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Titan Publishing Group is an independently owned British publishing company, established in 1981. It is based at offices in London's Bankside area. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins, and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and comics references and art titles. The company is a division of Titan Entertainment Group, which also owns Titan Magazines. As of 2011, Titan Books' editorial director was Katy Wild.

Film and television[link]

Titan Books is a publisher of film, video game and TV tie-in books. As of 2011, the company publishes on average 30 to 40 such titles per year, across a range of formats from "making of" books to screenplays to TV companions and novels, and has a backlist reprint programme.

Comics[link]

Titan Books also publishes trade paperbacks and graphic novels in the UK. The company has a backlist of over 1,000 graphic novels. Its titles include such licensed characters and properties as Batman, Heroes, Nemi, Superman, the Vertigo comic-book title Sandman, The Simpsons, Star Wars, Tank Girl, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Roy of the Rovers, and World of Warcraft.

Comic, art and fiction[link]

Titan Books’ range of fiction includes novelisations of such films as Terminator Salvation, Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and X-Files: I Want to Believe.

Titan also publishes coffee table books on animation, popular culture, collectibles and comic and fantasy art.

External links[link]

Children's literature portal

• Official website
• Titan Books at the Grand Comics Database
• Titan Books at the Comic Book DB

Samit Basu is the author of five novels: The Simoqin Prophecies, The Manticore's Secret and The Unwaba Revelations, the three parts of The GameWorld Trilogy, a fantasy trilogy published by Penguin Books, India, Terror on the Titanic a YA novel published by Scholastic India, and Turbulence, a superhero novel set in India, Pakistan and England, published by Hachette India. He currently lives and works in Delhi, India.

Biography[link]

Born December 14, 1979, Basu grew up in Calcutta, where he studied at Don Bosco School, and later Presidency College, Kolkata, where he obtained a degree in Economics. He dropped out of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and then went on to complete a course in broadcasting and documentary filmmaking at the University of Westminster, London.

Writing career[link]

The Simoqin Prophecies was written when Basu was 22 and published when he was 23. The Simoqin Prophecies, written in English, has been published in Swedish by Ordbilder, and German (from Piper Verlag). The subsequent volumes in the trilogy, The Manticore's Secret and The Unwaba Revelations were released in 2005 and 2007 respectively. The GameWorld trilogy has been widely well reviewed and all three books have reached Indian bestseller lists but not made a significant impact on international markets.

Basu has contributed to The Harper Collins Anthology of New Indian Writing (2004). Basu has also written short stories for children, which appear in the Puffin Book of Bedtime stories (2005), the Puffin Book of Funny Stories (2005), 'Seven Science Fiction Stories' (Scholastic India, 2006), 'Superhero!' (Scholastic India, 2007), 'Bewitched' (Scholastic India, 2008) and several other anthologies, including the controversial erotica anthology 'Electric Feather' (Tranquebar, 2009)

In 2006, Basu published a series of articles and interviews on Indian speculative fiction called The Trousers of Time: Possible futures of Indian speculative fiction in English on a fellowship from Sarai

In 2003, Basu was in Outlook magazine's list of 16 Indian achievers under 25.In 2007, Basu was declared, along with other prominent young Indians such as Rahul Gandhi and Vidya Balan, one of India's most promising 'Emerging Indians' by a survey conducted by IMRB and The Week magazine, India.

Basu is also a comics writer. He worked for Virgin Comics and continues to write comics. His initial projects with Virgin Comics were Devi (#3-#10) and The Tall Tales of Vishnu Sharma based on the Panchatantra. Basu also co-wrote Untouchable, a graphic novel with X-Men and Lucifer writer Mike Carey.

In 2010, Basu published two novels, Terror on the Titanic a YA novel published by Scholastic India, and Turbulence, a superhero novel set in India, Pakistan and England, published by Hachette India. According to the Mumbai Mirror, a film adaptation of Turbulence is under way, to be directed by Ravi Udyawar. Turbulence is currently Hachette India's most successful Indian title.

Apart from his novel writing, Basu is a columnist, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker and freelance journalist writing on travel, film, books and pop culture. He also runs a weblog.

