Adam Scott listens to the reading of his father's will, aware that the contents can only be meagre. The Colonel, after all, had nothing to leave — except a letter he had never opened himself, a letter that can only bring further disgrace to the family name. Against his mother's advice, Adam opens the letter, and immediately realizes his life can never be the same again. The contents leave him with no choice but to follow a course his father would have described as a matter of honour.

Sins of the Father Jeffrey ArcherIt is only days before Britain declares war on Germany. Harry Clifton, hoping to escape the consequences of a family scandal, and realizing he can never marry Emma Barrington, has joined the Merchant Navy. When a German U-boat sinks his ship, Harry and a handful of sailors are rescued by the SS Kansas Star, among them an American named Tom Bradshaw. That night, when Bradshaw dies, Harry seizes a chance to bury his past by assuming the man's identity.

«This is a collection of three volumes of Jeffrey Archer's masterful short stories. This edition of short stories, bringing together the short stories from three collections by Jeffrey Archer, showcases the master storyteller's skill like never before. Every reader will have their own favourites: the choices run from love at first sight across the train tracks to the cleverest of confidence tricks, from the quirks of the legal profession — and those who are able to manipulate both sides of the Bar — to the creative financial talents of a member of Her Majesty's diplomatic service — but for a good cause. In «Caste-Off», Jamwal and Nisha fall in love while waiting for a traffic light to turn green in Delhi, and in «Don't Drink The Water», a company chairman tries to poison his wife while on a trip to St Petersburg — with unexpected consequences... The stories held in these pages are irresistible: ingeniously plotted, with richly drawn characters and deliciously unexpected conclusions. Some will make you laugh. Others will bring you to tears. And, as always, every one of them will keep you spellbound.»

Tragic, comic, outrageous — these fifteen tales from international bestselling author Jeffrey Archer showcase his remarkable talent for capturing an unforgettable moment in time... In India, in Caste-Off, a man and woman fall in love while waiting for a traffic light to turn green on the streets of Delhi... From Germany comes A Good Eye, about a priceless oil painting that has remained in the same family for over two hundred years, until... To the Channel Islands and Members Only, where a golf ball falls out of a Christmas cracker, and a young man's life will never be the same... To Italy and No Room at the Inn, where a young man who is trying to book a hotel room ends up in bed with the receptionist, unaware that she... To England, where, in High Heels, a woman has to explain to her husband why a pair of designer shoes couldn't have gone up in flames...

This is the number one bestselling first book in The Clifton Chronicles, a multi-generational family saga. The Clifton Chronicles is Jeffrey Archer's most ambitious work in four decades as an international bestselling author. The epic tale of Harry Clifton's life begins in 1919, in the backstreets of Bristol. His father was a war hero, but it will be twenty-one tumultuous years before Harry discovers the truth about how his father really died and if, in fact, he even was his father. Only Time Will Tell takes a cast of memorable characters from the ravages of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Harry must decide whether to take his place at Oxford, or join the fight against Hitler's Germany. In Jeffrey Archer's masterful hands, you will be taken on a journey that you won't want to end, even after you turn the last page of this unforgettable yarn, because you will be faced with a dilemma that neither you, nor Harry Clifton could ever have anticipated.

The world's most powerful newspaper barons — which of them will triumph? At first glance, Richard Armstrong and Keith Townsend seemed to have little in common. One was the son of an illiterate peasant, who emerged from the most backward corner of a Europe ravaged by a bitter war. The other was raised in a mansion on the far side of the world while the war was just another piece of news. Once was a hustler, a thief, ready to change even his identity, if it would gain him a momentary advantage. The other was the scion of a well-known family, groomed for a public role, a rebel who didn't care if anyone approved of what he got up to. One craved wealth, recognition, status. The other quickly discovered that real power comes from anonymity. But they did have one thing in common. Both of them were gamblers. Both were prepared to risk everything in their battle to control the biggest newspaper empire in the world.

