The Mammoth Book of Maneaters


Book Description

Man-eating creatures roam, stalk, crouch, wait, leap, slither, swim, crawl, perch, and attack in the pages of this gripping Mammoth Book. Drawn from newspapers and autobiographies, the compelling real-life stories in this volume begin with "Danger in the Home," which includes not only accounts of attacks by domestic pets and farm animals but also shocking tales of cougars invading towns in Montana and polar bears terrorizing Alaskan suburbs. After exploration "Out on the Plains"—with riveting narratives of big cats from nonfiction adventures like Beryl Markham's West With the Night as well as of buffalo, bison, dingos, and rhinos—editor Alex MacCormick, herself the author of Shark Attacks, surveys the perils presented by marine predators like orcas, octopi, jellyfish, and giant clams "Beneath the Waves," including a gory meeting between a shark and a member of the British royal family in the Caribbean. MacCormick then travels "Up the Creek" among alligators and terrifying varieties of river snakes. An extract from David Fletcher's hair-raising tale with a vengeful 1200-pound grizzly in Hunted highlights the treacheries that lie "In the Wilderness," while "Jungle Stories" takes the reader into nail-biting accounts of man meeting man-eating enemies ranging from tigers to soldier ants.




The Mammoth Book of Predators


Book Description

Don't go into the woods today. . . If you're on a cruise, tramping through a forest or holidaying in an exotic location, you are constantly being watched - somewhere close by a creature is lurking, stalking and eyeing your every move. The variety and range of these potential predators is truly astonishing, from Asiatic wolves to rogue elephants, fire ants to sharks, snakes, crocodiles and grizzlies. In this definitive anthology survivors recall their terrifying ordeals, while hunters and other witnesses describe the final bloody moments of victims and their killers. Including: The British climber alone in the mountain wilderness pursued for days by a vengeful bear The African traveller's unhappy encounter with a crocodile A member of the Royal Family's gory meeting with a shark in the Caribbean A tiger breaking out of the jungle to grab a woman from her village




The Mammoth Book of Men O' War


Book Description

Eighteen classic sea-faring tales by the best-loved writers of the genre, including Patrick O'Brian, C. S. Forester, Richard Woodman, Herman Melville and Frederick Marryat. Featuring favourite heroes such as Captain Jack Aubrey, Adam Hardy, Horatio Hornblower and Nathaniel Drinkwater. These tales vividly re-create the age of the glory days of sail, aboard the great ships that sailed for trade, discovery or warfare. They include storms and shipwrecks, the great sea battles of the Napoleonic era and the sheer, dangerous excitement of life before the mast.




The Mammoth Book of Polar Journeys


Book Description

Exerting a magnetic pull our imaginations, the poles have been the object of many gripping first-hand accounts of exploration - literally, journeys to the ends of the earth A passport to the last wildnernesses of Earth, this is the definitive collection of first-hand accounts of polar exploration - 50 true stories of intrepid travel through the desolate and dangerous regions of both Arctic and Antarctic. Beginning with Sir John Franklin's starvation trek through Alaska in 1821 and ending with Vassilli Gorshkovsky's northern expedition aboard a creaking ice-breaker in 2005, these true stories encompass every kind of triumph and disaster. The inspired but doomed courage of Captain Scott, and the marvellous leadership of Shackleton are well known, but here are many other stories including: The Bear, by Frederick A. Cook, 1908 Meeting with Polar Eskimos by Knud Rasmussen, 1932 By Dog-Sledge to the Top of the World, by Wally Herbert, 1968 Hell on Earth by Reinhold Messner, 1989-90 Solo by Pen Haddow, 2003 And many more.




The Mammoth Book of New Comic Fantasy


Book Description

Mike Ashley is back with an all-new edition of one of the bestselling Mammoth Books ever, from the funniest writers in the field, including Neil Gaiman, Tom Holt, and Terry Jones. The thirty- five off-the-wall comic fantasies featured in Ashley's new collection are a mix of specially written stories and hard-to-find gems: a computer salesman in fairyland, a vampire football match, a psychotic Father Christmas, and a wizard allergic to magic. Ashley expertly turns fantasy and horror fiction on its head and magic into mayhem. This is huge fun for all comic fantasy fans.




The Mammoth Book of Vampires


Book Description

Modern masters of the macabre bring the dead to life in this specially re-vamped edition of the classic compilation every horror fan will want to sink their teeth into. From an award-winning editor who knows the genre backwards, here is the very best in vampire fiction: from tales of tempting sirens to contemporary serial killers; from the dark origins of fairy tales to a modern reinterpretation of the King of the Undead himself, Count Dracula. This revised edition features over a dozen new stories, including Tina Rath's A Trick of the Dark and Kim Newman's Andy Warhol's Dracula, as well as classic novellas such as Hugh B. Cave's Stragella and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Investigating Jericho. There are contributions by Nancy Kilpatrick, Christopher Fowler, Paul Mcauley, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Tina Rath, Neil Gaiman, Harlan Ellison and Kim Newman.




