Autobiography: adventurers and explorers Books
Cornerstone Citizen
Book SynopsisWilliam Jefferson Clinton, the first Democratic president in six decades to be elected twice, led the US to the longest economic expansion in American history, including the creation of more than 22 million jobs. After leaving the White House, President Clinton established the Clinton Foundation; its flagship programmes include the Clinton Global Initiative, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the Clinton School of Public Service and the Clinton Presidential Center and Library. President Clinton and Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton live in Chappaqua, New York.
£24.00
Restless Books How to Be Unmothered
Book SynopsisWith a stunning sense of place, Camille U. Adams'' unrelenting memoir lays bare the innards of a mother daughter relationship, laying bare hard truths about family, abuse, and identity that challenge the Caribbean literary zeitgeist.From acclaimed Trinididian writer and scholar Camille U. Adams comes a heartbreaking memoir of motherhood, daughterhood, and the unjust burden of parental cruelty. Breathtaking in its originality, How to be Unmothered showcases Adams'' early childhood in Trinidad, contending with an angry father often possessed by Rum and a mother whose only reprieve is control. With a sweltering sense of place, we follow Camille's journey from Trinidad and Grenada to England, Canada, and New York as she desperately uncovers her family's lineage of unmothering, trying to understand her own life in the context of her lineage and the history of the Caribbean as a whole. Investigating African spirituality and pre-colonial Trinidad, this far-sweeping memoir uses one daughter's experience of maternal abuse to pull the veil from Caribbean canon, revealing the pain, hardship, and truth that lies beneath.Finalist for the 2023 Restless Prize for New Immigrant Writing, How to Be Unmothered will shatter readers'' expectations of what a memoir can be. Written in part in the rhythmic patois of Trinidad and Tobago and providing an unfiltered and emotionally raw portrait of an abusive mother-daughter relationship, Camille U. Adams' story will deeply touch all readers and transform the way we think about multi-generational trauma.
£12.34
Simon & Schuster The Witching Year
Book SynopsisA skeptic spends a year trying to find spiritual fulfillment by practicing modern Witchcraft in this fascinating memoir that’s perfect for fans of A.J. Jacobs and Mary Roach.Diana Helmuth, thirty-three, is skeptical of organized religion. She is also skeptical of disorganized religion. But, more than anything, she is tired of God being dead. So, she decides to try on the fastest-growing, self-directed faith in America: Witchcraft. The result is 366 days of observation, trial, error, wit, and back spasms. Witches today are often presented as confident and finished, proud and powerful. Diana is eager to join them. She wants to follow all the rules, memorize all the incantations, and read all the liturgy. But there’s one glaring problem: no Witch can agree on what the right rules, liturgy, and incantations are. As with life, Diana must define the craft for herself, looking past the fashionable and figuring out how to define the real. Along the wa
£9.49
Greystone Books,Canada My Belly
Book SynopsisIf my hatred of my belly was a person, she would be old enough to have completed a lengthy education and given me grandchildren. An unflinching and feminist portrait of one woman's obsession with her belly and the cultural and social norms that feed that obsessionfor readers of Nora Ephron's classic memoir I Feel Bad About My Neck. Hilde Ostby says she's never entered a room without thinking about her belly. She can't stand it. So [she] decided to really examine why she spent most of her adult life hating how she looked.NPR Weekend EditionHilde Ostby is an acclaimed cultural critic and successful writer living in Norway. At the start of My Belly, she is on tour in London, promoting her latest book about the culture and science of memory. As she poses for a photograph for the London Times, she silently worries about how her belly will look on the front page of the Arts section. Later, she realizes how ridiculous this is: she's being celebrated for an intellectual achievement, and y
£9.49
Pushkin Press One Man in his Time
Book SynopsisFrom humble origins, the eminent Russian scientist Nicholas Borodin forged a career in microbiology in the era of Stalin. Pragmatic and dedicated to his work, he accepted the Soviet regime, even working on several occasions with the Secret Police. But in 1948, while on a state-sponsored trip to the UK to report on the bulk manufacture of antibiotics, he could no longer ignore his rising consciousness of the suppression of independent thought in his country. It was then that he committed high treason by writing to the Soviet ambassador to renounce his citizenship. One Man in his Time is the story of a man trying to live an ordinary life in extraordinary times. Rich in incident and astonishing details, it charts Borodin's childhood during the revolution and famine through to his scientific career amidst the suspicion and violence of the purges. Unsparing and frank in its depiction of the author's collaboration with Soviet authorities, it offers unparalleled insight into the daily reali
£21.25
The Book Guild Ltd In Her Best Interests
Book SynopsisWhen Stephen's daughter is diagnosed with cancer, life quickly becomes unrecognisable. This is the story of one family's journey.
£10.44
Gwasg Carreg Gwalch Y Pethau Bychain Hunangofiant Eleanor Burnham
Book Synopsis
£12.88
Octopus Publishing Group Unshrunk
Book SynopsisI began to think about the forces at play, not just within me, but beyond me. What if my life hasn''t fallen apart in the way that it has because of ''treatment-resistant mental illness'', as I''ve been led to believe, but because of the treatment itself?At age thirteen, Laura Delano''s parents took her to her first psychiatrist. At school, she was the model student but at home she felt an uncontrollable rage that she unleashed on family, friends and herself. She was promptly diagnosed with bipolar disorder and began a course of psychiatric drugs.For the next fourteen years, , Laura became a ''professional mental patient'', collecting an expanding catalogue of diagnoses and living appointment to appointment. Prescribed a medication cascade of twenty-one drugs, she embraced the regime in the hope it would bring her stability, peace and treatment for what she''d been convinced was an incurable, lifelong disease. But as her symptoms got more severe and untenable, with each new drug always countering the consequences of the last, she was eventually deemed ''treatment resistant'', and began to wonder if the drugs and diagnoses were the cure - or had they become the problem?Weaving together her medical records and doctors'' notes with illuminating research, Unshrunk is a record of Laura''s battle to disentangle herself from the all-powerful mental health system. It was a decision that would require her to leave behind the only life she knew, to peel back the layers of diagnoses and drugs and discover her true self again: her ''personality, vitality, creativity, sense of humour; the simple state of being awake to the world''. Beautifully written, insightful and probing, it is both a moving memoir and powerful rebuke of the commercial psychiatric industry, which often does not seem to have the interests of its patients at its heart.
