Dan Smith

In 1941 twelve-year-old Karl is proud to be a member of the Hitler Youth, but when his father is killed on the Eastern Front everything changes--his family moves to the country to live with his grandparents, he encounters a brutal Gestapo officer, and he begins to realize that his sixteen-year-old brother has joined a youth group who opposes the Nazis.

"Every boy in Oskari's remote mountain village must face a ritual hunt on his thirteenth birthday--the Trial--to become a man. It's Oskari's turn, and whatever animal he kills--if he succeeds--will symbolize who he will become. But the idea of spending a night alone in the forest makes him queasy, and the ceremonial bow he has to use is too big for him. Not long after he sets out, Oskari comes across a strange creature in the woods, emerging in eerie...

December 1930, Ukraine. Luka, a war veteran, wants a quiet life with his family. Their village is hidden from the advancing Soviet brutality--until the stranger arrives pulling a sled bearing a terrible cargo. When the villagers' fear turns deadly, they think they've saved themselves. But their anger has cursed them: a little girl has vanished. In these frozen lands, Luka has the skills to find the one who stole the child. With his sons, he sets out...

The author of the best-selling State of the World Atlas builds a unique contemporary understanding of the factors and forces at play by homing in on the key events, themes, resources and relationships. Blending the creative use of maps and graphics with incisive text and the most-up-to-date statistics, this Atlas explains the background to current events in the Middle East.

A stunning, exciting story from acclaimed author Dan Smith-author of the Carnegie Medal-nominated Nisha's War. Berlin, 1961. Anja and Monika are best friends—they even share a cat called Otto. When a huge barbed wire fence is built between their apartment blocks, everything changes; their city and family are divided by the Berlin Wall. In the West, Anja is sure it will be taken down, but Monika is afraid. Her world is changing: neighbours keep...

"From the author of The Penguin State of the World Atlas, an essential tool for understanding the modern Middle East The Middle East is in a constant state of change, and understanding it has never been more important. In this essential guide to the region and its politics, Dan Smith unravels the history of the Middle East from the Ottoman Empire to the present day. With the acute and fair-minded analysis readers have come to expect from him, Smith...

Cincinnati chills are on the menu, as two ghost tour guides serve up the most terrifying tales from this Ohio River city's haunted history. A ghostly captain who forever guards her steamboat, an elusive lady in green who roams Carew Tower, spectral lovers who reunite in museum halls, these are among the souls who walk Cincinnati's forgotten paths. Take a chilling tour with Teri Casper and Dan Smith, owners of Cincinnati Tours, Inc., as they recount...

For the better part of a decade, the authors were part of the Washington scene, as a White House senior policy adviser, Assistant Education Secretary, consultant to Federal agencies, and commissioner of a leading international grant-making agency. They became more aware than ever of the need for a straightforward guide to the language of power, a tool to provide access to the terminology used every day inside the Beltway. The aim of The Talk of...