A tale of forbidden love and inevitable death, the medieval legend of Tristan and Isolde recounts the story of two lovers unknowingly drinking a magic potion and ultimately dying in one another's arms. While critics have lauded Wagner's Tristan and Isolde for the originality and subtlety of the music, they have denounced the drama as a "mere trifle"--a rendering of Wagner's forbidden love for Matilde Wesendonck, the wife of a banker who supported him during his exile in Switzerland. Death-Devoted Heart explodes this established interpretation, proving the drama to be more than just a sublimation of the composer's love for Wesendonck or a wistful romantic dream. Scruton boldly attests that Tristan and Isolde has profound religious meaning and remains as relevant today as it was to Wagner's contemporaries. He also offers keen insight into the nature of erotic love, the sacred qualities of human passion, and the peculiar place of the erotic in our culture. His argument touches on the nature of tragedy, the significance of ritual sacrifice, and the meaning of redemption, providing a fresh interpretation of Wagner's masterpiece. Roger Scruton has written an original and provocative account of Wagner's music drama, which blends philosophy, criticism, and musicology in order to show the work's importance in the twenty-first century.

In this crime thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Lieutenant Eve Dallas tracks a pair of Bonnie and Clyde copycats whose heated passion for each other is fueled by cold brutality. When Eve Dallas examines a fresh body in a seedy alleyway in downtown Manhattan, the victim’s injuries are so extensive that she almost misses the clue. Carved into the skin is the shape of a heart—initials inside reading “E” and “D”... In Arkansas, Ella-Loo and her recently released ex-con boyfriend, Darryl, don’t ever intend to part again. So they hit the road, but then things get a little messy and they wind up killing someone—an experience that stokes a fierce, wild desire in Ella-Loo. A desire for Darryl. And a desire to kill again. As they cross state lines on their way to New York to find the life they think they deserve, they leave a trail of evil behind them. But now they’ve landed in the jurisdiction of Lt. Dallas and her team at the New York Police and Security Department. And, with her husband Roarke at her side, Eve has every intention of hunting them down and giving them what they truly deserve...

In this text, Roger Scruton argues that 'Tristan and Isolde' has profound religious meaning, as relevant today as it was to Wagner's contemporaries. Both philosophical and musicological his analysis touches on the nature of tragedy, the significance of ritual sacrifice and the meaning of redemption.

Waking the Dead—newly revised and updated for these trying times—reveals the secret of finding a full life, identifying the fierce battle over our hearts, and embracing all that God has in store. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” That’s the offer of Christianity, from God himself. Jesus touched people, and they changed: the blind had sight, the lame walked, the deaf heard, the dead were raised. To be touched by God, in other words, is to be restored, to be made into all God means us to be. That is what Christianity promises to do—make us whole, set us free, bring us fully alive.

Roger Scruton is Britain's best known intellectual dissident, who has defended English traditions and English identity against an official culture of denigration. Although his writings on philosophical aesthetics have shown him to be a leading authority in the field, his defence of political conservatism has marked him out in academic circles as public enemy number one. Whether it is Scruton's opinions that get up the nose of his critics, or the wit and erudition with which he expresses them, there is no doubt that their noses are vastly distended by his presence, and constantly on the verge of a collective sneeze. Contrary to orthodox opinion, however, Roger Scruton is a human being, and Gentle Regrets contains the proof of it - a quiet, witty but also serious and moving account of the ways in which life brought him to think what he thinks, and to be what he is. His moving vignettes of his childhood and later influences illuminate this book. Love him or hate him, he will engage you in an argument that is both intellectually stimulating and informed by humour.

One boy with the power to save the world. One man with the will to destroy it. The chilling, unputdownable new standalone thriller from Dean Koontz, the master of suspense. ‘The master of our darkest dreams’ The Times

'The ideal interpreter of the Ring ... a fascinating and valuable study ... absorbing and convincing' Sunday Times The Ring of the Nibelung is one of the greatest works of art created in modern times. Roger Scruton's brilliant and passionate exploration of the drama, music, symbolism and philosophy of Wagner's masterpiece - with its themes of love, death, sacrifice and freedom - shows how, ultimately, it expresses the truth about the human condition. 'Highly original and penetrating ... tremendous' Tim Blanning, Literary Review 'A rich, historical account ... After reading this book, only the most unadventurous reader would turn down the chance to see Wagner's masterpiece' Economist 'A brilliant gallop through the master's religious, musical and philosophical contexts' Sue Prideaux, Spectator 'Scruton is one of the finest philosopher-musicians since Schopenhauer' Jonathan Gaisman, Standpoint