£18.70
Octopus Publishing Group In The Shadow of the Mountain
Book Synopsis WINNER OF THE 2023 EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Silvia Vasquez-Lavado is a warrior. I'm in awe of her strength and courage' - Selena Gomez'An incredibly powerful story' Sunday Independent'In the Shadow of the Mountain has all the elements a great memoir requires - a strong voice, cinematic prose, a hero to root for - in essence, an extraordinary story about an extraordinary woman's life' - San Francisco Chronicle'Silvia Vasquez-Lavado is a woman possessed of uncommon strength, rare compassion, and a ferocious stubbornness to not allow the trauma of her childhood to destroy her life' - Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love'Powerful' - New York Times YOU DON'T CONQUER A MOUNTAIN. YOU SURRENDER TO IT ONE STEP AT A TIME. Despite a high-flying career, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado knew she was hanging by a thread. Deep in the throes of alcoholism, and hiding her sexuality from her family, she was repressing the abuse she'd suffered as a child.When her mother called her home to Peru, she knew something finally had to change. It did. Silvia began to climb.Something about the sheer size of the mountains, the vast emptiness and the nearness of death, woke her up. And then, she took her biggest pain to the biggest mountain: Everest. The 'Mother of the World' allows few to reach her summit, but Silvia didn't go alone. Trekking with her to Base Camp, were five troubled young women on an odyssey that helped each confront their personal trauma, and whose strength and community propelled Silvia forward...Beautifully written and deeply moving, In the Shadow of the Mountain is a remarkable story of compassion, humility, and strength, inspiring us all to find have faith in our own heroism and resilience.Trade ReviewSilvia Vasquez-Lavado is a warrior. I'm in awe of her strength and courage. * Selena Gomez *An incredibly powerful story * Sunday Independent *Powerful * New York Times *In the Shadow of the Mountain has all the elements a great memoir requires - a strong voice, cinematic prose, a hero to root for - in essence, an extraordinary story about an extraordinary woman's life. * San Francisco Chronicle *Silvia Vasquez-Lavado is a woman possessed of uncommon strength, rare compassion, and a ferocious stubbornness to not allow the trauma of her childhood to destroy her life. * Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love *Told with searing honesty, this vividly wrought memoir chronicles an almost superhuman journey from the deep vortex of trauma and self-destructive compulsions to the heights of physical endurance and spiritual emergence. * Dr. Gabor Maté, Bestselling Author of In The Realm Of Hungry Ghosts *powerful and relatable... a moving commemoration of mountains and mothers * Sunday Independent *
£9.99
Galileo Publishing The Physio
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£15.29
Chiselbury Publishing With All My Soul
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£16.20
Austin Macauley Publishers LLC Angel and the Orphan
Book Synopsis
£17.99
Simon & Schuster Ltd Dinner for Vampires
Book SynopsisA deliciously witty and inspiring memoir by One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz about her decade in a cult and her quest to break free. In the early 2000s, after years of hard work and determination to breakthrough as an actor, Bethany Joy Lenz was finally cast as one of the leads on the hit drama One Tree Hill. Her career was about to take off, but her personal life was slowly beginning to unravel. What none of the show's millions of fans knew, hidden even from her costars, was her secret double life in a cult. An only child who often had to fend for herself and always wanted a place to belong, Lenz found the safe haven she'd been searching for in a Bible study group with other Hollywood creatives. However, the group soon morphed into something more sinister - a slowly woven web of manipulation, abuse and fear under the guise of a church covenant called The Big House Family. Piece by piece, Lenz began to give away her autonom
£21.25
Penguin Books Ltd Autobiography of Malcolm X
Book SynopsisThey called him the ''angriest black man in America'' . . . Celebrated and vilified the world over for his courageous but bitter fight to gain for millions of black men and women the equality and respect denied them by their white neighbours, Malcolm X inspired as many people in the United States as he caused to fear him.His remarkable autobiography, completed just before his murder in 1965, ranges from Omaha and Michigan to Harlem and Mecca, and tells of a young, disenfranchised man whose descent into drug addition, robbery and prison was only reversed by his belief in the rights struggle for black America, and his conversion to the Nation of Islam. Not only is this an enormously important record of the Civil Rights Movement in America, but also the scintillating story of a man who refused to allow anyone to tell him who or what he was.Trade ReviewExtraordinary . . . a brilliant, painful, important book * New York Times *
£11.04
HarperCollins Care and Feeding
Book Synopsis
£18.70
HarperCollins Publishers The DivingBell and the Butterfly. Film TieIn
Book SynopsisLocked-in syndrome: paralysed from head to toe, the patient, his mind intact, is imprisoned inside his own body, unable to speak or move. In my case, blinking my left eyelid is my only means of communication.'In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor-in-chief of French Elle' and the father of two young children, suffered a massive stroke and found himself paralysed and speechless, but entirely conscious, trapped by what doctors call locked-in syndrome'. Using his only functioning muscle his left eyelid he began dictating this remarkable story, painstakingly spelling it out letter by letter.His book offers a haunting, harrowing look inside the cruel prison of locked-in syndrome, but it is also a triumph of the human spirit. The acclaimed 2007 film adaptation, directed by Julian Schnabel, won Best Director at Cannes and was nominated for the Palme d'Or.Trade Review‘The most remarkable memoir of our time.’ Cynthia Ozick ‘Read this book and fall back in love with life.’ Edmund White ‘A staggering piece of work. It represents an almost inconceivable act of generosity, the gift of the mind and the spirit for which writing was designed.’ A. L. Kennedy ‘One of the great books of the century.’ Financial Times ‘Everyone in the country should own at least one copy.’ Guardian ‘We listen, because what he has to say goes to the core of what it means to be human.’ Robert McCrum, Observer ‘The most extraordinary book of the year.’ Daily Telegraph 'Life-enhancing and devastating in equal measure – everyone should read it.' Gloss magazine
