Cephas Catchpole is a young orphan in 19th century England, apprenticed as a chimney sweep to a cruel master. When he is mistaken for dead after an accidental fall and buried alive, he is rescued from his fate by two unwitting body snatchers. Against his will, Cephas finds himself drawn into the criminals’ shady underworld and begins to uncover a murderous conspiracy involving medical malpractice, his mysterious parentage and the dreaded speckled monster itself – smallpox. This is a gripping and atmospheric Dickensian tale in two volumes for young readers, filled with suspense, humour and more twists than a hangman’s noose.

This series of hilarious fictional diaries put us inside the heads of hapless figures from history in frazzling situations. Suki is a 14-year-old girl in 16th century Japan who wants to become a samurai warrior like her father and brother. Despite her disastrous training, when a party of bandits threaten her village whilst the men are away at war, Suki has to defeat them. Will she prove herself a legendary samurai, or will it all end in disaster? ‘Get Real’ fact boxes feature throughout, providing historical context and further information, as well as a timeline, historical biographies and a glossary in the end matter.

Graverobbing! Murder! Mayhem! Having fled from his body snatcher masters, Cephas Catchpole resolves to uncover the secrets surrounding his dead parents, the evil Dr Mortdecai Brimstone and his fraudulent smallpox potions, an enigmatic Indian doctor called Taggi and the infamous hangman Titus the Rope. Along the way, Cephas enlists the help of Mortdecai’s bold and adventurous daughter Edith, who is keen to see her father get his deserved comeuppance. This is a gripping and atmospheric Dickensian tale for young readers, filled with suspense, humour and more twists than a hangman’s noose.

London has been one of the richest breeding grounds for the master criminal, not least Jonathan Wild, self-appointed Thieftaker General, and London’s biggest crime lord. Who were the graverobbers and why did the craze for digging up corpses stop almost overnight? Why did so many Victorian children steal? Why was the petty thief Jack Sheppard such a huge celebrity in Georgian London? How did modern technology help capture the infamous poisoner Dr Crippen? Delve into the fascinating history of London’s criminal past.

This series of hilarious fictional diaries put us inside the heads of hapless figures from history in frazzling situations. Robert, a boy living in Southwark in early 17th century London, finds himself employed as an actor in the Globe theatre, playing roles written by the greatest playwright of the age: William Shakespeare. But when the coronation of a new king, James I, threatens the future of the theatre, Robert has to come up with a cunning plan to save the company. If he doesn’t succeed, Robert will have to go back to collecting dog poo for a living. ‘Get Real’ fact boxes feature throughout, providing historical context and further information, as well as a timeline, historical biographies and a glossary in the end matter.

It was 1862 and the town of Sickville had many Gold Mines that thrived in an overabundance of wealth until greed took over and friends and neighbors became enemies. There was always someone standing guard by their mines, but there were too many people not in on the cut. So, that's when things got ugly and people that used to be friends started dying just to get their hands on the gold. The sound of gunfire could be heard daily, but many of the greedy townspeople who were killed to get in on a piece of the action had no mining skills so the town of Sickville went belly up in just a year. The only place where business was thriving was the cemetery. A town that had a population of a thousand was now in the hundreds. Many of the survivors that survived the bloodshed left town out of fear of not knowing when their day was up to be buried in the cemetery that was quickly running out of space for their dead. Finally, the fifty people left standing afraid, hungry and broke decided there was nothing left in the town of Sickville to warrant their stay. So, the people got all their valuables and got on their horses in search of a town to call their new home. After a few months, the town of Sickville was nothing, but a ghost town with tumbleweeds rolling around. All the life that this town once had was sucked out of it through a precious metal that only caused death and destruction.