Autobiography: general Books

Book SynopsisIn Brian May''s own words and more than 300 previously unseen 3-D photographs, Queen in 3-D is an insider''s look at life with the rock band Queen, told for the first time. The pictures and self-penned text tell the story of Brian''s discovery of the world of stereoscopy as a boy, and chronicles Queen from the early 1970s to the present day. The images, from Brian''s personal archives, were taken using the various stereo cameras which Brian carried throughout his life. Viewed in May''s patented ULTRALITE OWL viewer (included), they leap into stunning three-dimensional realism, giving uniquely vivid impressions of life with Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and Brian himself, alongside the people who helped to shape Queen''s amazing global adventure.Originally published in 2017 in a deluxe slip-cased edition, and then reprinted in 2019 in hardcover, Queen in 3-D has received glowing reviews from the press and broadcast media, as well as from countless music fans around the world who posted their kind comments online.This new paperback contains everything included in the previous edition: Brian May''s 3-D photos and text - scrupulously honest, emotional, beautiful and inspiring Featuring Queen on and off stage from the 1970s to the present day More than 300 previously unseen stereo images Brian May''s glimpses of life in the studio and on the road Bonus sections including 21st century-Queen + Adam Lambert Includes an ULTRALITE OWL 3-D viewer, an ingenious new development of the design, in the back flap of the paperback More than 17 stereo images from the Bohemian Rhapsody movie  Queen have touched us all. Their music provides a soundtrack to our lives, their rock anthems elevating our spirits through the highs and lows of our time on this planet. This book provides the perfect visual context to the ever-powerful Queen sonic experience '' stereoscopy to match the stereophony! 

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Book SynopsisA classic of twentieth-century American autobiography now back in print with previously unpublished material from the author’s archiveTrade Review"Originally published by Black Sparrow Press and now saved from obscurity, this sonorous autobiography from painter and poet Oppen chronicles the lives of two literary soul mates. Although George won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1969, Mary’s memoir is by no means in his shadow; their love and intellectual union is rhapsodically mutual and an inspiring achievement to behold. The author divined meaning and guidance from the literary lives around her and channeled those forces into a passionate memoir that will continue to resound with readers even decades after its publication." -- Kirkus"Now, when we are more atomized than ever — by partisanship and political lies, by contagion and its economic fallout — reading Mary’s autobiography reminds us that life is important, but that living is a means to an end, not an end in itself. The end is, as she tells us from the start, meaning" -- Los Angeles Review of Books

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER''A unique and thoughtful musical memoir'' Observer''Gritty coming-of-age story . . . plenty of anecdotes to keep us hooked, and his memories of Joy Division''s Ian Curtis are poignant'' Daily MirrorBefore he was responsible for some of the most iconic drumming in popular music, Stephen Morris grew up in 1960s and ''70s industrial Macclesfield, on a quiet road that led seemingly to nowhere. Far removed from the bright lights and manic energy of nearby Manchester, he felt stifled by suburbia and feared he might never escape. Then he joined Joy Division - while they were still known as Warsaw - a pioneer of the rousing post-punk sound that would revolutionise twentieth-century rock.Following two landmark albums and widespread critical acclaim, Joy Division were at the height of their powers and poised to break the US, when lead singer, Ian Curtis, committed suicide.Part memoir,Trade ReviewA unique and thoughtful musical memoir * Observer *Gritty coming-of-age story . . . plenty of anecdotes to keep us hooked, and his memories of Joy Division's Ian Curtis are poignant * Daily Mirror *Record Play Pause tells a familiar story . . . but Morris brings a freshness to it * Glasgow Herald *Self-deprecating, unembittered and happy to occupy the role of technically-minded synergist, Morris is a frank and humorous narrator uninterested in grudges . . . Hugely mirthful in northern English ways, Stephen recalls his youth with frustration and fondness . . . Familiar ground and personalities are (inevitably) revisited, but the author's dry wit ensures a singular perspective and winning detail . . . Arguably the most human of the Joy Division memoirs, Record Play Pause shows that even after 40 years there are still new ways to engage with and illuminate this most analysed of groups * Mojo *

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Book Synopsis“In her long and extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson has not only succeeded as an actor, she has shaped the course of history.” –President Barack Obama, 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony“Just as I Am is my truth.Trade Review“The autobiography of Miss Cicely Tyson is a balm for the afflicted.” — New York Times “A parting gift to readers and chronicles an incredible life, lived fully.” — USA Today “This grand tale of her immense talent and desire to live out loud will resonate with anyone who has a dream.” — O, the Oprah Magazine "It’s in these poignant moments that the memoir becomes a resonant meditation on the link between an actress’s life and her art. This showstopping tale hits the mark." — Publishers Weekly “What shines most from the memoir is how Tyson’s story, while frankly written and supremely eye-opening, isn’t just her own. It’s also the story of Black women in America, of generations past, present and yet to come, whose wills to survive are divinely gifted and ancestrally guided.” — Washington Post "Tyson speaks with incisive clarity, humor, and moral authority…” — Booklist “If you’re ready for your next book, “Just As I Am” is the one to pick.” — Washington Informer “This book is Ms. Tyson’s abundant treasure to each of us: her life, in her words, just as she is. She shares truths usually whispered between close friends in the dim light of a back bedroom, those candid declarations not often spoken aloud. And she tells her story the way only a black woman can: in all of its dazzling authenticity, heels off and voice undulating, shifting between anguish and exuberance. The art of acting is the art of exposing, an emotional unveiling before others. Ms. Tyson is as revelatory on these pages as she has been on the stage." — — Viola Davis, Academy, Tony, and Emmy award-winning actress and producer

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Book SynopsisLudwig Bemelmans (1898-1962) wrote and illustrated over 40 books. Born in the Austrian Tyrol, he was sent to America at the age of 16 after he shot a head-waiter at his uncle's hotel. He arrived in New York sporting pistols to fend off Indians. In addition to his books he wrote for Hollywood, owned restaurants, designed sets for Broadway and painted everything from magazine covers to hotel frescos. A legendary traveller and bon vivant, he asked to have "Tell Them It Was Wonderful" carved on his gravestone.Trade ReviewThe adventures of the original bad boy of the New York restaurant/ hotel underbelly continue. Whether writing about the backstairs misadventures of cooks and waiters or travel to faraway lands, Bemelmans is always funny, insightful and dead on target. No one has ever surpassed the master. -- Anthony BourdainA complete original * Saturday Review *An artist in both line and words ... with talents of gold * Observer *Very entertaining ... an excellent story-teller * Sunday Times *One reads Bemelmans not as one reads a serious novelist but for the sheer momentary pleasure given by his evocation of atmosphere and mood * Punch *

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Book SynopsisFrom an award-winning former law enforcement park ranger and investigator, this female-driven true crime adventure follows the author's quest to find missing hikers along the Pacific Crest Trail by pairing up with an eclectic group of unlikely allies.