The Mammoth Book of Bikers


Book Description

The definitive collection of first-hand accounts of the world's outlaw motorcycle gangs, with contributions by Sonny Barger, Hunter S. Thompson, Ed Winterhalder, William Queen and many more Outlaw bikers consider themselves 'the last free people in society', unconstrained by the regulations that hem in ordinary citizens. And they guard their privacy jealously. Drawing on seventeen years of studying and participating in biker culture, the author has compiled this one-of-a-kind collection of original biker writing. Here are insider accounts of landmark incidents in biker folklore, including reprints of classic writing from biker-originated magazines, handouts, websites and books. Gangs featured include the Bandidos, the Hells Angels, Henchmen MC, the Outlaws, the Mongols, the Annihilators, the Diablos, the Gypsy Jokers, the Rebels, the Straight Satans and the Vagos. And with contributors such as Freewheelin' Frank (one-time secretary of the Hells Angels), Edward Winterhalder (among the most powerful members of the Bandidos) and Sonny Barger (founder of the Hells Angels). Also included are those rare accounts by outsiders who have succeeded in 'looking in' on the gangs: Hunter S. Thompson's Hells Angels: A Strange and Terrible Modern Saga; writing by William Queen, the undercover agent who infiltrated America's violent outlaw motorcycle gang the Mongols; and Daniel R. Wolf's account of riding with the Rebels.




The Mammoth Book of the Mafia


Book Description

30 inside stories of the American Mafia, Sicilian Cosa Nostra, Camorra and 'Ndrangheta Images of life in the Mob pervade our film and TV screens, some glamorous, some horrific - what is the reality? Investigative journalist Roger Wilkes has put together the largest ever collection of insider stories from prominent ex-mafiosi, infiltrators and award-winning writers. It contains tell-all accounts by the likes of: Richard 'The Iceman' Kuklinski, the contract killer who claimed to have murdered over 200 people in a career lasting 43 years. Frankie Saggio, who 'freelanced' for all five of New York's Mafia families, narrowly escaping assassination before being busted for a major scam. Joey Black, the Hitman, chillingly professional murderer of 38 victims and regarded by many as the 'original Soprano'. Albert DeMeo, the son of a gangster, who later became a lawyer. 'Donnie Brasco', real name Joseph Pistone, the FBI agent, who worked undercover in the Bonanno and Colombo crime families in New York for six years. Tommaso Buscetta, the Sicilian mafioso, the first pentito, or informant, of real significance to break omertà. The two judges with whom he worked, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, were both later killed by the Mafia. This is the reality of the world of men you wouldn't want to cross.




The Mammoth Book of Casino Games


Book Description

Paul Mendelson offers an indispensable guide to beating the odds in just about every gambling game, both in casinos and online. He reveals how to shift the odds in your favour as he clearly explains every game and analyses optimum strategies in detail with the aim of helping you to win. Other chapters show you how to: get the best out of your casino - pick up free drinks, meals, hotel accommodation, thousand-dollar shopping trips, room upgrades, flights, bonus money etc.; make the most of your trip to Las Vegas or anywhere else - casino information, the best places to gamble (for each game), recommended hotels and attractions; win online - which sites to avoid and which can be trusted, a discussion of every game from poker through to online bingo, including bonuses, incentives, play-through data and the best strategies to use. The Mammoth Book of Casino Games covers every major casino game in detail, as well as many less well known games, including: blackjack, roulette, punto banco (baccarat, chemin de fer, chemmy), poker (including three-card, Caribbean stud and video poker), Chinese dice and domino games (including sic bo, gwat pai and kap tai shap), slots (three-wheel, multi-line, bonus), other casino games (including Keno, Wheel of Fortune, Red Dog and Spanish 21) and tournaments (slots, roulette etc.). Praise for The Mammoth Book of Poker: 'I've won 20 times the price in the last three days!' Gareth Hughes




The Mammoth Book of On The Edge


Book Description

No one sees clearer than an individual whose life is hanging by the finger tips on the edge of an abyss. Probing the furthest reaches of human daring and endurance, here are 28 of the great first-hand accounts of extreme mountaineering, from legendary names. Written by the bestselling author of Meadowland and The Running Hare, Featuring: ·Heinrich Harrer - first conqueror of the notorious Eigerwand. ·Robert Bates - the classic account of the ill-fated American 1953 expedition to K2. ·Maurice Herzog - his unstoppable ascent of Annapurna at the cost of frostbite. ·Walter Bonatti - tragedy on the Central Pillar of Freney on Mont Blanc. ·George Leigh Mallory - surviving an avalanche on the 1922 Everest expedition. ·René Desmaison - his epic story of 14 days stuck on The Grandes Jorasses in winter. ·Jon Krakauer - recalling his solo ascent of The Devil's Thumb in Alaska. The price of the summit is often measured in human suffering, yet for those who succeed the rewards can be incalculable. Nerve-wracking and unputdownable.