Keith Roberts

The battle of Newbury was the turning point of the English Civil War. By August 1643 the King's cause was very much in the ascendant. Parliament armies had been crushed at Adwalton Moor and Roundway Down and the Royalists had taken Bristol. When they summoned Gloucester to surrender on 10 August the city's only hope was a Parliament relief army. The London Trained Bands joined the Earl of Essex's expedition and when battle was joined at Newbury the Londoners more than held their own against the best of the King's cavalry. With the citizens of London so firmly committed to Parliament's cause and the King's cavalry no longer invincible the balance of power had shifted irretrievably.

"Un mundo tras el gran desastre en el que los hombres repiten sus mitos y su historia."Michael MoorcockPor el aclamado autor de Pavana.Tras el desastre, la larga noche del caos y la barbarie ha caído sobre lo que fue Inglaterra. En torno a las ciudades desiertas deambulan extrañas criaturas semihumanas que manejan con torpes dedos los detritus de la civilizacion. Pero la vida siempre se abre camino. Sobre las gastadas colinas de caliza de la costa brotan poblados protegidos por empalizadas donde los hombres reinventan con dolorosa lentitud las tecnicas e ideas de antaño. Entre ritos mistericos, cultos campesinos, hordas de jinetes portadores de hierro, invasiones de mas alla del mar, sangre, lujuria, venganza y las vueltas de los ciclos del tiempo avanza eterna una mujer o una diosa, la Renacida, omnipresente objeto de deseo e inalcanzable portadora del sentido de la historia.Keith Roberts llego a la cima de su notable talento con los ciclos de relatos recogidos en Pavana, Los gigantes de caliza y Tierra de cometas, hilando en ellos una suerte de mitologia personal genuinamente inglesa solo comparable con la de J.R.R. Tolkien."Un viaje notable por una Inglaterra que ha retrocedido hasta sus raices miticas."David Langford"La elegante representacion de una vision ciclica del futuro de la isla de Gran Bretaña."John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction"Los gigantes de caliza es la obra mas ambiciosa y mas caracteristica de Roberts, y tambien la mejor."Nicholas Ruddick, Foundation"Una novela post-holocausto en la que el Reino Unido se ve desgarrado por una barbarie que se equipara con el poder nativo de la tierra."Mike Ashley, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy

En el prólogo de Pavana, Keith Roberts imagina el asesinato de la reina Isabel de Inglaterra en 1588. Esto permite que la armada española conquiste la isla y que la Iglesia Romana domine el mundo durante siglos. En las primeras páginas descubrimos que, en 1966, las locomotoras de vapor recorren los caminos y las comunicaciones dependen de un complicado sistema de semáforos. Los valores sociales y políticos, muestra el autor, no son nunca absolutos sino imágenes cristalizadas de los acontecimientos históricos. Encuadernación: Rústica.

Bruegel An introduction to the work of Pieter Bruegel.Keith Roberts One of a series of introductory books on the great masters and movements in art This volume on Bruegel contains an extensive essay, 48 full-page colour plates, and is accompanied by extensive notes and comparative illustrations Provides incomparable value Highly regarded for its insight and authority Pieter Bruegel (c.1525-69) was perhaps the greatest sixteenth-century Flemish painter and he is certainly the most popular today. Surprisingly, fewer than fifty of his works have survived, though his episodes from peasant life, landscapes and religious paintings are familiar to all. To each of these themes Bruegel brought remarkable gifts of observation, an unfailing sense of line and a dazzling use of colour. The gaity and heartiness of his scenes of contemporary life are, however, tinged with a wry pessimism; he was a shrewd judge of human nature and his use of Flemish proverbs allowed him to instruct and entertain at the same time. His message is as fresh today as it was four hundred years ago; and his scenes of destruction and terror no less than his paintings of unbridled enjoyment will doubtless be relevant for many generations to come. The introductory essay by Keith Roberts, has been revised and enlarged with 48 full-page colour plates, notes and black-and-white comparative illustrations by Christopher Brown, who is Chief Curator of the National Gallery, London.Keith Roberts is the former assistant editor at the Burlington Magazine.