Millions of readers around the world have relished Jeffrey Archer's short stories. Taking inspiration from his favourite short story writers — F. Scott Fitzgerald, Maupassant, H.H. Munro, W. Somerset Maugham and O. Henry — Jeffrey Archer has written five bestselling collections over the years and Macmillan are proud to announce the publication of a sixth volume of stories in May 2010. Jeffrey has a natural aptitude for short stories which are stylish, witty and entertaining. His mastery of characterization and suspense, combined with a gift for the unexpected, jaw-dropping plot twist, show him at the height of his powers and demonstrate why he is one of Britain's bestselling authors. All of Jeffrey's collections of short stories have been top ten bestsellers and he is undoubtedly the bestselling English-language short story writer of our times.

Who would pay a billion dollars to humiliate America? The time, 1993. The place, Washington DC. Of the adversaries in the Gulf War, the sole survivor is Saddam Hussein. And Saddam is planning a revenge so diabolical that the United States will be left with no choice but to retaliate...

If your dream is big enough, not even your enemies can stop you... Charlie Trumper's earliest memory is of hearing his grandfather's sales patter from behind his costermonger's barrow. When Grandpa Charlie dies, young Charlie wants nothing more than to follow in his footsteps — his burning ambition is to own a shop that will sell everything: 'The Biggest Barrow in the World'. Charlie's progress from the teeming streets of Whitechapel to the elegance of Chelsea Terrace is only a few miles as the crow flies. But in Jeffrey Archer's expert hands it becomes an epic journey through the triumphs and disasters of the century, as Charlie follows a thread of love, ambition and revenge to fulfil the dream his grandfather inspired.

Hers was the ultimate ambition... The magnificent story of love and politics that continues the saga of Kane and Abel. The titanic battle between two men obsessed with destroying each other follows on into the next generation. Florentyna Rosnovski, Abel's daughter, inherits all her father's drive, but none of his wealth. A woman gifted with beauty and spirit, but above all with indomitable will, she sets out in pursuit of an ambition that dwarfs both Kane and Abel, as she battles for the highest office of all... 'A storyteller in the class of Alexandre Dumas' — Washington Post.

This is the story of a man who loved two women, and one of them killed him. Some people have dreams that are so outrageous that if they were to achieve them, their place in history would be guaranteed. Francis Drake, Robert Scott, Percy Fawcett, Charles Lindbergh, Amy Johnson, Edmund Hillary and Neil Armstrong are among such individuals. But what if one man had such a dream, and when he'd fulfilled it, there was no proof that he had achieved his ambition? Paths of Glory is the story of such a man. But not until you've turned the last page of this extraordinary novel, will you be able to decide if George Mallory should be added to this list of legends, because if he were, another name would have to be removed. 'Archer at the peak of his imaginative powers' — The Times. ' Paths of Glory will lead Archer to fans he has never before conquered' — The Independent. 'The plain storytelling is unimprovable. Few literary writers could do his job better' — Sunday Times.

Some people have dreams that are so magnificent that if they were to achieve them, their place in history would be guaranteed. But what if one man had such a dream... and once he'd fulfilled it, there was no proof that he had achieved his ambition? This is the story of such a man: George Mallory. He once told an American reporter that he wanted to climb Mt. Everest because it's there. On his third attempt in 1924, at age thirty-seven, he was last seen six hundred feet from the top. His body was found in 1999. And it still remains a mystery whether he ever reached the summit

They had only one thing in common... William Lowell Kane and Abel Rosnovski, one the son of a Boston millionaire, the other a penniless Polish immigrant — two men born on the same day on opposite sides of the world, their paths destined to cross in the ruthless struggle to build a fortune. The marvellous story, spanning sixty years, of two powerful men linked by an all-consuming hatred, brought together by fate to save... and finally destroy... each other. 'Archer has a gift for plot that can only be described as genius' — Daily Telegraph. 'Probably the greatest storyteller of our age' — Mail on Sunday.

In the 1960s, four ambitious new MPs take their seats at Westminster. Over three decades they share the turbulent passions and upheavals of the race for power with their wives and families, men and women caught up in a dramatic game for the highest stakes of all. But only one man can gain the ultimate goal — the office of Prime Minister.

