Could an Irish monk in the sixth century really have sailed all the way across the Atlantic in a small open boat, thus beating Columbus to the New World by almost a thousand years? Relying on the medieval text of St. Brendan, award-winning adventure writer Tim Severin painstakingly researched and built a boat identical to the leather curragh that carried Brendan on his epic voyage. He found a centuries-old, family-run tannery to prepare the ox hides in the medieval way; he undertook an exhaustive search for skilled harness makers (the only people who would know how to stitch the three-quarter-inch-thick hides together); he located one of the last pieces of Irish-grown timber tall enough to make the mainmast. But his courage and resourcefulness were truly tested on the open seas, including one heart-pounding episode when he and his crew repaired a dangerous tear in the leather hull by hanging over the side--their heads sometimes submerged under the freezing waves--to restitch the leather. A modern classic in the tradition of Kon-Tiki, The Brendan Voyage seamlessly blends high adventure and historical relevance. It has been translated into twenty-seven languages since its original publication in 1978. With a new Introduction by Malachy McCourt, author of A Monk Swimming

A catalogue of second-hand books arrived in the post, one page marked in red. Michael Golly didn't even need to open the envelope for he already knew what it meant - this was the sign he had been so long waiting for. For years living the life of a small-time London businessman, Golly's time as a sleeper had come to an end. Now that his Control had made contact, he must follow his deadly instructions. But was he still up to it after all these years? How would he know whom he could trust? And would he recognise the enemy when confronted? And worst of all, now that it had started, would it ever end?