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Written specifically for the ICAA/CCEA (formerly NDTEF) specifications covering communication systems in business and written by authors who are examiners in this subject, this text provides clear explanations of the role of ICT in business, in all the key contexts: business and its environment; human resources; workplace organization and production; accounting and finance; and marketing. The book features: case study examples from business which help explain each key point; visual diagrammatic summaries which reinforce understanding and streamline revision; thinking points and activities which involve the student in active learning; advice on exam preparation and coursework; and frequent opportunities to practise typical examination questions. ... Read more

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Since the turn of the century, Sherlock Holmes has captured the imagination of readers, and, after his move to both television and movies, generations of viewers. While Holmes has been portrayed by many distinguished actors, few have done it with the class, humor, and aplomb that Peter Cushing brought to the role. Written by noted British film journalist Tony Earnshaw, "An Actor and a Rare One: Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes" follows the career of Peter Cushing, one of England's finest actors, as he worked his way up from regional theatre to the role of the world's most famous consulting detective. This book details Cushing's career as Holmes through anecdotes and reminiscences as told by his colleagues and Cushing himself. A fascinating, often humorous behind-the-scenes look at one of the century's great actors in one of the century's greatest roles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Nothing New Here, but Not Without Use
It is surprising to note that many books have been written examining the wealth of Sherlock Holmes films, but only one actor, Jeremy Brett, has had a full book given over to his performance as Holmes. Surprisingly there has never been one specifically written about Rathbone's series of films, although the Northern Musgraves did publish an excellent monograph by Roger Johnson, on just that subject in 1992. With the arrival of Tony Earnshaw's An Actor, and a Rare One: Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes we can now up the tally to two actors. The fact that the subject is one of the most loved Sherlockian actors, is a welcome bonus!


An Actor, and a Rare One: Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes is an expansion of a 17 page article that Tony Earnshaw wrote for The Ritual: The Newsletter of the Northern Musgraves Sherlock Holmes Society back in 1994.The new book clocks in at 146 pages, but oddly adds very little new material for the well-read Sherlockian, but actually gathers together much that may be of greater interest to the general Cushing fan. In either case, the usefulness of the book lies in this "gathering" of previously published material into one volume.

The book falls into natural chapters, beginning, after some minor preamble, with a look at Hammer's version of the The Hound of the Baskervilles, then the BBC series, 3 ½pages on audio recordings and Cushing's appearance as ACD in The Great Houdini, an inordinate amount of space on The Masks of Death and a final chapter of a few pages filling in the remainder of Cushing's life.This is then followed with 3 appendices that details cast and credit lists in the first, reprints Cushing's published Sherlockian introductions and forewords in the second and has a rather bizarre grouping of mini-bio's of various actors, writers and directors making up the third. When you get right down to it, what you have is a 79-page article, heavily padded with quotations and contemporary reviews that create as full a picture as possible of Peter Cushing's 17 remarkable performances as Sherlock Holmes.

The Hammer Hound has been heavily analyzed and Earnshaw adds nearly nothing that hasn't been covered better before (most notably in Sherlock Holmes on the Screen by Robert W. Pohle Jr. and Douglas C. Hart.) Encountering the early statement that producer Anthony Hinds was "...an entrepreneur and sometime variety artist who performed as Will Hammer..." was something of a surprise and hopefully an editor's error, as Anthony Hinds was in fact the son of Will Hammer. Fortunately he is correctly identified in the rather pointless mini-bio later in the third appendix. The chapter is essentially made up of a lengthy synopsis of the film followed by numerous reviews from contemporary sources interspersed with extracts from Cushing's two autobiographies and a few quotes from other sources. The most interesting aspect of the chapter is the reprinting of notes on playing Holmes, made by Cushing, in his own copy of the script.We know he played the part magnificently, but one wonders just how he set about to "Have hypnotic quality".

