Bøker av John Ball

A 50th anniversary edition of the classic crime novel that inspired the Oscar-winning film starring Sidney Poitier.'They call me Mr Tibbs!'A small southern town in the 1960s. A musician found dead on the highway. It's no surprise when white detectives arrest a black man for the murder. What is a surprise is that the black man - Virgil Tibbs - is himself a skilled homicide detective from California, whom inexperienced Chief Gillespie reluctantly recruits to help with the case. Faced with mounting local hostility and a police force that seems determined to see him fail, it isn't long before Tibbs - trained in karate and aikido - will have to fight not just for justice, but also for his own safety.The inspiration for the Academy Award-winning film starring Sidney Poitier, this iconic crime novel is a psychologically astute examination of racial prejudice, an atmospheric depiction of the American South in the sixties, and a brilliant, suspense-filled read set in the sultry heat of the night.

The Irish scientist John Ball (1818-89), active in the study of natural history and glaciology, held fellowships of both the Royal Society and the Linnean Society. When the Irish Potato Famine took hold, Ball returned from European travel and study intent on helping his countrymen. In 1846 he became an assistant poor law commissioner, and witnessed the deepening crisis at first hand. The first edition of this pamphlet was published in 1847. Reissued here is the second edition of 1849, the year when Ball assumed the more senior office of second poor law commissioner. He uses the pamphlet to argue passionately for the urgent revision of government legislation relating to poor relief, the public works programme, land improvement, labour and taxation, which he felt had exacerbated matters. He also believed the famine had been forgotten by the English and calls for them to show more sympathy towards the Irish.