If Danny Cartwright had proposed to Beth Wilson on any other day, he would not have been arrested and charged with the murder of his best friend. But when the prosecution witnesses happen to be a group of four upper-crust college friends — a barrister, a popular actor, an aristocrat, and the youngest partner in an established firm's history — who is going to believe Danny's side of the story? Danny is sentenced to twenty-two years and sent to Belmarsh prison, the highest-security jail in the land, from where no inmate has ever escaped. But Spencer Craig, Lawrence Davenport, Gerald Payne, and Toby Mortimer all underestimate Danny's determination to seek revenge — and the extent to which his fiancee Beth will go in pursuit of justice.

After years of great sacrifice and deep personal tragedy, Florentyna Kane's has finally become the first woman president in America. But on the very day that she is sworn into office, powerful forces are already in motion to take her life. The FBI investigates thousands of false threats every year. This time, a reliable source has tipped them off about an assassination attempt. One hour later, the informant and all but one of the investigating agents are dead. The lone survivor: FBI Special Agent Mark Andrews. Now, only he knows when the killers will strike. But how can he alone unravel a ruthless conspiracy — in less than one week? The race to save the first woman president begins now...

An English lord requires one more chess piece to complete a set that would be worth a fortune. Another man, an accountant, realizes he's achieved nothing in his life — and sets out to make a fortune before he retires. And then there is the author's own favorite, In the Eye of the Beholder, about a star athlete who has a fateful run-in with a three-hundred-pound woman. Some of these twelve stories were inspired by the two years Jeffrey Archer spent in prison, including Don't Drink the Water, the tale of a company chairman who tries to poison his wife while on a trip to St. Petersburg--with unexpected consequences. Witty, suspenseful, sad, surprising, and unforgettable, Cat O'Nine Tales is Jeffrey Archer at his best.

A breathtaking journey of twists and turns from New York to London, from Bucharest and on to Tokyo ends up in a sleepy English village where the mystery surrounding Van Gogh's last painting will finally be resolved.

«Expect the unexpected... A wrongly convicted murderer exacts a flawless plan of revenge... Headlights in a rear-view mirror tail a female traveler on a lonely stretch of road... A serial bride secures her future by marrying only the wealthiest of men... An escaped Iraqi with a price on his head pays an involuntary visit to his homeland... A brush with death proves the biggest break of an aspiring artist's career... Two strangers, struck by lust-at-first-sight, consider a myriad of possibilities for where the day will take them. ...And you’ll still be surprised, because nothing is what it seems. Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer, «one of the most captivating storytellers writing today» (Pittsburgh Press), engages the reader in a cunning game of cat-and-mouse as he spins twelve ingenious tales of duplicity, love, murder and revenge, each capped with a startling twist. But be careful, for buried in each tale is a red herring — a wicked diversion that Archer challenges readers to uncover for themselves. Artfully entertaining and suspenseful, this is Jeffrey Archer at his inventive best.»

1945. The vote in the House of Lords as to who should inherit the Barrington family fortune has ended in a tie. The Lord Chancellor's deciding vote will cast a long shadow on the lives of Harry Clifton and Giles Barrington. Harry returns to America to promote his latest novel, while his beloved Emma goes in search of the little girl who was found abandoned in her father's office on the night he was killed. When the General Election is called, Giles Barrington has to defend his seat in the House of Commons and is horrified to discover who the Conservatives select to stand against him. But it is Sebastian Clifton, Harry and Emma's son, who ultimately influences his uncle's fate. In 1957, Sebastian wins a scholarship to Cambridge, and a new generation of the Clifton family march onto the page. After Sebastian is expelled from school, he unwittingly becomes caught up in an international art fraud involving a Rodin statue that is worth far more than the sum it raises at auction. Does he become a millionaire? Does he go to Cambridge? Is his life in danger? Best Kept Secret will answer all these questions, but once again, pose so many more.