£9.49
Simon & Schuster Ltd Hard Choices
Book SynopsisHILLARY RODHAM CLINTON''S INSIDE ACCOUNT OF THE CRISES, CHOICES AND CHALLENGES SHE FACED DURING HER FOUR YEARS AS AMERICA''S 67THSECRETARY OF STATE, AND HOW THOSE EXPERIENCES DRIVE HER VIEW OF THE FUTURE, INCLUDING A NEW EPILOGUE. ''All of us face hard choices in our lives,'' Hillary Rodham Clinton writes at the start of this personal chronicle of years at the centre of world events. ''Life is about making such choices. Our choices and how we handle them shape the people we become.'' In the aftermath of her 2008 presidential run, she expected to return to representing New York in the Unites States Senate. To her surprise, her formal rival for the Democratic Party nomination, newly elected President Barack Obama, asked her to serve in his administration as Secretary of State. This memoir is the story of the four extraordinary and historic years that followed, and the hard choices that she and her colleagues confronted. Secretary Clinton and President Obama had
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Twopence to Cross the Mersey
Book SynopsisThis major best-selling memoir of a poverty-stricken childhood in Liverpool is one of the most harrowing but uplifting books you will ever read.When Helen Forrester's father went bankrupt in 1930 she and her six siblings were forced into utmost poverty and slum surroundings in Depression-ridden Liverpool. The running of the household and the care of the younger children all fell on twelve-year-old Helen. With very little food or help from her feckless parents, Helen led a life of unrelenting drudgery and hardship.Writing about her experiences later in life, Helen Forrester shed light on an almost forgotten part of life in Britain. , Forrester's memoir of these grim days is as heart-warming as it is shocking.Trade Review‘It was the biography that I would have written if my parents had not been given benefits, if they’d had to rely on parish hand outs … [I] want to press this book into your hands and go, “You must read this”.’ Caitlin Moran ‘Remarkable that from so bleak and unloving a background came a writer of such affectionate understanding and unsettling honesty’ Sunday Telegraph ‘What makes this writer’s self-told tale so memorable?… An absolute recall, a genius for the unforgettable detail, the rare chance of subject’The Good Book Guide 'Should be long and widely read as an extraordinary human story and social document' Observer
£999.99
Dover Publications Inc. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an
Book SynopsisThe impassioned abolitionist and eloquent orator provides graphic descriptions of his childhood and horrifying experiences as a slave as well as a harrowing record of his dramatic escape to the North and eventual freedom. Published in 1845 to quell doubts about his origins, the Narrative is admired today for its extraordinary passion, sensitive descriptions, and storytelling power.
£5.62
HarperCollins Publishers By the Waters of Liverpool
Book SynopsisThe third volume in the classic story of Helen Forrester's childhood and adolescence in poverty-stricken Liverpool during the 1930s.Helen Forrester continues the moving story of her early poverty-stricken life with an account of her teenage years and the devastating effect of the Second World War on her hometown of Liverpool.At seventeen, Helen Forrester''s parents are still as irresponsible as ever, wasting money while their children still lack adequate food and clothing. But for Helen, having won a small measure of independence, things are looking up. Having educated herself at night school and now making friends in her first proper job, she meets a handsome seaman and falls in love for the first time. But the storm clouds of war are gathering and Helen will experience at first hand the horror of the blitz and the terrible toll that the war exacted on ordinary people. As ever, Helen faces the future with courage and determination.Trade Review‘Remarkable that from so bleak and unloving a background came a writer of such affectionate understanding and unsettling honesty’ Sunday Telegraph ‘It was the biography that I would have written if my parents had not been given benefits, if they’d had to rely on parish hand outs … [I] want to press this book into your hands and go, “You must read this”.’ Caitlin Moran ‘What makes this writer’s self-told tale so memorable?… An absolute recall, a genius for the unforgettable detail, the rare chance of subject’ The Good Book Guide
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group Will She Do
Book Synopsis''She is the cur''s cods, the terrier''s testicles, the business. I will go farther and declare that Atkins is the finest actor appearing in the world right now'' - A. A. GillWill She Do? is the story of a girl from a council estate in Tottenham, born in 1934 to an electric-meter reader and a seamstress, who was determined to be an actress.Candid and witty, this memoir takes her from her awkward performances in working-men''s clubs at six years of age as dancing ''Baby Eileen'', through the war years in London, to her breakthrough at thirty-two on Broadway with The Killing of Sister George, for which she received the first of four Tony Award nominations. She co-created Upstairs, Downstairs and wrote the screenplay for Mrs Dalloway (for which she won an Evening Standard Award) and at aged eighty-six, this is her first autobiographical work.Characterised by an eye for the absurd, a terrific knack for sTrade ReviewThere is something about those large eyes and that steadfast look that tells you that you are in the presence of a remarkable actor; and so it has proved in a career that has encompassed everything from Greek tragedy and Ibsen to Pinter and Albee, and that has led Atkins to be revered on both sides of the Atlantic . . . Vanessa Redgrave seems to have direct access to some other world. Judi Dench has the capacity to merge laughter and tears in a single moment. The greatness of Eileen Atkins, who is their peer, lies in her uncanny emotional directness and her ability to make her eyes the window to her soul -- Michael Billington * Guardian *For some of us she cannot be on stage enough . . . she makes you feel the particular thing she is doing can only be for you . . . And I would give away all my West End tickets to again