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Book SynopsisThis is a book about men and war. Not real conflict but war as it has filtered down to generations of boys and men through toys, comics, games and movies. Harry Pearson belongs to the great battalion of British men who grew up playing with toy soldiers - refighting World War II - and then stopped growing up. Inspired by the photos of the gallant pilot uncles that decorated the wall above his father''s model-making table, by Sergeant Hurricane, Action Man and Escape from Colditz, dressed in Clarks'' commando shoes and with the Airfix Army in support, he battled in the fields and on the beaches, in his head and on the sitting-room floor and across his bedroom ceiling. And thirty years later he still is.ACHTUNG SCHWEINEHUND! is a celebration of those glory days, a boy''s own story of the urge to play, to conquer - and to adopt very bad German accents, shouting ''Donner und Blitzen'' at every opportunity. This is a tale of obsession, glue and plastic kits. It is the story of oneTrade ReviewHis war-obsessed childhood is so warm and funny and true you might be tempted to hug yourself with delight * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *Funny, perceptive ... Pearson has you laughing throughout with guilty recognition. You learn a lot of quirky facts and a fair bit of military history from this endearing memoir * SUNDAY TIMES *He has a very good line in comedy * DAILY MAIL *

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Book SynopsisAn Oxford Childhood is a personal reminiscence of growing up in Cowley, Oxford in the 1920s. The author''s detailed memories describe every aspect of life in the years following the Great War. The clothes she wore, the furnishings of her parents'' house and the food they ate are graphically remembered.She describes the fun they had with a newly made rag rug, trying to identify the pieces of old clothing that it was made from and remembers that on bath nights, in front of the fire, mother covered the hearth with newspapers to prevent splashes staining the black leading. She describes schooldays, shopping, street games, the ''cat''s whisker'' crystal set and the arrival of Welsh miners who walked to Cowley from Wales to find work at the new Morris Motor Works. This charming book is illustrated with drawings by Max Surman and some delightful contemporary photographs.

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Book SynopsisA memoir by the Oscar-winning, platinum-selling rapper and producer for fans of Rick Ross'sHurricanes and The Autobiography of Gucci ManeThe hustle still continues for hip-hop OG Juicy J as he shares his invaluable story as an unwavering force in the music industry. Jordan Houston's rise to stardom was never easy. He began his journey on the streets of Memphis in the '80s, always inspired by music and with big dreams of becoming a superstar rapper. Jordan stuck to his plan with determination, on a never-ending grind to greatness. From a young, poor, ambitious kid to an Academy Awardwinning and Grammy-nominated recording artist and entrepreneur, the Juice Man offers his wisdom as one of the most influential tastemakers in the game. A raw, intentional portrait of artistry and a never-before-seen look into the making of a respected musical veteran,Chronicles of the Juice Manis an essential read for creatives everywhere.

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Book SynopsisFROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Thrown Away Child is a memoir covering Louise Allen’s abusive childhood in a foster home, how she survived - using her love of art as a sanctuary - and how she hopes to right old wrongs now by fostering children herself and campaigning for the improvement of foster care services. It is a compelling and inspirational story. This book gives a voice to the many children who grew up unhappily in care. 

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Book Synopsis''One woman''s gloriously lyrical account of life and love as a shepherdess'' Mail on Sunday''Janet White''s unfailingly enjoyable book . . . taps into a widespread feeling that we have become cut off from the natural world'' TLS''An immensely enjoyable and heartfelt book: it makes you want to run for the hills'' The LadyWith an introduction by Colin ThubronAs a child in wartime England, Janet White decided that she wanted to live somewhere wild and supremely beautiful, to inhabit and work the landscape. She imagined searching the whole world for a place, high and remote as a sheep stell, quiet as a monastery, challenging and virginal, untouched and unknown. Turning her back on convention, Janet''s desire to carve out her own pastoral Eden has taken her from the Cheviot Hills to Sussex and Somerset, via the savage beauty of rural New Zealand. The Sheep Stell tells the tale of a woTrade ReviewA hymn to country solitude, lyrical, unpretentious and deeply felt - Colin ThubronThis is a strange and lovely book, and quiet as it is, it makes you gasp at the profoundly lived quality of the life it so modestly describes - Jenny DiskiA book to share or even fight over if necessary - Rosamund Young, author of The Secret Life of CowsAn extraordinary memoir . . . The Sheep Stell is pure joy, one of the most moving books I've read in a long time - Philip Marsden, author of Rising GroundUtterly enchanting; a fascinating story, beautifully written - Penny Junor, author of The Duchess: The Untold StoryJanet White's book should be compulsory reading - John Barrington, author of Red Sky at Night