In approaching the 1968 Sherlock Holmes series produced by the BBC, Earnshaw hit the stumbling block faced by anyone writing today. He hasn't actually seen the entire series. As most no longer exist, this is no real surprise, but surely handicaps any attempt to fully document Peter Cushing's total Sherlockian output? Faced with this dilemma, Earnshaw does the right thing and comments directly on only the four episodes he can have seen firsthand: The Sign of Four, The Blue Carbuncle, The Boscombe Valley Mystery and the two-part Hound of the Baskervilles. All of which is well and good, but still leaves the subject of the book unfortunately incomplete. Beginning with Douglas Wilmer's familiar comments on rejecting the series, Earnshaw then trots out the individual synopses bolstered by familiar interview extracts and quotations from Cushing recounting the grueling shooting schedule and the slipshod approach to the production. Again, most of the available material has been effectively covered elsewhere. Similar quotations appeared in last year's Peter Cushing Companion by David Miller, where a better idea of the troubled series and its star's approach to it was presented in a single chapter.

From the BBC series we skip to a quick statement that Cushing recorded a 13- hour reading of The Return of Sherlock Holmes for the Royal National Institute for the Blind. Earnshaw then points out that these are only available to the blind and so consequently he says nothing about the quality of the reading. To fill out the rest of the 3 ½ page chapter, amusingly entitled "The Voice of Holmes and the Face of Conan Doyle" he goes on to briefly discuss Cushing's, spiritually correct but physically incorrect, appearance as Arthur Conan Doyle in The Great Houdini. Lamentably, no quotations from Cushing appear in regards to his thoughts on playing Conan Doyle.

In what turns out to be the most in-depth chapter of the book, Earnshaw turns his attention to Cushing's final performance as Holmes in Tyburn's The Masks of Death.For the final time we are treated to the familiar formula of a lengthy synopsis peppered with interview extracts and reviews. This time however, we benefit by having less familiar comments from director Roy Ward Baker (who also wrote the foreword), writer N. J. Crisp (who offers some interesting insights into Cushing's approach to dialogue) and producer Kevin Francis (who clearly shared something of a friendship with Cushing). A fair bit of informative coverage is also given to the proposed, but unfortunately never filmed, follow-up entitled The Abbots Cry.

The final chapter, less than creatively titled, His Last Bow briefly sums up the remainder of Cushing's career. A quick mention is made of his turning down the Holmes role in the stage-play The Crucifer of Blood and also turning down a guest appearance in Granada's production of The Last Vampyre.

The appendices, with the exception of the pointless mini-bios, are good. Cast and crew lists are relatively complete, although much the same can be found in Gordon Kelley's Sherlock Holmes Screen and Sound Guide. The reprinting of Cushing's various Holmes related introductions and forewords to books, is a very nice touch, pointing out as it does, his ongoing interest in the character beyond just his screen appearances.

While I find the book, on the whole, to be somewhat superfluous, it does have the benefit of conveniently pulling together, into one volume, most of the known material on Peter Cushing's work as Sherlock Holmes. As such it is a fairly good "one-stop" collection for both the Cushing fan and the Sherlockian, that documents, through Cushing's own words and those that worked with him, not only his drive to bring Conan Doyle's character to faithful cinematic life, but also paints an interesting picture of the man himself. Unfortunately the key failings are that it sheds very little new light on its subject, and that the book simply is not a complete record. The latter problem is through no fault of the author as the BBC purportedly wiped tapes of the 1968 series as a cost saving measure. Unless these lost episodes should surface at some point, it is doubtful that we will ever have a truly complete picture of Peter Cushing's output as Sherlock Holmes. Hopefully, such a time will come, but until then, we shall have to content ourselves with Tony Earnshaw's effort.

Lightweight and adds very little to our knowledge
This has to be a great opportunity missed. For many, including myself, Peter Cushing was THE Holmes (after Rathbone) and here was a chance to really detail his performances in the role - especially the BBC series. But the author adds very little to our knowledge of either Peter`s portrayal of the character or the Holmes Canon itself. A pity.

Before Brett and after Rathbone, was Cushing
Tony Earnshaw presents a well-written and thoroughly researched monogram on the late great Peter Cushing's performances as Sherlock Holmes.

An Actor and A Rare One is very readable, and insightful book. Lightweight, it presents much information on Cushing's performances in both a factual and critical manner. With lengthy chapters on the Hammer Hound of the Baskervilles, the BBC tv series and on the Masks of Death and proposed follow up, along with a guide to his Holmes performances and a selection of biographies for fellow cast and crew on the productions, this is very much a book for both Cushing and Holmes enthusiasts.