watch Eileen Atkins, peerlessly subtle, conjuring up Shakespeare's women - and one of his men - in her one-person show -- Susannah Clapp * Observer *Atkins's [memoir] is bliss: so funny and atmospheric and true. It's not only that she has a way of bringing her more antic characters vividly to life ( that goes for Laurence Olivier and Alec Guinness as well as the pretentious Madame Yandie). She's honest about herself, too, as content to relate her humiliations as her triumphs -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *From anyone else, this would be outrageous name-dropping, but actor Dame Eileen Atkins has gone toe to toe with them all over a career spanning seven decades and countless triumphs, the first few of which are documented in her richly enjoyable memoir, Will She Do? * Radio Times, Book of the Week *Will She Do? displays the emotional intelligence, acute observation, wry humour and above all honesty that distinguish Atkins's acting . . . this is an exhilarating portrait of an actress who has surmounted seemingly insuperable odds to reach the pinnacle of her profession. The answer to the question in the title is self-evident * Spectator *Will there be a further volume? I hope so. Cross and impatient Eileen may be, but as an actress she is at the top of the pyramid, and as a writer she is very fine, with a wit drier than a martini * Daily Mail *Eileen Atkins's memoir Will She Do? is just a tiny bit better than the one I've recently published. It hurts me deeply to say that, but hers is a glorious book, and fascinating on the English class system. She's only seven years older than me - she's eighty-seven - but she showed me a working-class world I didn't know at all -- Miriam Margolyes * Radio Times *I really hope she's planning to write a few more volumes. She's a gifted storyteller, who writes evocatively about her childhood on a Tottenham council estate in the Second World War, and has a knack for a sharp anecdote. And oh, those anecdotes! . . . A rollicking ride through the early career of one of our greatest acting dames * Evening Standard *Yes, she will: this vivid, honest memoir by a great actress and a natural writer goes down a treat -- Tom Stoppard
£9.99
Dover Publications Inc. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Book SynopsisBlessed with enormous talents and the energy and ambition to go with them, Franklin was a statesman, author, inventor, printer, and scientist. He helped draft the Declaration of Independence and later was involved in negotiating the peace treaty with Britain that ended the Revolutionary War. He also invented bifocals, a stove that is still manufactured, a water-harmonica, and the lightning rod. Franklin''s extraordinary range of interests and accomplishments are brilliantly recorded in his Autobiography, considered one of the classics of the genre. Covering his life up to his prewar stay in London as representative of the Pennsylvania Assembly, this charming self-portrait recalls Franklin''s boyhood, his determination to achieve high moral standards, his work as a printer, experiments with electricity, political career, experiences during the French and Indian War, and more. Related in an honest, open, unaffected style, this highly readable account offers a wonderfully intimate glimpse of the Founding Father sometimes called the wisest American.
£7.74
John Murray Press Prisoner of Tehran One Womans Story of Survival
Book SynopsisBrought up as a Christian, Marina Nemat''s peaceful childhood in Tehran was shattered when the Iranian Revolution of 1979 ushered in a new era of Islamic rule. After complaining to her teachers about her Maths lessons being replaced by Koran study, Marina was arrested late one evening. She was taken to the notorious prison, Evin, where interrogation and torture were part of the daily routine. Aged sixteen, she was sentenced to death. Her prison guard snatched her from the firing squad bullets but exacted a shocking price in return: marriage to him and conversion to Islam. Marina lived out her prison days as his secret bride, spending nights with him in a separate cell. Marina struggled to reconcile her hatred towards Ali and her feelings of physical repulsion with the fact that he had saved her life. When Ali was murdered by his enemies from Evin, and saved Marina''s life for a second time, her feelings were complicated even further. At last she was able to return home, to hTrade Review'A shockingly vivid picture of prison life' * Daily Mail *'A dramatic account that takes us to the heart of a brutal . . . dictatorship' * Morning Star *'Her story is unforgettable' * Janine de Giovanni, Vogue *'Mesmerizing stuff' * Glamour *'A gripping personal history' * New York Times *'A moving and eloquent account of her life' * Sainsbury's Magazine, June issue *'Nemat (tells) an extraordinary story of life in revolutionary Iran, of imprisonment, forced marriage and conversion to Islam' * Sue Baker, Publishing News *Like a harrowing Thousand and One Arabian Nights, Prisoner of Tehran is the story of Marina Nemat - her unvarnished courage, her intrepid wisdom, her fight to save her integrity and her family in a world in which to be female is to be chattel. Written with the deft hands of a novelist, it is the portrait of a world only too real, where women's lives are cheap - but not this one * Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN and CAGE OF STARS *'Prisoner of Tehran is a harrowing journey, an account of growth under the darkest of circumstances and a trial of faith in the face of overwhelming horror. It is skillfully constructed, with a keen sense of suspense' * Robert J. Wiersema, author of BEFORE I AWAKE *'Prisoner of Tehran is an extraordinary story of survival and how one woman finally found inner peace through the written word' * Entertainment Weekly *'This powerful memoir examines Nemat's struggle to forgive those who beat her and sentenced her to death at 16 for speaking out against her government' * Newsweek *'It is an act of bravery, this book, as well as compassion. Her words, well wrought and heartfelt, expose her shocking dilemma and the terrible system that tried to defile her' * The Globe and Mail (Canada) *'Prisoner of Tehran is on of the finest (memoirs) ever written by a Canadian' * Macleans Magazine, (Canada) *'Nemat tells of her harrowing experience as a young Iranian girl at the start of the Islamic revolution. In January 1982, the 16-year-old student activist was arrested, jailed in Tehran's infamous Evin prison, tortured and sentenced to death. Ali, one of her interrogators, intervened moments before her execution, having used family connections with Ayatollah Khomeini himself to reduce her sentence to life in prison. The price: she would convert to Islam (she was Christian) and marry him, or he would see to it that her family and boyfriend, Andre, were jailed or even killed. She remained a political prisoner for two years. Nemat's engaging memoir is rich with complex characters - loved ones lost on both sides of this bloody conflict. Ali, the man who rapes and subjugates her, also saves her life several times - he is assassinated by his own subordinates. His family embraces Nemat with more affection and acceptance than her own, even fighting for her release after his death. Nemat ret * Publishers' Weekly, US *'[An] unforgettable memoir. Haunted by her lost friends and by her betrayal of them, Nemat tells her story without messages and with no sense of heroism' * Booklist, starred review *