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Book SynopsisA poignant and powerful memoir from BAFTA award-winning filmmaker, Syrian refugee, hospital cleaner and activist, Hassan Akkad.I’ve experienced the best and worst of humanity. I’ve been detained and beaten, and welcomed and respected. And yet, this story – my story – is one of hope, not fear.'Hassan Akkad is a remarkable soul with a remarkable story. He not only leads us through his own physical and emotional odyssey, but teaches us about our own society.' – Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor, Channel 4 NewsFrom the jasmine-scented streets of Damascus to uprisings, protest and being forced to flee his home, Hassan Akkad has experienced unbearable losses. Yet, he still holds on to hope and chooses to see the kindness in humanity every day.Since seeking asylum in the UK, Hassan’s unshakeable instinct to raise awareness, help and connect, has seen him share not only his experience as a refugee, but to the coronavirus pandemic. Hassan documented his work as a cleaner on a London hospital Covid-19 ward. His photographs and advocacy shone a spotlight on the often overlooked NHS cleaners and porters and instigated a U-turn on a government bill that had excluded their families from the bereavement compensation scheme.Hassan has captured hearts the world over. He bridges national and political divides, his humanity, sense of service and ideals bring people together. Hope Not Fear is a campaigning message of triumphing over adversity, standing together and uniting in kindness and love. In this book, Hassan shows us why this is the single most important message of our time.'An extraordinary story that deals with the urgent issues of our era . . . But it is also a story about resilience, renewal and humanism' – Elif Shafak, author of The Island of Missing TreesTrade ReviewA journey of hope and connection, of finding humanity in unlikely places and building something for the future. If you’re feeling bleak about the way things are going – this will do much to restore your faith. -- StylistRemarkable. -- The ObserverHassan Akkad is a remarkable soul with a remarkable story. He not only leads us through his own physical and emotional odyssey, but teaches us about our own society. -- Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor, Channel 4 NewsHope Not Fear is an extraordinary story that deals with the urgent issues of our era....But it is also a story about resilience, renewal and humanism. -- Elief Shafak, bestselling author of The Forty Rules of LoveSyria has lost another extraordinary young person in Hassan Akkad. His terrifying and candid account is yet another reminder of how much we gain as a society when we welcome those to whom we owe nothing. -- Emma ThompsonA natural storyteller -- Happiful MagazineThis book is a vital and timely reminder of the power each of us has to create change in this world when we remember we are part of a global community. Hassan reminds us that hope is not passive: it comes from all of us. Hassan's words and story will stay with me forever. I cried and laughed. My heart was both broken and made whole again through his words. Everyone needs to read this book! -- Mikaela LoachRemarkable -- The ObserverWhat a book! What a story! So full of compassion, courage, and empathy. I learnt so much and feel much better informed. -- Cathy Rentzenbrink, bestselling author of The Last Act of LoveGalvanising and uplifting. -- Caroline Sanderson * The Bookseller *

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Book Synopsis'An extraordinary story that deals with the urgent issues of our era . . . a story about resilience, renewal' - Elif ShafakA stunning testament to human strength, courage and compassion, Hope Not Fear shows that nobody is powerless to change the world. This memoir from refugee, filmmaker, and activist Hassan Akkad traces his campaigns for justice, from protesting the Assad regime in Syria to winning greater rights for cleaners in the NHS.Since seeking asylum in the UK, Hassan’s unshakeable instinct to raise awareness, help and connect, has seen him share not only his experience as a refugee, but to the coronavirus pandemic as a covid ward cleaner and documentary filmmaker. As a witness and advocate, he bridges national and political divides; his humanity, sense of service and ideals bring people together.If you find yourself wondering where to find hope in difficult times, this book is the place to start.'Remarkable' - The Observer'A journey of hope and connection . . . this will do much to restore your faith.' - StylistTrade ReviewA journey of hope and connection, of finding humanity in unlikely places and building something for the future. If you’re feeling bleak about the way things are going – this will do much to restore your faith. -- StylistHope Not Fear is an extraordinary story that deals with the urgent issues of our era....But it is also a story about resilience, renewal and humanism. -- Elif Shafak, internationally bestselling author of The Forty Rules of Love and 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange WorldRemarkable -- The ObserverSyria has lost another extraordinary young person in Hassan Akkad. His terrifying and candid account is yet another reminder of how much we gain as a society when we welcome those to whom we owe nothing. -- Emma ThompsonThis book is a vital and timely reminder of the power each of us has to create change in this world when we remember we are part of a global community. Hassan reminds us that hope is not passive: it comes from all of us. Hassan's words and story will stay with me forever. I cried and laughed. My heart was both broken and made whole again through his words. Everyone needs to read this book! -- Mikaela LoachWhat a book! What a story! So full of compassion, courage, and empathy. I learnt so much and feel much better informed. -- Cathy Rentzenbrink, bestselling author of The Last Act of LoveHassan Akkad is a remarkable soul with a remarkable story. He not only leads us through his own physical and emotional odyssey, but teaches us about our own society. -- Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor, Channel 4 NewsGalvanising and uplifting. -- Caroline Sanderson * The Bookseller *