Bibliography[link]

Sources[link]

• Samit Basu's website
• Samit Basu on Twitter
• Week-IMRB survey profile on Basu from the Emerging Indians award story.
• Profile in Outlook magazine, India from a list of 16 Indian achievers under 25 (2003)
• Profile in DNA newspaper, Mumbai
• Review of Basu's first novel in Outlook magazine, India
• Profile in Indian Express newspaper
• Samit Basu on MySpace.com

External links[link]

• Short story: The Plasmoids
• Short story: Roundabout (A Delhi Fable) for Outlook City Limits, Delhi (2005)
• Article on literary spats among Indian writers (Tehelka newspaper, 2005)
• Interview with British/Asian writer Hari Kunzru
• Basu's fellowship project essays and interviews on Indian speculative fiction in books and comics

Deepak Rao is a military trainer, scientist, author, and physician. Considered to be an authority in the field of Close Quarter Battle training, he serves as the Executive Director of the Unarmed & Commando Combat Academy^[1] and has been appointed as Resource Personnel for imparting training in Close Quarter Battle by the Ministry of Home Affairs, India.^[2] Major. Deepak Rao was commissioned into the Para TA Regiment with the Hon. Rank of Major by the President of India for his contribution of 17 years in modernization of Close Quarter Battle for the Indian Army.^[3][4]

Education[link]

Born in India, Major. Rao grew up committed to the cause of serving his country. Pursuing an education in medicine, he certified as a MBBS and MD; following which he received a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Health from UK. A PhD in Alternative Medicine soon followed.

Not content as a Certified Law Enforcement Trainer (CLET) from the American Society of Law Enforcement Training, he pursued a Doctorate in Military Science (DSc). While his training was incorporated in the Training Curriculum under directive of Army Commanders in 2006-2008 and the numerous endorsements he received from top Army Brass, he formed an NGO dedicated to serving the Indian Forces by researching and modernizing Close Quarter Battle training.

Contribution[link]

He helped develop the ACCS System of combat shooting; for which he received Army Commander Citation. Furthermore, applying Sifu Richard Bustillo's^[5] tutelage of Jeet Kune Do concepts to the Close Quarter Battle Operations, he has taught 15,000 soldiers^[6] from Special Forces, Paracommandos, QRT Squads, National Security Forces, Marine Commandos, Airborne Commandos, Commando Wing and City & State Police forces from 1994-2009 without compensation.^[6] Along with his wife, Dr. Seema Rao, Deepak Rao was appointed as Resource Personnel for imparting training in Close Quarter Battle by the Ministry of Home Affairs.^[2]

Author[link]

A prolific writer, he has authored "Terrorism: A Comprehensive Analysis of World Terrorism"^[7] as well as the de facto "Encyclopedia of Close Combat Ops"^[8] and "The JKD of Military Unarmed Combat". "The Mind Range"^[9] is a book penned on philosophy and its application in real life. He has since authored the "Commando Manual of Unarmed Combat"^[10] and the "Forces Handbook of World Terrorism", ISBN 978-81-907765-8-5 in 2010.

Major. Rao is responsible for the creation of a new military martial art called (ACCS) Advanced Commando Combat System^{[11][12][13][14]} which incorporates H2H (Hand to Hand), H2W (Hand to Weapon), W2H (Weapon to Hand) and W2W (Weapon to Weapon) tactics. The Reflex Fire^[15][16][17] method of shooting was also pioneered by Deepak Rao. ACCS^[13] is renowned for the innovative Reflex Fire technique of close quarter shooting. It advocates a different aiming method from conventional WWII 'Snap Shooting'.

Philosophy[link]

Rao's personal philosophy draws from the philosophy of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, Zen, Samurai Bushido and Sun Tzu's Art of War. He is the only certified Jeet Kune Do teacher in Asia under Sifu Richard Bustillo.^[1]

Awards and Accolades[link]

INTERNATIONAL:'
World Peace Award by World Peace Congress, Malaysia awarded by the Prime Minister of Malaysia for contribution to the country in 2008^[18] United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame 2009 for Outstanding Law Enforcement Instructor accepted by Richard Bustillo in Nashville, Tennessee^[19]

NATIONAL:'
Home Minister of India Letter of Commendation in 2009 placing on record the selfless National service in the field of Close Quarter Battle Training.^[20]

ARMED FORCES CITATIONS:
Army Chief Appreciation 2001
Army Chief Appreciation 2003
Army Commanders Appreciation 2006 (NC)^[21]
Army Commanders Appreciation 2008 (EC)^[22]
The Rao Couple were felicitated for their work in modernization of CQB by the Army Chief Gen. V.K. Singh at the Ministry of Defence.^[23]

STATE:
Home Ministers Letter of Commendation in 2006 ^[24]
Chief Ministers Letter of Commendation in 2009 ^[25]

Other Sources[link]

"MS Dhoni and Abhinav Bindra have been commissioned as Honorary Lt Colonel and Dr Deepak Rao commissioned as a Honorary Major in the Territorial Army."^[26]

"We have granted Honorary rank to Lt Col MS Dhoni, Lt Col Abhinav Bindra & Maj Deepak Rao - Indian Army Chief"^[27]

"Dr. Deepak Rao Rao is being honoured for imparting special commando training to the armed forces during the last 17 years with rank in the Territorial Army by HE President of India" ^[28]

"Rao, has been training all the elite forces of the country, for 18 years now, having developed his own unique style of Close Quarter Combat."^[29]

