Lost Diaries

The tenth Lost Diary - a real milestone! Robin Hood has always been an enormously popular figure, but was he real? The mad middle-ages will feature in this real account of his life. It's Sherwood Forest and one man is looking after the nation's money. No, not Robin Hood, but his money man - Leonard du Somoney [Len d for short] While Robin robs the rich, someone has to control it before it's doled out to the poor. Friar Tuck, Maid Marian and that evil Sheriff of Nottingham will naturally make guest appearance as well as Richard the Lionheart and the Crusades, knights, castles, dungeons . Plenty of information about the measly middle ages as well as the odd joke or two about robin' banks! The Sherwood Forest Visitors' Centre is the second most visited tourist attraction outside London, after Alton Towers. There is an enormous amount of interest in Robin Hood worldwide, but particularly amongst children in England. The Lost Diary Series: Henry VIII's Executioner Erik Bloodaxe, Viking Warrior Julius Caesar's Slave Queen Victoria's Undermaid Tutankhamun's Mummy Hercules' Personal Trainer Montezuma's Soothsayer Shakespeare's Ghostwriter Leonardo's Paint Mixer Robin Hood's Money Man [Oct 99]

Humorous historical 'faction' in diary format. Montezuma - last Emperor of the Aztecs - lived in a palace and was deemed so holy that he never put his feet on the ground! His soothsayer or priest was naturally with him every day - from his worship to the Sun God, to his death at the hands of his own people following their defeat by Cortes and the Spaniards. His diary reveals the truth about a powerful emperor and a once mighty empire.

The twelfth Lost Diary about this famous entertainer. Set from 1885 the year in which Annie joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show to 1893 when Annie reached the high point of her career at the Chicago World's Fair. Annie Oakley's rags-to-riches story is engaging and exciting. She began shooting to provide for the family pot and was soon selling her surplus game to hotels in Cincinnati. Within two years she had made enough money to repay the family mortgage! Her name is closely linked with other celebrities of the Old West most notably Buffalo Bill and the great leader of the Sioux nation, Chief Sitting Bull who adopted her as his daughter into the Sioux nation and gave her the nickname Little Sureshot. She was the star attraction in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Circus in 1885. A role-model for young women in the American West she was also widely admired by boys and young men for her shooting skills.

The eleventh Lost Diary detailing Columbus' first voyage across the Atlantic and his historic landing in the 'New World'. As told by Luc Landahoya who tries to work out where he's going. The diary tells the story within a 12-month span from Spring 1492 when Columbus got the official go-ahead from Ferdinand and Isabella, to the Spring of 1493 when he returned in triumph following his 'discovery' of the New World. Life aboard ship, New World discoveries that still survive today tobacco, hammocks, barbecues, canoes, maize etc. The power of the 'press' - printed accounts of Colubus' triumphs spread fast and coming at the end of the 15th Century, the 1492 voyage was part of a significant turning point in european and world history. There are plenty of good-natured laughs in this story - Columbus was convinced he was sailing to China and Japan. He was also convinced he was travelling to a land of untold riches but took along cheap glass beads of worthless trinkets and glass beads as gifts. • The Lost Diary series is becoming increasingly popular - particularly in schools. This will be the eleventh title in the series. • Exploration and discovery is a major topic on schools curriculum. Columbus is the most widely known explorer from the Golden Age of European exploration.