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Book SynopsisA fiercely personal and startlingly universal essay collection about the mysteries of gender and desire, of identity and class, of the stories we tell and the places we call home. Flyover country, the middle of nowhere, the space between the coasts. The American Midwest is a place beyond definition, whose very boundaries are a question. It’s a place of rolling prairies and towering pines, where guns in bars and trucks on blocks are as much a part of the landscape as rivers and lakes and farms. Where girls are girls and boys are boys, where women are mothers and wives, where one is taught to work hard and live between the lines. But what happens when those lines become increasingly unclear? When a girl, like the land that raised her, finds herself neither here nor there? In this intrepid collection of essays, Melissa Faliveno traverses the liminal spaces of her childhood in working-class Wisconsin and the paths she’s traveled since, compelled by questions of girlhood and womanhood, queerness and class, and how the lands of our upbringing both define and complicate us even long after we’ve left. Part personal narrative, part cultural reportage, Tomboyland navigates midwestern traditions, mythologies, landscapes, and lives to explore the intersections of identity and place. From F5 tornadoes and fast-pitch softball to gun culture, strange glacial terrains, kink party potlucks, and the question of motherhood, Faliveno asks curious, honest, and often darkly funny questions about belonging and the body, isolation and community, and what we mean when we use words like woman, family, and home.Trade Review“[A] winning debut collection…Readers who prefer to answer their questions about gender and sexuality with more questions will appreciate this perceptive meditation.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Delves deeply into gender identity and the many confusions and complications involved…Throughout the collection, Faliveno remains inquisitive and resistant to labels, always maintaining her empowering agency…the essays are well-rendered investigations of self-identity. An expressive voice evolving deliberately, resisting having to be one thing or the other.” —Kirkus Reviews “Encountering Faliveno is a pleasure…a sensitive commentator on the topsy-turvy world of the gender systems she grew up in and an exquisite self-analyst of her own androgyny…writing with a quality of cinematic vividness…Recommended.” —Library Journal “Faliveno’s dynamic essay collection…inhabits the spaces in-between—male and female, Wisconsin and New York, personal and political, fear and desire—and probes the profound paradoxes of personhood.” —OprahMag.com “A wonder to read. Bravo.” —Alma “Together, the essays offer a full-dress portrait of a writer whom most readers will be intrigued to know.” —Booklist “Melissa Faliveno transports readers to the Midwest, a region of the country that, not unlike the idea of a ‘tomboy,’ resists neat categorization. The book blends personal essays with culture reporting to explore the liminal spaces Faliveno—and so many other queer folks—inhabit and navigate each and every day.” —NewNowNext “In this essay collection about identity, class, sex, and gender, you’ll find deeply personal revelations that anyone can connect with. Each essay offers a unique perspective on topics we’ve all thought about, whether we’re a tomboy from the suburbs, a straight mountain man, or anything in between. Because there is no binary.” —Electric Literature “Gender, class, geographic placing, and so much more are explored honestly and fully in this collection of essays.” —Vogue.com “In her debut collection of essays, [Faliveno] examines the complicated—and often contradictory—parts of her life: the first time she shot a gun; her experiences in BDSM as a feminist; and navigating androgyny and bisexuality, womanhood and rage, religion and myth, loneliness and love.” —PureWow “These essays are a love letter to, reckoning with, and examination of [Faliveno’s] midwestern upbringing…Faliveno doesn't always definitively answer the questions she asks—and after all, how could she, when existential issues of identity, belonging, language, and the body are rarely if ever static—but she does manage to get satisfyingly close…to have roots, Tomboyland seems to be saying, is to have the ability to grow upward, out, and sometimes away, but to always have a context to return to.” —NPR.org “The book is a love letter to the Midwest, celebrating its strength and complexities.” —Wisconsin Public Radio “Faliveno is an excellent essayist, expertly braiding seemingly disparate threads into engrossing and funny explorations of self and society…The theme of violence intertwined with fear, love and reverence for place and created family propels Tomboyland into captivating territory. On the surface, its beautiful prose belies the darker complexities it scrapes at, making it all the more gratifying to read.” —The Washington Post “[A] wide-ranging, triumphant debut essay collection. With tenderness and honesty, Faliveno explores boundaries, intersections, and the overall blurriness of life.” —The Millions “Tomboyland is everything I want an essay collection to be: beautiful, smart, difficult, honest, hopeful, and haunting, just like the experiences it depicts. It is a book that charts the history of a body against the land that defines it. It is a song for anyone who felt at once estranged and inextricably bound to a place. Melissa Faliveno has written a gorgeously complex ode to the Midwest that is destined to be passed urgently from hand to hand, an anthem sung by all the misfits in those vast places who have not yet seen themselves written.” —Melissa Febos, author of Whip Smart and Abandon Me “Tomboyland, Melissa Faliveno’s excellent collection of essays on growing up in Wisconsin and then beyond it, will give many people permission to be who they are and to write into and about where they’re from. It will also show you how and when to leave that place, and how you can’t ever leave it completely. Each essay carries Faliveno’s Wisconsin inside it and made me want to lift weights in a dingy gym, welcome a moth infestation, kick ass at softball, rewatch Twister, and even visit Mount Horeb, the ‘Troll Capital of the World.’ If it can work on me this fast, I can only imagine what this book will do to you.” —Ander Monson, author of I Will Take the Answer and Neck Deep and Other Predicaments “These essays showcase, via hard-won displays, a twenty-first-century mind working to understand itself. Among the many treats of Tomboyland is how Melissa Faliveno’s self-investigation doesn’t just look inward to memory, experience, or feelings. Over the course of this book, she also looks externally in her quest for personal knowledge—turning to archives, interviews, and journalistic immersion. Such an extensive and dogged scope shows both how unique and how interconnected a single life can be. In Faliveno’s deft hands, we experience all that builds a consciousness—food and sex and softball, dark bars and sprawling landscapes, roller derbies and deep conversations, and the F5 tornado that is human love.” —Elena Passarello, author of Animals Strike Curious Poses “In these smartly constructed, urgently delivered essays on class, gender, violence, rage, love, and sexuality—issues as entwined in these pages as they are in life—Melissa Faliveno brilliantly scrutinizes our most contemporary, most vital questions of self and culture. I didn’t just read Tomboyland, I scribbled in its pages, photographed its passages, pressed it on friends, and felt an urgent need to talk about it. It will spark conversations that will become conflagrations. Tomboyland is a blaze of a book, as fiery and expansive as the Midwestern sky.” —Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, author of The Fact of a Body “I felt Melissa Faliveno’s Midwest on a gut level—its F5 tornadoes, its rolling prairies, its bighearted people working their asses off. I grew up here, but it’s okay if you didn’t; Tomboyland will show you, tangling your body in place and the overwhelming need to both go back home and get the hell out. Faliveno’s deeply felt and deeply researched essays—part personal narrative, part cultural criticism—feature softballs and guns, dresses and babies and bondage. They interrogate gender and expectations, what it means to be a family, to build a home in this beautiful mess of a world. My brain is still buzzing. So is my heart.” —Megan Stielstra, author of The Wrong Way to Save Your Life “In Tomboyland, Melissa Faliveno examines the spaces, selves, histories, and futures that live in the distance between binaries: between the bodies we have and the ones we claim, between the homes that have made us and those we have made for ourselves. This is a remarkable debut. I am grateful for the arrival of this bold new voice.” —Lacy M. Johnson, author of The Reckonings “Tomboyland works through unlikely juxtaposition—tornadoes alongside God, vegetarianism alongside kink, guns alongside love. It is a coming-of-age story where everything is examined, everything is questioned, where the word driftless is both a region and a state of mind. At one point Faliveno’s mother, while cooking meat, states, ‘If I think about it, then I have to look at my whole life.’ Faliveno takes this as a challenge, as she builds a life for us before our eyes. It is, in the end, about the nature of relationships, of love, of being alive.” —Nick Flynn, author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City and The Ticking Is the Bomb

