of criminal history. In The Thieves of Threadneedle Street, Nicholas Booth tells the extraordinary true story of Bidwell and his gang. It is the tale of a charming criminal genius – then only 27 years old – who committed frauds all over the world before attempting the most audacious heist of the nineteenth century, but who, on the brink of escaping with his fortune, saw his luck finally run out. With access to as yet unopened archives, Nicholas Booth has unearthed one of the greatest untold crime stories.

Published to coincide with the launch of NASA’s Perseverance rover mission this summer, the definitive account of our quest to find life on the Red Planet. From The War of the Worlds to The Martian and to the amazing photographs sent back by the robotic rovers Curiosity and Opportunity, Mars has excited our imaginations as the most likely other habitat for life in the solar system. Now the Red Planet is coming under scrutiny as never before. As new missions are scheduled to launch this year from the United States and China, and with the European Space Agency's ExoMars mission now scheduled for 2022, this book recounts in full the greatest scientific detective story ever. For the first time in forty years, the missions heading to Mars will look for signs of ancient life on the world next door. It is the latest chapter in an age‑old quest that encompasses myth, false starts, red herrings, and bizarre coincidences—as well as triumphs and heartbreaking failures. This book, by two journalists with deep experience covering space exploration, is the definitive story of how life's discovery has eluded us to date, and how it will be found somewhere and sometime this century. The Search for Life on Mars is based on more than a hundred interviews with experts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and elsewhere, who share their insights and stories. While it looks back to the early Mars missions such as Viking 1 and 2, the book's focus is on the experiments and revelations from the most recent ones—including Curiosity, which continues to explore potentially habitable sites where water was once present, and the Mars Insight lander, which has recorded more than 450 marsquakes since its deployment in late 2018—as well as on the Perseverance and ExoMars rover missions ahead. And the book looks forward to the newest, most exciting frontier of all: the day, not too far away, when humans will land, make the Red Planet their home, and look for life directly.

Nicholas Booth

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