£9.99
HarperCollins Publishers Lime Street at Two
Book SynopsisThe fourth and final part of Helen Forrester's bestselling autobiography continues the moving story of her early poverty-stricken life with an account of the war years in Blitz-torn LiverpoolIn 1940 Helen, now twenty, is working long hours at a welfare centre in Bootle, five miles from home. Her wages are pitifully low and her mother claims the whole of them for housekeeping but she is still thrilled to be working and gaining some independence. The Second World War is affecting every part of the country and Hitler's Luftwaffe nightly seek to wreck havoc on her home city of Liverpool.Then, tragedy is brought shockingly close to home and Helen is left reeling when she receives some terrible news. But there is no let-up in the bombing and the Germans seem determined to bring the country to its knees. When a move brings more trouble for Helen, she is determined that she will face it, as ever, with courage and determination.Trade Review‘Remarkable that from so bleak and unloving a background came a writer of such affectionate understanding and unsettling honesty’Sunday Telegraph ‘It was the biography that I would have written if my parents had not been given benefits, if they’d had to rely on parish hand outs … [I] want to press this book into your hands and go, “You must read this”.’ Caitlin Moran ‘What makes this writer’s self-told tale so memorable?… An absolute recall, a genius for the unforgettable detail, the rare chance of subject’The Good Book Guide
£9.49
Verso Books In Search of Fatima
Book SynopsisBorn in Jerusalem, Ghada Karmi and her family were forced out of their home in 1948. They shared the fate of the thousands of Palestinians who, in the Nakba, were dispossessed and driven from land lived on for generations. In this moving memoir, Karmi charts their journey from Jerusalem to Golders Green, in north London, and their struggle to put down roots in alien soil. A quest for identity haunts her search for security far from home. Speaking for the vast number of people displaced worldwide, her story is a powerful exploration of the psychological pain of exile.
£14.24
HarperCollins Publishers How the Girl Guides Won the War
Book SynopsisA completely original history of one of the most extraordinary movements in the world the Girl Guides and how they helped win the war.Mention Girl Guides to any woman and the reaction will be strong. They either loved them or hated them; they were either proud to wear their uniform or refused to join. Whatever their feelings, most former Guides retain strong memories of their experiences.All too often regarded merely in terms of biscuit sales and sing-songs, hardly anybody is aware of the massive impact that the Guides had on gender equality and, more fundamentally, the outcome of the Second World War. In this eye-opening history, Janie Hampton explores how the Guides'' work was crucial to Britain''s victory. When the Blitz broke out, the Guides knew what to do. They kept up morale in bomb shelters, demonstrating ''blitz cooking'' with emergency ovens made from the bricks of bombed houses at the request of the Ministry of Food. They grew food on their company allotments and knitted fTrade Review‘An enjoyably inspiring account of what was to be – for so many thousands of girls – an exciting and fulfilling time.’ Scotsman ‘A stirring, surprising story’ Saga ‘[Hampton] has caught the authentic tone of unwavering, not to say relentless, optimism characteristic of the Guiding movement.’ Evening Standard ‘Absorbing and unexpected … a sobering and inspirational book.’ Mail on Sunday
£11.69
HarperCollins Publishers Chasing Hillary
Book SynopsisHillary Clinton dominated Amy Chozick's life for more than a decade. Here, she tells the inside story of Clinton's pursuit of the US presidency in a campaign book like no other.A breathtaking, page-turning masterpiece' Mary KarrA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERAmy Chozick's assignments, covering Clinton's imploding 2008 campaign and then her front-row seat to the 2016 election on The Hillary Beat,' set off a years-long journey in which the formative years of Chozick's life became, both personally and professionally, intrinsically intertwined with Clinton's presidential ambitions. As Clinton tried, and twice failed, to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling,' Chozick was trying, with various fits and starts, to scale the highest echelons of American journalism.In this rollicking, hilarious narrative, Chozick takes us through the high- and low-lights of the most noxious and dramatic presidential election in history. Chozick's candour and clear-eyed perspective from her seat on the HillarTrade Review‘Chasing Hillary [is] so wickedly readable: like Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury it’s a nonfiction novel’Peter Conrad, Observer ‘Grudges, mis-steps and battles with the press corps are revealed in a searing account of Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential campaign’ Edward Luce, Financial Times ‘Riveting… This book is in part a memoir and Chozick’s first person voice is funny and readable’ Suzy Hansen, Guardian ‘A funny, insightful memoir…With her lively voice and eye for detail, “Chasing Hillary” is an enjoyable read, like The Devil Wears Prada meets The Boys on the Bus’ Charlotte Alter, New York Times ‘Amy Chozick has written a breathtaking, page-turning masterpiece that pretends to be about Hillary Clinton’s defiant presidential run. But Chasing Hillary is also – for the brilliant Chozick – a deeply personal story. Wait till you get the gory, insider details of the bloodiest political battle in recent memory. A must read!’ Mary Karr ‘Amy Chozick sweeps us along on a ten-year chase after the most famous and elusive woman in modern politics. At the bittersweet end, she captures Hillary, and America, and the traveling press, and some part of herself.’ David Maraniss ‘This insanely readable book manages to bring humor and a fresh inside perspective to the saddest event in history. The details alone are sure to drive Democrats to fisticuffs, or whatever we do when the kale runs out.’ Gary Shteyngart