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Book SynopsisThe inspiring true story of one man’s treacherous boyhood journey from a rural village in Ghana to the streets of Barcelona—and the path that led him home. Ousman Umar is a shaman’s son born in a small village in Ghana. Though his mother died giving birth, he spent a contented childhood working the fields, setting traps in the jungle, and living off the land. Still, as strange and wondrous flying machines crisscrossed the skies overhead, Ousman dreamed of a different life. And so, when he was only twelve years old, he left his village and began what would be a five-year journey to Europe. Every step of the way, as he traveled across the Sahara desert, through the daunting metropolises of Accra, Tripoli, Benghazi, and Casablanca, and over the sea aboard a packed migrant dinghy, Ousman was handed off like merchandise by a loose network of smugglers and in the constant, foreboding company of “sinkers”: other migrants who found themselves penniless and alone on their way north, unable to continue onward or return home. But on a path rife with violence, exploitation, and racism, Ousman also encountered friendship, generosity, and hope. North to Paradise is a visceral true story about the stark realities of life along the most dangerous migrant route across Africa; it is also a portrait of extraordinary resilience in the face of unimaginable challenges, the beauty of kindness in strangers, and the power of giving back.Trade Review“With unerring humanity, Umar brings instances of light to his sobering tale through moving recollections of the friendships that bolstered him and moments of ‘divine intervention’ that led him to finally find a new home in Spain. This is a stunning testament to the strength of the human spirit.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Both sobering and inspiring, this story about a young African man’s awakening to the realities of an often uncaring world offers a compelling portrait of humanity at its ignorant worst and enlightened best. A candid and provocative memoir from a determined man.” —Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisThis book is a window into the world of Danny Dyer - and he's seen more of the world than most so he's got one or two things to say about it.Tackling such vital questions as 'Where have all the old school boozers gone?' 'Are there such things as ghosts?' and 'Am I middle class?' Danny shares his unique take on life with characteristic honesty and humour and reveals why it is that:· What goes around comes around - he learnt the hard way· You can take the boy out of the East End but you can't take the East End out of the boy· Harold Pinter is a diamond geezer · He told the media training expert to do one· Science can prove that West Ham are the best football club in the world· Him and Joanne are like a team - he's Paul Gascoigne, she's David Batty· The human race isn't evolved enough for TwitterSo, hold on to your titfer, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!Trade ReviewA must-read! Unsurprisingly, the actor has a few things to say about today's most pressing issues . . . Make sure you give it a butcher's * New! *We can't wait to get our mitts on a copy * Mirror *

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Book SynopsisStuart Heritage got where he is today by being decent, thoughtful, hardworking and kind. He is, in short, a model citizen. The favourite son.His younger brother Pete is quick-tempered, peevish and aggressively pig-headed and, for a while, known to his friends as 'Shagger'.But now, Stu has returned to his hometown to discover that Pete has taken his place.Don’t Be A Dick, Pete is a hilarious examination of home and family; sons, fathers, fatherhood, sibling relationships and how hard it is to move on in a system that’s loaded with several decades of preconceived ideas about you.Trade ReviewAlmost unfairly funny * Hadley Freeman *I loved it so much I read it in one fell swoop. Fantatically funny but also so touching * India Knight *Every person I know is going to love this book. I can’t imagine anyone reading this book and not being in love with it. He is incomparable in terms of his voice and observational lens… No one writes about the incidentals and the characteristics of British life better than him * Dolly Alderton *This is (very, very) funny, but it's also a story about brothers and families and home, and it's as warm as it is rude * Stylist *Really funny and crazy. * Bob Odenkirk *The funniest book of the year. Disclaimer: may induce hysteria. * Cosmopolitan *Hilarious ... a touching take on modern masculinity and family * Grazia *

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Book Synopsis‘The next stage meant that there was no going back. An Irish prisoner stepped forward and slipped a blade into my hand. I felt the ice cold metal and pressed it against the governor’s cheek. I thought to myself: would they ever release me after this?’Bobby Cummines was only 28 when he passed through the grim gates of Parkhurst, Britain’s Alcatraz, as a category-A prisoner with a host of crimes to his name. Joining the most notorious gangsters and criminals of the day – from the Krays, the Yorkshire Ripper and Charles Bronson, to high ranking members of the IRA – nothing could have prepared him for the brutal regime, violent convicts, vindictive screws and riots on the inside. It’s the story of Britain’s most hellish prison, from one of its hardest inmates.

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Book Synopsis‘People say “Like father, like son”, and the story of my life has mirrored my father’s to a quite uncanny degree. Right from when I was a little boy, he was my rock; my mentor; my hero. It is no exaggeration to say that he taught me virtually everything I know about both country life and television. Without him, I certainly would not be doing what I am today ...’Like Farmer, Like Son is a truly remarkable account of Adam’s life that explores a hidden family history and the unbreakable bond between Adam and his life-long hero: his father Joe. In the 1940s and ‘50s, Joe, the son of stage and film star Leslie Henson, chose a completely different path, alien to his thespian parents and decided to pursue a career as a farmer. In addition, Joe overcame a serious stammer to become a regular broadcaster on Country Matters and also became the saviour of Britain’s rare breeds. He even put his business and his reputation at stake to open the world’s first Farm Park.Here, for the first time, Adam reveals the family traits, childhood experiences and farming wisdom which have made him the man he is today. As he trawls the family archive and discovers his own bloodline, Adam learns to understand and appreciate the famous grandfather he never knew and pays tribute to the wonderful father he has so recently lost.

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Book SynopsisAutobiography of the front man of ground breaking 70s rock Welsh group, Edward H Dafis. As well as stories about the band and his career as a TV director, Cleif Harpwood shares personal stories about his regrets and his divorce.

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Book SynopsisSharon Morgan, the Welsh actress of stage and screen opens up to reveal the hidden challenges she has faced as a devoted mother of two.

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Book SynopsisCLAIR: We've been let loose on a book... whose bright idea was that?JAMES: We haven't got anything to say!CLAIR: Don't tell them that before they buy it...JAMES: They'll work it out eventually!CLAIR: Well, we've managed to put together some bits and pieces that might be interesting - or at least funny/weird/silly.JAMES: Probably not.CLAIR: No... probably not. Though if you like the vlogs, you might like it?JAMES: No one likes the vlogs.CLAIR: True.JAMES: Anyway, enjoy!At Home with The Buckleys is one couple's take on the wild ride that is modern marriage, parenting and adulting. Told from both sides, Clair and James share a collection of hilarious stories and comedy excursions from their early lives, years of cult TV fame, having children and setting up their YouTube channel.