"He is responsible for pioneering modern CQB training, helping change outdated World War II methodology and spreading CQB training all over India."^[30]

"When the Prime Minister, Home Minister, FBI and Interpol laud someone's efforts, you have to take notice. Heads of state sent letters of appreciation after distribution of the book, Encyclopedia of Close Combat Ops."^[31]

"The Raos have specialised in close quarter combat, a technique for fighting enemy within 30 yards with or without weapons. They have also come up with their own techniques like reflex shooting where reaction time is more crucial than accuracy."^[32]

"Rao, made an honorary Major in the Para regiment for training elite special forces of the country for 18 years in a new form of Close Quarter Battle that has the sole aim to kill."^[33]

"Treading this off-beat path, Rao has completed 17 years training about 15,000 soldiers from the Indian armed forces and police in close quarter combat and counter terrorism related subjects."^[34]

"Deepak, who is certified as International Law Enforcement Trainer by the American Professional Certification Board of Law Enforcement Training has been training Indian forces in commando warfare and counter-terrorism and "close-quarter combat", free of cost. After the 26/11 carnage, they are increasingly being asked to impart their skills to aid urban operations."^[35]

References[link]

George Godley

George Albert Godley (31 October 1857 – 20 July 1941) was a police officer of the Metropolitan Police who was involved in the hunt for Jack the Ripper in 1888.^[1]

Born at East Grinstead in Sussex in 1857, Godley initially worked as a sawyer. He then joined the Metropolitan Police on 26 February 1877, and was assigned warrant number 61230.^[2] At the time of the Jack the Ripper murders in 1888 Godley was a Sergeant in London's J Division (Bethnal Green). He transferred to H Division (Whitechapel) where he assisted Inspector Frederick Abberline in the hunt for the killer. The Times of 12 November 1888 reported:

"Since the murders in Berner Street, St. Georges, and Mitre Square, Aldgate, on September 30th, Detective Inspectors Reid, Moore and Nairn, and Sergeants Thick, Godley, M'Carthy and Pearce have been constantly engaged, under the direction of Inspector Abberline (Scotland Yard), in prosecuting inquiries, but, unfortunately, up to the present time without any practical result. As an instance of the magnitude of their labours, each officer has had, on average, during the last six weeks to make some 30 separate inquiries weekly, and these have had to be made in different portions of the metropolis and suburbs. Since the two above-mentioned murders no fewer than 1,400 letters relating to the tragedies have been received by the police, and although the greater portion of these gratuitous communications were found to be of a trivial and even ridiculous character, still each one was thoroughly investigated. On Saturday (10th November) many more letters were received, and these are now being inquired into."^[3]

When Godley arrested poisoner George Chapman in 1903 the then retired Inspector Abberline allegedly said "You have caught Jack the Ripper at last" or similar words.^[1][4]

Godley retired on 20 January 1908 by which time he was an Inspector in K Division.^[2] He died in July 1941 aged 84.

His nephew was Sidney Frank Godley who won the Victoria Cross during World War I.

In fiction[link]

In the 1988 TV miniseries Jack the Ripper starring Michael Caine Godley was played by Lewis Collins^[5] and in the 2001 film From Hell starring Johnny Depp the character 'Peter Godley' played by Robbie Coltrane was based on George Godley.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Godley on the Casebook: Jack the Ripper website

The Books were an American duo, formed in New York City in 1999, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong. Their releases typically incorporate samples of obscure sounds and speech.^[1][2] They have released three critically acclaimed albums on the German label Tomlab, and released their fourth studio album, The Way Out, on Temporary Residence Limited in July 2010.

History[link]

[edit] 1999–2002: Thought for Food

Zammuto and de Jong first met in New York City in 1999 as they shared the same apartment building.^[3] De Jong invited Zammuto to dinner at his apartment, where he played him some of his collection of audio and video samples, including a Shooby Taylor record.^[4] Zammuto said of their meeting that "we both kind of knew at that moment that we listened (to music) in interesting ways and had similar approaches to music."^[5] Soon after, they began playing what they considered to be pop music, in comparison to their own works, under the name The Books.^[5]

In 2000, The Books started work on what would become their début album Thought for Food.^[6] Zammuto and de Jong moved locations constantly during this time,^[6] recording in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and finally in the basement of a hostel in North Carolina where Zammuto worked for a while after hiking the Appalachian Trail.^[5][7]

Thought for Food was released on October 22nd, 2002.^[8] Praised by critics for its distinctive sound,^[9] it featured extensive sampling from obscure sources coupled with mostly acoustic instrumentation.