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz A Powerful True Story
Book SynopsisWe felt an urge to document what we had witnessed. If we who had experienced it, I reasoned, did not reveal the bitter truth, people simply would not believe the extent of the Nazis' evil. I wanted to share our life, the events and our struggle to survive.'Thomas Geve was just 15 years old when he was liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp on 11 April 1945. It was the third concentration camp he had survived. Upon arrival at Auschwitz- Birkenau, Thomas was separated from his mother and left to fend for himself in the men's camp of Auschwitz I, at the age of 13. During the 22 months he was imprisoned, he was subjected to, and forced to observe first-hand, the inhumane world of Nazi concentration camps.On his eventual release Thomas felt compelled to capture daily life in the death camps in more than eighty profoundly moving drawings. Infamous scenarios synonymous with this dark period of history were portrayed in poignant but simplistic detail with extraordinary accuracy.Despite tTrade Review‘A stunning and profoundly moving book.’James Holland, historian and bestselling author of Normandy ’ 44 ‘His [Thomas’s] powerful voice and the drawings that illuminate his experiences show what can be learned from tragedy, and how the future can be better than the past.’Esther Gilbert, Holocaust historian and Trustee of the Sir Martin Gilbert Learning Centre
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers Women in the War
Book SynopsisAn important contribution to our recent history' ANDREW MARRAbsorbing and important' JOAN BAKEWELLOne of my favourite reads of 2021' GARETH RUSSELLPoignant and inspiring,Women in the Wartells the first-hand stories of ten of the last surviving female members of Britain''s ''Greatest Generation''.Whether flying Spitfires to the frontline, aiding code breaking at Bletchley Park, plotting the Battle of the Atlantic or working with Churchill in the Cabinet War Rooms, each of these women made a crucial contribution to the conflict overseas and helped to buttress the home front.Here they recount their remarkable experiences during the Second World War, recalling how their formative years were shaped by danger and trauma, and how friendship and romance fortified their spirits.Drawing on the insight that comes with age, they contemplate how the conflict helped women prove their worth, transforming society and sparking the later battles for equal rights.With a reporter's eye for detail, Lucy FiTrade Review‘Riveting… Stories that are not only fascinating in themselves, but contain the sort of detail that would only strike those present at the time.’THE TELEGRAPH REVIEW ‘In all the hundreds of books written about the Second World War, there is a curious lack of information about the role of women. In these series of intimate interviews with some of the last survivors, Lucy Fisher closes the gap. From pilots to land girls, nurses to radio operators, plotters to Downing Street insiders, she hears from some of the remarkable women who helped win the war that defined modern Britain. An important contribution to our recent history.’ ANDREW MARR ‘Unsung, and until now unacknowledged, Lucy Fisher tells the story of stalwart yet unassuming women who contributed in obtrusive ways to Britain’s victory in World War Two. Land girl, wireless operator, secretary in the Cabinet war rooms, plotter in the Wrens, paraphraser at Bletchley Park: these women talk of their important, even dangerous lives, setting the record straight. This is an absorbing and important footnote to the history of World War Two.’ JOAN BAKEWELL ‘One of my favourite reads of 2021. Wonderfully written, Women in the War captures the voices of ten extraordinary veterans of the Second World War whose stories take us from Bletchley Park to military aircraft, to busy English hospitals and a Blitz-torn Belfast. Women in the War is by turns uplifting, nerve-wracking, heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny. It is also a story of finding freedom amid fear. The courage and tenacity of these women left me in awe.’ GARETH RUSSELL
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Tender is the Night Collins Classics
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.Well, you never knew exactly how much space you occupied in people's lives.'American Dick Diver and his wife Nicole are the epitome of 1920s elegance and sophistication, entertaining friends and pursuing a glamorous lifestyle at their French Riviera villa. When Rosemary Hoyt, a young film star, arrives in France, she becomes entranced by the couple, but it is not long before the dark secrets of their marriage are revealed.In this acclaimed semi-autobiographical work, F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the destructiveness of intimate relationships in a novel that captures the highs and lows of the Jazz Age.
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers Broken Biscuits
Book SynopsisWitty, tender and daring essays from the British David Sedaris''A lovely writer: supple, stylish and almost effortlessly witty.'' Daily Mail''Made me laugh out loud and then properly cry.' Jennie GodfreyWhen it comes to the challenge of being a man, Adam Farrer always seems to find a way to fall shortBroken Biscuits vividly recounts Adam's struggles to live up to masculine expectations, real or imagined. From the calamity of his first serious relationship to an obsession with Prince that sees everyone questioning his sexuality, and from the repercussions of his adult circumcision to his doubts about his ability to survive the apocalypse, this candid and personal collection of essays is astonishingly far-reaching and riotously funny.Holding up a mirror to Adam's own body image, his relationship with his family, his sense of self-worth and the mortifying experience of arriving at a teenage party wearing strawberry-patterned short shorts, this book is about growing up and trying to define yourself as a man but somehow always missing the mark.