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Book SynopsisGranny worked so hard at my rearing. She was a frustrated ladysmith and I was her last chance...This is the story of my years on her anvil. Whether she succeeded in making a lady out of me is for you to decide, but I will say one thing in my own favour before we begin. No matter which sex I went to bed with, I never smoked on the street.' When Florence King was born, her Granny, a would-be Virginia grande dame, moved in. 'Anybody could have a family,' writes Miss King. 'She wanted a race all to herself.' Granny's dream of raising the perfect Southern belle failed dismally with her own daughter, a chain-smoking, baseball-playing tomboy given to wild expletives. Florence is Granny's last hope ...Trade ReviewOught to be printed with a mechanism for turning down the volume of the reader . . . Outrageous and laugh-out-loud funny -- Sandi ToksvigI've never read so many perfect one-liners . . . This book is dynamite. Don't miss it -- Jeanette WintersonOne of the funniest writers around -- Gerald DurrellThe damndest adventures in autobiography hilarity to come down the pike in recent years . . . She is a Bombeck with bite, a female Art Bushwald with Southern sass, an A-one original American humorist down to her wicked, wicked bones -- Susan BrownmillerAn outrageous commentator on men, women, and other sources of amusement, particularly the Southern variety . . . Florence King never loses her warmth, her humor, or her ability to be delighted by life's inherent contradictions * Chicago Sun Times *Witty, intelligent, freewheeling . . . Surely the author told these stories before she wrote them, stretching and perfecting them with each telling, mining them for humor * Newsday *Ought to be printed with a mechanism for turning down the volume of the reader . . . Outrageous and laugh-out-loud funny * Sandi Toksvig *I've never read so many perfect one-liners . . . This book is dynamite. Don't miss it * Jeanette Winterson *Gerald Durrell * 'One of the funniest writers around’ *

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Book SynopsisSiân James has been plucking harp strings since childhood. In this volume we gain an honest and clear self-analysis as she traces her world-wide connections whilst co-operating with stars of the folk scene. Through songs and their significance we learn about the girl from Maldwyn - sometimes humorous, sometimes agonising, and with honesty throughout.

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Book SynopsisHannah Shah is an Imam's daughter. She lived the life of a Muslim but, for many years, her father abused her in the cellar of their home.At 16 she discovered a plan to send her to Pakistan for an arranged marriage, and she ran away. Hunted by her angry father and brothers, who were determined to make her an honour killing, she had to keep moving house to escape them. Then, worst of all, in her family's eyes, she became a Christian. Some Muslims say converting from Islam is punishable by death...One day a mob of forty men came after her, armed with hammers, sticks and knives...with her father at the front...The Imam's Daughter is Hannah's gripping - but ultimately inspiring - true story. How, through her courage and determination, she broke free from her background and found a new life beyond its confines - a new life of freedom and love.Trade ReviewBrilliant and compelling...raises issues which are worthy of serious consideration and discussion * Baroness Cox *Terrifying -- Dominic Lawson * Sunday Times *Compelling * Church Times *

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Book SynopsisDeborah Devonshire is a natural writer with a knack for the telling phrase and for hitting the nail on the head. She tells the story of her upbringing, lovingly and wittily describing her parents (so memorably fictionalised by her sister Nancy); she talks candidly about her brother and sisters, and their politics (while not being at all political herself), finally setting the record straight. Throughout the book she writes brilliantly about the country and her deep attachment to it and those who live and work in it. As Duchess of Devonshire, Debo played an active role in restoring and overseeing the day-to-day running of the family houses and gardens, and in developing commercial enterprises at Chatsworth. She tells poignantly of the deaths of three of her children, as well as her husband's battle with alcohol addiction. Wait For Me is enthralling and a total joy, full of the author's sympathetic wit (which she is not afraid to use on herself).Trade Review'A touching, funny memorial to a vanished age' * Stephen Moss, Guardian *'I was captivated . . . unputdownable' * Bel Mooney, Daily Mail *'The Duchess is an exhilarating writer, with a great gift for storytelling, and a prose style of elegant simplicity' * Jane Shilling, Evening Standard *'Wait For Me! proves irresistible, even for die-hard Mitphobes like me' * Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday *'Funny and sad, the irresistible combination that is one of the secrets of charm' * Daily Telegraph *'She [Debo] is in possession of what I can only describe as a uniquely Mitford-esque sensibility; loving but unsentimental; devoid of self-pity; unwilling to bore others with her own travails; able to find the ridiculous in almost anything . . . these qualities - disarmingly rare in Oprahworld - are , to me, indisputably admirable' * Observer *'An entertaining, lively portrait' * Scotsman *'The one book this year that everyone will want in their Christmas stocking' * A. N. Wilson, Spectator *'Admirably done, cannily blending disclosure and reticence in a charming book that kept me riveted, both by what is said . . . and what remains firmly under wraps' * Daily Telegraph Biographies of the Year *'I cried several times during Deborah Devonshire's memoir . . . the calibre of events, cast and author could hardly be higher and Debo has potted an extraordinary life (though ordinary to her) with kindness and humour' * Rachel Johnson, Observer Christmas special *'[Debo] is a glorious testament to the fact that we should never retire early in case our brains atrophy. It's stuffed full of wonderful people, and Debo has a great ear for the killer, defining quote . . . Just reading this book made me hare off to visit Chatsworth . . . The best books make you see the world differently and maybe want to change yours. We will not see her like again' * Liz Jones, Daily Mail Christmas books special *'Talk about a life lived in full . . . Her memoirs, Wait for Me! are as fascinating and entertaining a portrait of the last century as you could hope to read' * Sandra Parsons, Daily Mail Christmas books special *'Deborah Devonshire has had an astonishing life and her memoirs are peopled by a cast of characters that includes Winston Churchill, the Queen, John F. Kennedy, Lucian Freud and Elivs Presley . . . She's also unusually frank about her late husband's alcoholism. Yet while there's a lot of sadness in this book, there's no self-pity. Instead, you get the impressions that, at 90, Deborah Devonshire's zest for life, gossip and mischief is as strong as ever' * John Preston, Daily Mail Christmas books special *'A touching, funny memorial to a vanished age' * Stephen Moss, Guardian *'I was captivated . . . unputdownable' * Bel Mooney, Daily Mail *'The Duchess is an exhilarating writer, with a great gift for storytelling, and a prose style of elegant simplicity' * Jane Shilling, Evening Standard *'Wait For Me! proves irresistible, even for die-hard Mitphobes like me' * Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday *'Funny and sad, the irresistible combination that is one of the secrets of charm' * Daily Telegraph *'She [Debo] is in possession of what I can only describe as a uniquely Mitford-esque sensibility; loving but unsentimental; devoid of self-pity; unwilling to bore others with her own travails; able to find the ridiculous in almost anything . . . these qualities - disarmingly rare in Oprahworld - are , to me, indisputably admirable' * Observer *'An entertaining, lively portrait' * Scotsman *'The one book this year that everyone will want in their Christmas stocking' * A. N. Wilson, Spectator *'Admirably done, cannily blending disclosure and reticence in a charming book that kept me riveted, both by what is said . . . and what remains firmly under wraps' * Daily Telegraph Biographies of the Year *'I cried several times during Deborah Devonshire's memoir . . . the calibre of events, cast and author could hardly be higher and Debo has potted an extraordinary life (though ordinary to her) with kindness and humour' * Rachel Johnson, Observer Christmas special *'[Debo] is a glorious testament to the fact that we should never retire early in case our brains atrophy. It's stuffed full of wonderful people, and Debo has a great ear for the killer, defining quote . . . Just reading this book made me hare off to visit Chatsworth . . . The best books make you see the world differently and maybe want to change yours. We will not see her like again' * Liz Jones, Daily Mail Christmas books special *'Talk about a life lived in full . . . Her memoirs, Wait for Me! are as fascinating and entertaining a portrait of the last century as you could hope to read' * Sandra Parsons, Daily Mail Christmas books special *'Deborah Devonshire has had an astonishing life and her memoirs are peopled by a cast of characters that includes Winston Churchill, the Queen, John F. Kennedy, Lucian Freud and Elivs Presley . . . She's also unusually frank about her late husband's alcoholism. Yet while there's a lot of sadness in this book, there's no self-pity. Instead, you get the impressions that, at 90, Deborah Devonshire's zest for life, gossip and mischief is as strong as ever' * John Preston, Daily Mail Christmas books special *'Fans will know the story but the duchess's prose is so lively her telling is pure pleasure. I thought all the Mitford books had been written. How wrong I was' * Independent *'Delightful Debo, the youngest Mitford sister, reminisces with trademark mischief and her killer instinct for a good anecdote' * The Times *'An unqualified delight: effortlessly funny and at times moving, clear-sighted, candid and self-effacing, written from the perspective of a long life well-lived' * Good Book Guide *