[edit] 2002–2003: The Lemon of Pink

Shortly after the release of Thought for Food, the band relocated to North Adams, Massachusetts, near where Zammuto had graduated from Williams College in 1999, studying chemistry and visual arts.^[10] Zammuto and de Jong began the recording of The Lemon of Pink around this time. Anne Doerner, a guest vocalist on the album, said the process was much more arduous than the recording of Thought for Food, with Zammuto working on the album for five straight months.^[5]

The Lemon of Pink was released to critical acclaim^[11] on October 7th, 2003.^[12] It is similar in style to Thought for Food, but oriented more around vocals performed mostly by Anne Doerner.

[edit] 2003–2006: Lost and Safe, Music for a French Elevator, Prefuse 73 Reads The Books

In 2004, the French Ministry of Culture asked The Books to compose music for a new elevator in their building. The Books released a Mini CD of this work in 2006, under the name Music for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by the Books.^[13]

On April 5, 2005, The Books released their third studio album, Lost and Safe. Zammuto has a greater vocal presence in this album, and the album was criticized for this change of sound.^[14] Aside from this, Lost and Safe was well received by critics.^[15] Throughout early 2005, The Books collobarated with the electronica artist Prefuse 73. The Books appear on his album Surrounded by Silence ("Pagina Dos"), and the E.P. Prefuse 73 Reads the Books E.P. collects remixes of material sourced from The Books' albums.

Before starting a three-month^[16] tour of North America in April 2006, The Books had played only one concert,^[7] in October 2003 at a festival in Chicago, Illinois.^[17] Zammuto has expressed apprehensiveness towards touring, but says it is necessary to make a living, given his belief that people downloading The Books' music via file-sharing^[18] has put him under financial strain.

[edit] 2006–2012: Hiatus, The Way Out and break-up

Following the release of Music for a French Elevator, the band took a break from recording to tend to their new families, tour in support of their albums, and pursue some of their own projects, which included Zammuto scoring a feature documentary about the Biosphere 2.^[10]

In 2007, The Books released Play All, a DVD of thirteen music videos and three previously unreleased tracks.^[19] The Play All videos are composed of found footage transformed into a collage that matches their music. The Books often screen these videos during their live performances.^[20]

The Books toured heavily between 2005 and 2007, including two tours in Europe and two Canadian shows.^[6] In early 2009 The Books covered the Nick Drake song "Cello Song" in collaboration with José González for the Red Hot Organization's Dark Was the Night fund-raising album.^[21]

The Books began working on The Way Out in late 2008.^[22] Zammuto spoke of the album's New Age themes in an interview in April 2009, saying they took samples from self-help and hypnotherapy cassettes. When asked to describe the album, Zammuto said "You're getting verrry sleepy."^[3] On April 5, 2010, the duo announced that The Way Out would be released through Temporary Residence Limited in July.^[22] On April 27 Pitchfork Media began streaming the track "Beautiful People",^[23] which Zammuto described as "a three part christian harmony mixed with a sort of euro-disco-trash beat, an orchestra’s worth of sampled brass and lyrics about the twelfth root of two (my favorite irrational number), trigonometry and tangrams".^[24] The album was released on July 20.

The Books played the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York, in September 2010 and are currently touring North American tour with the Black Heart Procession. The band have been chosen by Portishead & ATP to perform at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror festival that they will curate in July 2011 at London's Alexandra Palace.^[25]

In January of 2012, Nick Zammuto announced in an interview via Pitchfork Media that The Books were splitting up to focus on other projects.^[26]

On April 3rd 2012, Nick Zammuto released Zammuto, under the moniker Zammuto.

Musical style[link]

The Books are commonly cited by critics to be of a genre of their own,.^[27] Zammuto has described it as collage music.^[18] Paul de Jong described it as "the new folk music...[w]e make our own instruments, use our own libraries of sound bites while trying to create something universally human."^[28] Although they have said that their influences include Nirvana, David Bowie, Roxy Music as well as new wave and classical music, these do not show prominently in their music,^[29] though Zammuto was directly influenced by electronic musicians Squarepusher, Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada.^[30][31] The Books' music usually consists of acoustic instrumentation of folk melodies usually played on guitar, cello, banjo and more, combined with a diverse range of samples obtained from cassettes found in thrift stores,^[18] which are digitally processed and edited.^[5] They also rarely use a drum kit in recordings and performances, instead favouring inanimate objects like children's toys and filing cabinets, which are sampled and looped.^[29] Some observers contend that their music is aleatoric,^[32] but Zammuto has disagreed, saying the music is very tightly controlled.^[18]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Thought for Food (2002)
• The Lemon of Pink (2003)
• Lost and Safe (2005)
• The Way Out (2010)

EP[link]

• Music for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by the Books (2006)

DVDs[link]

• Play All (2007)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• The Books on Myspace
• The Books discography at Discogs
• [1] Interview with The Books
• [2] Interview with Nick Zammuto about his new band and the break-up of The Books