£15.29
HarperCollins The World Is Waiting for You
£21.75
Ebury Publishing American Desperado
Book SynopsisThe best crime book since Wiseguy' Rich CohenA real-life Scarface, Jon was born into the Gambino Mafia family and witnessed his first murder aged seven. He joined a US Army assassination squad in Vietnam to escape a teen criminal charge, then fled New York to reinvent himself in Miami as the number one supplier of cocaine in the US. With a crazed bodyguard always at his side, and a fortress protected by mortars, tear-gas cannons, and a gold-fanged attack dog, Roberts was brutally effective at what he did. With a cast that includes everyone from Jimi Hendrix and OJ Simpson to the CIA and General Noriega, American Desperado is a hedonistic, adrenaline-soaked joyride through the world of Escobar and the cartels, told by one of most successful criminals of all time.Trade ReviewAn American criminal mastermind -- Ed Caesar * Sunday Times *A spellbinding narrative of drugs, death and debauchery as told by one of America's most notorious criminals... A savage, unrelenting tale * Kirkus Reviews *A tour de force. The best crime book since Wiseguy. Puts you in the middle of a world where it's wonderful to be a tourist, terrible to be a resident. I am filled with nothing but admiration and envy for Evan Wright -- Rich Cohen, author of THE FISH THAT ATE THE WHALEImagine if Mister Kurtz from Heart of Darkness sat down with Dick Cavett for a little chat about the nature of good and evil, empathy, fatherhood, violence, drugs, power, self-knowledge, women, family, the hero versus the anti-hero, freedom, imprisonment...Try as you might, you can't really put this book down -- Doug Stanton, author of HORSE SOLDIERS and IN HARM’S WAYSeldom have I read an account of criminal enterprise that took me so deeply into the blackness of a man’s soul – a scary read, pounding and relentless and irresistible -- Bruce Porter, author of BLOW
£13.49
Vintage Publishing Hoffman E Lost In Translation
Book SynopsisIn 1959 13-year-old Eva Hoffman left her home in Cracow, Poland for a new life in America. This memoir evokes with deep feeling the sense of uprootendess and exile created by this disruption, something which has been the experience of tens of thousands of people this century.Her autobiography is profoundly personal but also tells one of the most universal and important narratives of twentieth century history: the story of Jewish post-war experience and the tragedies and discoveries born of cultural displacement.Trade ReviewA deep and lovely book. The author manages to capture the very essence of exile experience, in beautifully human terms against a background of keen and searching intellect. This is how tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people felt in this century. Eva Hoffman speaks movingly for all of them -- Josef Skvorecky, author of The Engineer of Human SoulsEva Hoffman's elegant and elegaic autobiography is something different... It is the story...of a paradise lost but regained...a tender and memorable book * Independent *Hoffman takes her experience into the realms of universality, expressing herself in a way which has echoes and points of recognition for others who leave their history, their roots, their known identity adn must try to recreate themselves in another culture... An exquisite feast -- Angela Neustatter * Literary Review *
£10.44
Cornerstone The Republic of Imagination
Book SynopsisAzar Nafisi is a visiting professor and the executive director of Cultural Conversations at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University. She has taught Western literature at the University of Tehran, the Free Islamic University and the University of Allameh Tabatabai in Iran. In 1981 she was expelled from the University of Tehran after refusing to wear the veil. In 1994 she won a teaching fellowship from Oxford University, and in 1997 she and her family left Iran for America. She is the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran and Things I've Been Silent About, and has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the New Republic, and has appeared on countless radio and television programs. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two children.www.azarnafisi.comTrade ReviewPlayful, sombre and tender, Nafisi's character-vignettes persuade us that reading nourishes empathy and friendship, opening the forbidden path through the green gate. * Independent *Resonant and deeply affecting . . . an eloquent brief on the transformative powers of fiction. * New York Times *We are all citizens of Azar Nafisi’s The Republic of Imagination. Without imagination there are no dreams, without dreams there is no art, and without art there is nothing. Her words are essential. * Marjane Satrapi *A lovely book: sharp in observation and wholly readable. * Larry McMurtry *An arresting read … striking and utterly persuasive * Times Higher Education *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing An Evil Cradling
Book SynopsisBrian Keenan went to Beirut in 1985 for a change of scene from his native Belfast. He became headline news when he was kidnapped by fundamentalist Shi''ite militiamen and held in the suburbs of Beirut for the next four and a half years. For much of that time he was shut off from all news and contact with anyone other than his jailers and, later, his fellow hostages, amongst them John McCarthy.Trade ReviewIncredibly moving. -- Gina McKee * Daily Express *An early nineties classic... It reminds you of the privilege of freedom -- Joseph Fiennes * Daily Express *There may have been more important books than Brian Keenan's An Evil Cradling, but its thoughtfulness and delicacy of feeling are unforgettable. Four years of savage captivity in Lebanon have been transmuted into understanding, not bitterness: a remarkable achievement * Daily Telegraph *From the horror has come something wonderful. An Evil Cradling is a great book... it has been created from harsh reality, and it has been created by a true writer... With the publication of An Evil Cradling, Brian Keenan is not letting the world forget. This is a mighty achievement by a magnificent writer -- Frank McGuinness * Irish Times *Scriptural in its resonances and its broad artistry, while being as gripping as an airport thriller * Observer *
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd Castro F My Life
Book SynopsisThe acclaimed autobiography of Fidel Castro, one of the towering political figures of our age, who dominated both Cuba and the world stage for over half a century.Here Castro tells his story in full for the first time, speaking openly about everything from his parents and earliest influences to his imprisonment, guerrilla war and the Cuban revolution and on to the Bay of Pigs, the missile crisis and his relationship with Che Guevara. He also remembers the people he knew, from John F. Kennedy to Ernest Hemingway. Whatever your views on Castro are, this is an essential record of an incredible life - and even more extraordinary times.''Cubaphiles are all the richer for this book ... Castro''s prodigious gifts are well displayed: his formidable erudition, steely discipline, epic curiosity and his astute grasp of history'' Financial Times''Castro''s life has been extraordinary and he can tell a good story'' Evening StandardTrade ReviewGripping, almost cinematic * Guardian *Irresistible * Financial Times *Cubaphiles are all the richer for this book … Castro's prodigious gifts are well displayed: his formidable erudition, steely discipline, epic curiosity and his astute grasp of history * Financial Times *Whatever happens after Castro has gone, this book will provide an indispensable perspective on his record * Guardian *Castro's life has been extraordinary and he can tell a good story * Evening Standard *A fascinating account -- , Books of the Year * Metro *Extraordinary -- , Books of the Year * Observer *Irresistible * Financial Times *
£17.09
Penguin Books Ltd Train Lord The Astonishing True Story of One Mans
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewMol's offbeat prose has a one-man performance quality to it . . . If Train Lord were a train, it would be a heritage line, an intimate preservation of a moment in time, full of personality * The Times *As much about the art, craft and alchemy of storytelling as it is about healing * Heromag *Rude, raw, visceral, painful and wildly funny * Saga Magazine *A highly intimate and emotional consideration of the relationship between pain, life, and the methods we use to escape both * Adelaide Fringe *Mol's writing is a revelation. Nuanced, at times dryly satirical or melancholy, it is always rich, poetic and intoxicating * Bakehouse Studio *Like his alt-lit forebears, Oliver Mol's writing can often feel like alchemy, constructing brief, glimmering moments of catharsis from the meandering absurdities of life * Guardian, 'Best Australian Books of 2022' *Entertaining, moving and vivid... its playfulness is irrepressible * The Conversation *
£10.44
Faber & Faber Conundrum
Book SynopsisAs one of Britain's best and most-loved travel writers, Jan Morris has led an extraordinary life. Perhaps her most remarkable work is this grippingly honest account of her ten-year transition from man to woman its pains and joys, its frustrations and discoveries. On first publication in 1974, the book generated enormous interest around the world, and was chosen by The Times as one of the 100 Key Books of Our Time'.