An excellent publication, which presents new light on a much-loved actor in one of his finest roles. ... Read more

Product Description
Last year, several boxes of never-seen-before photos of Hammer Films productions was archived by Hammer expert Wayne Kinsey for the British Film Institute. Kinsey and the BFI were so impressed by the collection, that it was agreed the best should be published.Through these rare and mostly previously unseen images, Hammer Films - A Life in Pictures tells the visual story of Hammer's output. You will be guided through this wonderful collection of photos by Kinsey himself,the celebrated author of Hammer Films - the Elstree Studios Years and Hammer Films - the Bray Studios Years. Hammer Films - A Life in Pictures explores the wider and fascinating side of one of the British film industry's greatest success stories, showing once and for all that Hammer was not just a purveyor of cheap horror pictures.In fact, they made films in a number of different genres such as war thrillers, gritty dramas, comedies and colourful swashbuckling adventures. Some of these were among their best films; 1959 is a case in point which included such classics as Never Take Sweets from a Stranger, Hell is a City and Yesterday's Enemy, the latter of which earned Hammer BAFTA nominations for best picture, best actor and best supporting actor. Hammer's films also benefited from an expert team of actors and technicians, including big names that on first glance would never have thought to be associated with Hammer including Robert Aldrich, Ken Adam, Joe Losey, Bette Davis, Tallulah Bankhead, Donald Sutherland, Joan Fontaine, Richard Widmark, Ursula Andress and Raquel Welch. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

'B' movie must read!
If you loved the sexy,schlock horror movies of Hammer studios in the sixties-you'll love this book! Fun read with great pictures.

Hammer book
Got my product in a timely fashion and I have no complaints. This is a beautiful book - I love it! - JB

One of the best books on Hammer Films
This book may strike some people as pricey, but if you love Hammer Films like I do, it is well worth it. This book is different from other Hammer books in that it is totally visual. Most of the pictures have never been published before, and there are a number of behind-the-scenes photos which show a side of Hammer Films most fans have not seen. This book does not contain a "nuts and bolts" history of Hammer--there are plenty of other books which do that. This is a book for the hard-core Hammer fan who thinks he or she has seen every Hammer Films publicity photo there is. Believe me, no matter how big a Hammer fan you are, this book will surprise you. Kudos to Wayne Kinsey, who wrote the text and selected the photographs. I hope Mr. Kinsey will put out other photo-books like this(are you reading this, Mr. Kinsey?).

Beautiful Photo History of Hammer Films
This is a fantastic book.Hundreds of photos showcase the studio that was Hammer.Broken down into chapters including Frankenstein, Dracula, Science Fiction, Drama, Fantasy, Comedy, etc.The photos are crisp and clear, mostly b/w, but there are several color sections.You will spend hours with this book.I loved it and wish there were more books like this.Limited to 2500 copies, get yours today before they are gone. ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

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black-and-white photographs of Boston architecture, neighborhoods. Revere’s home, Trinity Church, Hancock Tower, Faneuil Hall, the Custom House, Christ Church, Union Oyster House, Old City Hall, the Boston Athenaeum, homes of Louisa May Alcott, William Dean Howells and others. Lovely shots, lively text.
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Starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Terror grips a tiny village as Cushing and Lee star in this chilling tale of mythological punishment where the victims have all been turned to stone! When Professor Heitz son, Bruno, is found dead, his lifeless body hanging from a tree, the villagers decide that Bruno was the sinister mind behind a series of deaths in the area. In an effort to clear his son's name, Heitz meets up with the gruesome Gorgon in the eerie Castle Borski and dies after he is turned to stone. Heitz other son, Paul arrives upon hearing of his father's death and makes acquaintance of Professor Namaroff-Cushing, who is obviously hiding something. it is only after the eccentric Professor Meitzer-Lee arrives and begins to investigate that the mystery of the gorgon unfolds, climaxing in a horrifying night of evil in which the shocking identity of the Gorgon is finally revealed! ... Read more