Dryden's audiences in 1671, both aristocratic and middle-class, wouldhave been quick to respond to the themes of disputed royal succession, Francophilia and loyalty among subjects in his most successfultragicomedy. In the tragic plot, written in verse, young Leonidas hasto struggle to assert his place as the rightful heir to the throne ofSicily and to the hand of the usurper's daughter. In the comic plot, written in prose, two fashionable couples (much more at home in Londondrawing-rooms than at the Sicilian court) play at switching partners inthe 'modern' style. The introduction of this...

Shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction; the extraordinary and forgotten story behind the building of the First World War cemeteries.

In the wake of the First World War, Britain and her Empire faced the enormous question of how to bury the dead. Critically-acclaimed author David Crane describes how the horror of the slaughter motivated an ambulance commander named Fabian Ware to establish the Commonwealth war cemeteries.

Behind these famous monuments - the Cenotaph, Tyne Cot, Menin Gate, Etaples amongst them - lies a deeply moving story; 'Empires of the Dead'...