£10.44
Faber & Faber The Child that Books Built
Book Synopsis''Anyone who reads or ever read children''s books - read this. It''s a joy.'' Irish Times ''Exhilarating.'' New York Times Book Review ''Sublime.'' Peter Ackroyd, The Times ** An Evening Standard, Daily Telegraph, Independent, Guardian and Irish Times Book of the Year. ** What would you find if you went back and re-read your favourite books from childhood?In The Child That Books Built Francis Spufford revisits all those childhood obsessions: fairy tales; Where the Wild Things Are; The Lord of the Rings; The Chronicles of Narnia; Little House on the Prairie; The Wind in the Willows; The Earthsea Trilogy and more. In these treasured tales Francis Spufford discovers both delight and sadness the thrill as worlds of imagination opened up before him mixed with the memories of a boy who retreated into books when faced with a family tragedy.
£10.44
Faber & Faber Under the Hornbeams
Book Synopsis''Reading it feels like slowing down to take a breath'' - EVENING STANDARD*''To sit here with my new companions, observing the sun climbing in the morning sky until the point where it illuminates us on the dewy grass, feels like an extraordinary privilege a taste of enchantment before the beginning of the working day.''Emma Tarlo first meets Nick and Pascal when out walking in Regent's Park, where they are living without shelter under the trees. Gradually, through the sharing of food and life stories, Emma develops a friendship with the pair. Their conversations under the open sky prompt Emma to question many things in her own life, transforming her understanding of what freedom might look like. Under the Hornbeams is a life-affirming story about the power of human connection which upturns our preconceptions about home, work and community.*What readers are saying:Like entering another world where quiet reflection, humour and openness are possible.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐If you''re feeling rather exhausted by work or by life, [it's] a real escape' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reading it is like being given time out to have a rethink.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐It cannot fail to change anyone profoundly' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Leaves you feeling at peace with our world' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
£10.44
Random House USA Inc Dead Man Walking
Book Synopsis#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER? Aprofoundly moving spiritual journey through our system of capital punishment and an unprecedented look at the human consequences of the death penalty ? Stunning moral clarity.? ?The Washington Post Book World ? Basis for the award-winning major motion picture starring Susan Sarandon and Sean PennSister Prejean is an excellent writer, direct and honest and unsentimental. . . . She almost palpably extends a hand to her readers.? ?The New York Times Book Review In 1982,Sister Helen Prejean became the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier,the convicted killer of two teenagers who was sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana?s Angola State Prison. In the months before Sonnier?s death,the Roman Catholic nun came to know a man who was as terrified as he had once been terrifying.She alsocame to know the families of the victims and the men whose job it was to execute?men who often harbored doubts about the rightness of what they were doing.Out of that dreadful intimacy comes a profoundly moving spiritual journey through our system of capital punishment.Here Sister Helen confrontsboth the plight of the condemned and the rage of the bereaved,the fears of a society shattered by violence and the Christian imperative of love.On its original publication in 1993, Dead Man Walking emerged asan unprecedented look at the human consequences of the death penalty.Now, some two decades later,thisstory?which has inspired a film, a stage play, an opera and a musical album?is more gut-wrenching than ever, stirring deep and life-changing reflection in all who encounter it.
£16.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Diary of a Young Girl
Book SynopsisOne of the most famous accounts of living under the Nazi regime of World War II comes from the diary of a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl, Anne Frank. Today, The Diary of a Young Girl has sold over 25 million copies world-wide; this is the definitive edition released to mark the 70th anniversary of the day the diary begins. ''12 June 1942: I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support''The Diary of a Young Girl is one of the most celebrated and enduring books of the last century. Tens of millions have read it since it was first published in 1947 and it remains a deeply admired testament to the indestructible nature of the human spirit.This definitive edition restores thirty per cent if the original manuscript, which was deleted from the original edition. It reveals Anne as a teenage girl who fretted about and tried to cope withTrade ReviewA modern classic . . . Anne's diary tells a story that is true, memorable, important and strongly personalized . . . compelling reading * The Times *Rings down the decades as the most moving testament to the persecution of innocence * Daily Mail *
£17.00
The History Press Ltd A Bucket of Sunshine
Book SynopsisOffers insight into life in the mid-1960s on a RAF Canberra nuclear-armed squadron in West Germany on the frontline in the Cold War. The author tells his story warts and all, with many amusing overtones, in what was an extremely serious business when the world was standing on the brink of nuclear conflict.
£12.34
Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press Graveyard of the Pacific
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPraise for Graveyard of the Pacific: “Vividly evoking Sullivan’s deep fascination with the Pacific Northwest and thirst for friendship and adventure, this is a thrill ride.” —Publishers Weekly“A riveting story of maritime tragedies and a personal passage… It is Sullivan’s gripping, vividly detailed accounts of nautical disasters at the Columbia Bar that make the book such an achievement… The author’s personal story—from growing up with an abusive father to his 2021 attempt to cross the Bar by trimaran—courses through the book like an intermittent current… A strikingly rendered tale of the hard and lasting costs of courage.” —Kirkus (starred review)“The point where the Columbia River spills into the Pacific Ocean has long been known as the ‘Graveyard of the Pacific’ for all the deadly shipwrecks that have occurred there over the centuries... Sullivan challenges himself to traverse these turbid waters in a fragile trimaran… Defying nature’s fury, Sullivan also faces down his own demons… Ultimately, the struggle to cross both physical and emotional bars defines for Sullivan manhood in the contemporary world.” – Booklist
£16.49
Pan Macmillan The Snow Geese
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Austin Macauley Publishers Heavy Rainbows
Book Synopsis
£18.99
Austin Macauley Publishers Notice Me
Book Synopsis
£8.54
