Leon Garfield: 23 books

How to introduce children to Shakespeare, not just to the stories behind the plays but to the richness of Shakespeare’s language and the depth of his characters: That’s the challenge that Leon Garfield, no slouch as a wordsmith himself, sets out to meet in his monumental and utterly absorbing...

Leon Garfield and Edward Blishen retells some of the most famous Greek myths in this classic of children's literature. This is the epic history of the Greek Gods told from their violent beginnings to the creation of man.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood was Charles Dickens final novel, and remained unfinished at the time of his death. In this edition, beloved children's author Leon Garfield gives the story a satisfying ending.

A bargain of a lifetime - seven years off the end of his life in exchange for a fortune now! By day, Mr Fast was a solicitor’s clerk, drawing up strangle-tight agreements and contracts. By night he repaired to his rooms to spy upon his neighbours (for he had no friends) and to dream of being...

A Carnegie Medal Honor Book Twelve-year-old Smith is a denizen of the mean streets of eighteenth-century London, living hand to mouth by virtue of wit and pluck. One day he trails an old gentleman with a bulging pocket, deftly picks it, and as footsteps ring out from the alley by which he had...

Eastward in Clerkenwell lies the Mulberry Pleasure Garden: six acres of leafy walks, colonnades and pavillions. In this bosky setting parade a variety of characters of awesome granduer, innocence and evil - and all are subject to a ring of blackmail terror.

Across the continents of the ancient world wandered the Storyteller, enchanting all who heard him with his wondrous tales of the gods. He longedfor a glimpse of the all-powerful deities of his stories, and listened eagerly to those who had experiences such encounters. And interwoven with his journey...

Mr Corbett is a cruel employer and his young apprentice Benjamin can't help but wish he were dead. So when a strange old man offers to make this wish come true, Benjamin finds it impossible to refuse. Sure enough, Mr Corbett meets an untimely death, but the tables turn on the terrified apprentice...

'My father, that stern and upright man, was nothing but a swindler and a thief!' What is the matter with old Mr Jones? Endless footsteps and low groans can be heard from his room in the dead of night. Only his son William knows the a terrible secret: his father betrayed his business partner...

Jackson is cold and starving in the dreadful winter weather. He's looking forward to the steaming pie that is payment for a long night's work. When the huge black dog comes - growling and glaring - Jackson gives it half his meal. One bargain soon leads to another - and to some unexpected rewards ....

Set in the streets of London, the story follows the hopes and aspirations of young Tim and his pet monkey, Pistol, as they use their wits to get money out of rich folk. Their apparent success is brought to a halt one disasterous foggy evening , and Tim and Pistol are led off to Newgate Gaol . . .

Life in eighteenth-century London was hard and especially so for the city's apprentices. For seven long years they struggled for their livelihoods among the fetid houses and sinister quays of old London. But despite their hardships there was hope and even fun. This compelling story-cycle follows...

The Confidence Man follows 14-year-old Hans Ruppert and a band of Protestants as they leave their home town and seek peace and freedom from Persecution in the New World. They are led by a mysterious hussar, who has offered to lead then to safety. To Hans he is a fascinating figure, but to the others he is a swindler, likely to abandon them at any moment.

Secrets whispered up a chimney, a golden locket with a broken chain, murder in the streets of London – and suddenly young Barnacle is plunged into a terrifying mystery. The December Rose is a thrilling tale of deceit, espionage and murder set in the teeming, colourful Victorian London.