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Book SynopsisJane Alison Sherwin's honest and uplifting account provides insight into the challenges of bringing up a child with Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA). After years of misdiagnosis, Jane's daughter, Mollie, was diagnosed with PDA at the age of seven, and we follow her experiences pre and post diagnosis to age 10 as she attends school, interacts with the outside world and approaches adolescence. Throughout, Jane provides commentary on her daughter's behaviour and the impact it has on her family, explaining the 'why' of PDA traits, including the need for control, meltdowns, obsessive behaviour and sensory issues. She reveals the strategies that have worked for Mollie and provides essential advice and information on obtaining a diagnosis and raising awareness of PDA. The book also includes an interview with Mollie. Full of advice and support, and with a focus on understanding the child and how he or she sees the world, this book will be of immeasurable value to the parents and families of children with PDA as well as the professionals working with them, particularly teachers and teaching assistants, SEN co-ordinators, psychologists, outreach workers and social workers.Trade ReviewKnowledge and understanding of PDA is still at an early stage, but there are exciting developments happening in diagnostic understanding, greater awareness of successful educational approaches and the perspective that is now being gained from further research...Jane Sherwin's book, the account of the mother of Mollie, a ten-year-old girl with PDA, will add to that knowledge by highlighting the perspective of a parent, as well as giving fascinating glimpses into how the world seems from Mollie's point of view. -- from the foreword and introduction by Phil Christie, Consultant Child Psychologist, The Elizabeth Newson Centre, UKMy Daughter is Not Naughty charts the up and down journey of Jane and her daughter Mollie as they discover, and then begin learning to live with, Pathological Demand Avoidance syndrome. It is a down-to-earth read that tackles difficult issues with refreshing honesty, but is delivered with the warmth and sensitivity of a mother's touch. This may be Jane and Mollie's story, but the degree to which it will resonate with other "PDA parents," means it could easily be their story too. -- Neville Starnes, PDA parent and member of the PDA Society’s management committee, UKSherwin comes to this subject as a parent as opposed to a professional and her knowledge is self-taught as she came to terms with her daughter's difficulties... (The author) outlines the strategies that she has developed to cope with Mollie's meltdowns and anxieties and her 'huge issues' with sleep... Sherwin writes frankly about how Mollie's PDA has affected her personally and her family and this book is a moving and informative guide. -- Mary Mountstephen, author, editor * SEN Magazine *Table of ContentsIntroduction and Foreword by Phil Christie. I. The Early Years. 1. The Key Diagnostic Features of PDA. 2. The Early Warning Signs. 3. Nursery School Begins and Boom! II. The School Years. 4. Things Go from Bad to Worse. 5. A New School and A New Start. 6. An End to Formal Education. III. Understanding Mollie's PDA Behaviours. 7. Difficulties with Social Understanding and Verbal Communication. 8. Routine, Predictability, Fantasy and Obsessions. 9. Summing Up the Difficulties and Empathising with Mollie. IV. Breaking the PDA Cycle. 10. The Cycle of Demand, Control, Avoidance and Meltdown. 11. Strategies that Help Mollie Feel in Control. 12. Strategies for Other Areas of Difficulty – Sensory Issues, Sleep, Transitions, Obsessions, Sexualised Behaviour and More. 13. Getting Schooling Right. 14. PDA Plus. V. Learning to Interact in the Neurotypical World. 15. Mollie Dips Her Toes in the Outside World. 16. Strategies for Teaching the Social Laws and Customs Outside of the Family. VI. Entering the Adolescent Years and Looking to Adulthood. 17. Periods and Puberty. 18. Children with PDA Grow into Adults with PDA. VII. How PDA Has Affected Our Family. 19. Family Dynamics. 20. How Living with PDA Affected My Own Mental Health. 21. Supporting a Family Living with PDA. VIII. Diagnosis. 22. Why Recognition and Diagnosis is So Important. 23. Navigating the Bumpy and Winding Road to Diagnosis. IX. Final Thoughts. 24. The Funny and Endearing Side of PDA. 25. An Interview with Mollie. 26. Our Current Situation and My Hopes for the Future. Appendices. I. A Complete Profile of Mollie's Behaviours and Traits. II. Frequently Asked Questions. III. Useful Resources. References.