Degas An introduction to the work of Degas.Keith Roberts One of a series of introductory books on the great masters and movements in art This volume on Degas contains an extensive essay, 48 full-page colour plates, and is accompanied by extensive notes and comparative illustrations Provides incomparable value Highly regarded for its insight and authority Despite the popularity of his work, Edgar Degas (1834-1917) has remained one of the most elusive of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. To his contemporaries he was always a very private man, rather aloof, self-absorbed and inclined to cynicism. However, few could fault his skill as an artist, and his acute vision, mastery of design, and meticulous attention to often ignored detail single him out as one of the most important figures in nineteenth-century art history. The ballet, the racecourse and women at their toilet were his three favourite subjects and he returned to them again and again in the course of his long career, never feeling that he had exhausted these themes. Degas never forgot his early academic sketches to his late pastels the quality of his drawings never faltered. In this excellent introduction by Keith Roberts, Dr Helen Langdon has added the notes to the plates and numerous black-and-white comparative illustrations

Italian Renaissance Painting An introduction to the great masters of Italian Renaissance painting.Sara Elliott One of a series of introductory books on the great masters and movements in art This volume on the Italian Renaissance painters contains an extensive essay, 48 full-page colour plates, and is accompanied by extensive notes and comparative illustrations Provides incomparable value Highly regarded for its insight and authority The Italian Renaissance was an unparalleled era of creativity, particularly in the field of painting. Building on the achievements of artists such as Giotto in the fourteenth century and Masacio and Donatello in the fifteenth centuries, and culminating in the careers of the undisputed geniuses Leonardo de Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian, the period witnessed the rediscovery of naturalistic techniques in art and new interest in portraiture, landscapes and themes from classical mythology. This imaginative richness produced some of the most enduring images in all art history, many of which are reproduced here in a perfect introduction to a unique age. Art historian Sara Elliott has produced a lively and wide-ranging account of this great era of Western civilization, including extensive captions to each colour plate and many invaluable comparative illustrations.

In the year 1588, Queen Elizabeth of England was assassinated. As a result, when the Spanish Armada attacked, England went down defeated, changing the history of Europe and the New World as we know it. Now, in the Twentieth Century, the Church of Rome reigns supreme over a world of pastoral beauty, while technology is held back to the level of the steam locomotive and the primitive radio. Yet science cannot be suppressed forever, and its advocates are becoming more daring as each year passes. A revolution is building--one that will rock the foundations of an empire. An acknowledged classic of alternate history fiction, Pavane will continue to inspire writers and readers for generations . . .

En el prólogo de Pavana, Keith Roberts imagina el asesinato de la reina Isabel de Inglaterra en 1588. Esto permite que la armada española conquiste la isla y que la Iglesia Romana domine el mundo durante siglos. En las primeras paginas descubrimos que, en 1966, las locomotoras de vapor recorren los caminos y las comunicaciones dependen de un complicado sistema de semaforos. Los valores sociales y politicos, muestra el autor, no son nunca absolutos sino imagenes cristalizadas de los acontecimientos historicos. Encuadernacion: Tapa dura con sobrecubierta.

Todos vivimos bajo las cometas.Cada día, a lo largo de todas las fronteras del Reino, las cometas vuelan para protegerlo del regreso de los demonios. Tras la cometa piloto se lanzan los conos y elevadores, que sostienen el cesto donde los aeronautas, armados con pistolas y libros sagrados, hacen su guardia. Pues esta es la doctrina de la Iglesia Variante, espina dorsal de la sociedad surgida tras la catastrofe: que los demonios vuelan por el aire y tienen forma de pez, plateados y con aletas, y que de la misma manera que Dios salvo al Reino en su infinita sabiduria, solo la vigilancia constante impedira que las Malas Tierras que lo rodean arrojen sobre el su aliento mortifero y los demonios terminen su labor de destruccion.Keith Roberts llego a la cima de su talento con los ciclos de Pavana, Los gigantes de caliza y Tierra de cometas. Esta ultima, finalista de los premios John W. Campbell Memorial y British Science Fiction, incluye el capitulo"El maestre", ganador del premio BSFA."En el espejo sutilmente distorsionado de Tierra de cometas podemos encontrar reflejos de nuestras propias supersticiones, sueños y deseos. Su autentico tema es las vidas de la mente y el corazon."Locus"Una novela destacada de uno de los mejores estilistas de la ciencia-ficcion."Publishers Weekly