What happens when Tertuliano Maximo Afonso, a 38 year-old professor of history, discovers that there is a man living in the same city who is identical to him in every physical detail, but not related by blood at all. And what happens when each of these men attempt to investigate each other's lives?

This text gives account of the meeting and subsequent relationship between Matteo Ricci, an early recruit of the Jesuit order, and the Chinese Emperor and the Mandarins. It tells of how Ricci, sent as missionary in 1582, took with him Christianity and the technology and philosophy of the West.

Jack Crabb was ill when he dictated his memoirs, Little Big Man . His supposed death cut short his tale as he finished recounting how he was the last white survivor of Custer's Last Stand. This newly discovered manuscript reveals that he faked his own death to escape his publishing contract.

This is a biography of Sir Joseph Banks, botanist, explorer, President of the Royal Society and one of Australia's founding fathers. He was among the most influential figures of the 18th and 19th centuries, accompanying Captain Cook on his voyage of discovery to Australia.

A lucid enquiry into the precise meaning of identity - that which makes each of us unique and dissimilar to any other individual. In this series of reflections, the author considers how we define ourselves and what identity has meant and continues to mean in different cultures.

Ollie Wing is barely surviving. Back home in Sligo, he collects trolleys in a supermarket car park and lives in a run-down house with a group of art students. He can't escape what has happened in London and is tormented by old fears and regrets. Finally, he decides to confront his demons.

In this personal account of the Aids epidemic in Africa, the author tells not only of his experiences whilst working for Aids charities on the continent, but of his fears and anxieties for the sufferers.

First published in 1993, this contains the poet's own selection of his life's work.

Derived from studies and sketches made between 1979 and 1992, this book covers ten centuries of Spain's history - its politics, its architecture, its climate and its people. Cees Nooteboom's destination is Santiago de Compostela, though he makes numerous detours.

Maybe the worst indignity for a Paris cop is to be shot dead by an old granny he is trying to help across the street in Paris on a frosty morning. An old lady needs protection with so many druggies around these days. Dressed as an elderly Vietnamese woman, Inspector Van Thian goes to investigate.

A photo-historical record of the last days of the wind-borne merchant ships. Taken during the 1920s and 1930s by Alan Villiers, a professional seaman and a narrator and geographer for the National Geographic Society, the photographs provide an insight into a real way of life.

Building work in an expanding Reykjavik uncovers a shallow grave. Years before, this part of the city was all open hills, and Erlendur and his team hope this is a typical Icelandic missing person scenario; perhaps someone once lost in the snow, who has lain peacefully buried for decades. Things are never that simple.

Translated by Anselm Hollo. The story of Colonel Timo von Bock discharged as insane after nine years incarceration for addressing the Czar candidly. The events were recorded in the secret journal kept over the years by von Bock's brother-in-law Jakob an educated commoner.