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Book SynopsisGill Mansell (nee Hewitt) was born in 1949 and brought up in the Lozells area of Birmingham, her large family had lived in the area for several generations and it was her happy playground whilst growing up. This book is the story of Gill, her parents and grandparents who led ordinary lives but were extraordinary people, living through hard times at the beginning of the 20th century, just carrying on and dealing with whatever life threw their way. Gill's family reminiscences and the history of Lozells are very much intertwined and record, for future generations, tales about the 'old days' with humour, sadness and all the other emotions which made up the rich tapestry of family life in Lozells.

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Book SynopsisAn urgent and impassioned memoir by the winner of the Spectrum Art Prize 2018, presenting the rarely shown point of view of someone living with autism.

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Book Synopsis*** THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER"I loved it. An amazing book." - Louis Theroux"A rip-roaring read. It left me breathless." - Chris Evans, Virgin Radio"Raw, savagely honest, as dramatic as any of his movies." - Mail on Sunday"A tremendous book - readable, funny and harrowing." - The Sunday Times"Riveting." - The New York Times "A fascinating exposure of Stone's inner life and his powerful, all devouring energy and genius that drove him to become one of the world's greatest filmmakers." - Sir Anthony Hopkins"... a Hollywood movie in itself." - Spike LeeChasing the Light is Oliver Stone's intimate and ground-breaking filmmaker's memoir - and a razor-sharp insider's tour of Hollywood during its 70s and 80s upheaval.With disarming honesty, he takes us from a childhood on New York's Upper East Side through the combat zones of Vietnam, inside the clandestine worlds of Chinatown's gang lords and Miami's cocaine trade - and behind the glittering and often drug-addled Los Angeles movie society scene.And from Midnight Express through Scarface, and Salvador he discovers his own dogged determination, a marked rebellious streak and a drive to make controversial films that matter. How he strung together the realistic, radical and ultimately box office smash Platoon is in itself a 10-year adventure of financial intrigue, perseverance and near-death experiences that culminates in the depths of the Philippine jungle with Stone pushing himself, the crew and young cast almost beyond breaking point.Written fearlessly with intense detail and colour, this is what it's like to make films on the edge.

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Book Synopsis"My life will always be in danger. My beautiful sister Banaz Mahmod was murdered in an ‘honour killing’ ordered by our father and uncle. If those evil men find me, they will kill me too." Bekhal Mahmod was one of six siblings from a Sunni Muslim family in Iraqi Kurdistan who sought a new life as asylum seekers and arrived in London in 1998. When Bekhal's father tried to force her into an arranged marriage at 15, she ran away. This caused her father to ‘lose respect’ within the Kurdish community and Bekhal became the target of an honour killing and her younger sisters Banaz and Payzee were quickly married off to restore the family's reputation. When Banaz left her husband, claiming he'd beaten and raped her, Mahmod decided this 'shame' to the family meant Banaz must die. Within weeks, she had vanished. Her body was finally discovered, crammed into a suitcase and buried in a garden in Birmingham. Banaz, age 20, had been raped and killed in a sickening plot orchestrated by her father and uncle. Still fearing for her own life, Bekhal bravely faced her father and uncle in court - making her the first female in British legal history to give evidence against family members in an honour killing trial - and won justice for her beloved sister Banaz. Bekhal now has a new identity after entering the police witness protection programme. She lives in terror of her father’s release from jail. This is her story. Trade Review‘Banaz’s courageous and campaigning sister, Bekhal, and the distinguished legal reformer Dr Hannana Siddiqui here document the full horror of the violence which can be experienced by women in our minority communities . . . no cultural justification should be made for so-called crimes of honour.’ * Baroness Helena Kennedy QC *'This remarkable book by Bekhal and co-writer Hannana Siddique, reveals their awesome courage and compels us to ask: How can this be happening in Britain? Why does it go on? When will it end? Can we feminists be as brave and uncompromising...and build up momentum to stop culturally sanctioned crimes against females? It is time.' * Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, author and journalist *‘Bekhal Mahmod’s story of how she escaped being murdered by her own family is a shocking indictment of a community that prized patriarchy over life. The fact that Bekhal’s sister had to die before the authorities took Bekhal’s pleas for help seriously shames a nation. This is a brave and troubling anatomy of a twenty-first-century ‘honour killing’ and the long fight for justice.’ * Robert Verkaik, author of Jihadi John *'We already know the end of Banaz Mahmod’s story. Now, her sister, Bekhal, tells us the beginning. Heartbreaking and compelling, it’s a tough read but one that must be shared.' * Joy Kluver, author of Last Seen, Broken Girls, Left for Dead *‘I was immediately struck by her courage and both moved and inspired by her unflinching spirit. Bekhal’s strength of character is shown on every page of this book. The resilience she shows in the face of abuse is inspiring... Anyone who wants to understand how “honour” culture operates – and the effect it has on women and girls – needs to read this heartbreaking and compelling book.’ * Deeyah Khan, director of the documentary Banaz: A Love Story *‘A heart-breaking, powerful and crucially important story from an incredibly brave woman’ * Jess Phillips MP *‘A staggering story, beautifully written! And an important insight into both paralysis and heroic resistance . . . from the first pages, I felt myself gasping with the shock of it, and yet driven to read on, and on . . . takes us to the geopolitics of fundamentalist faith and power, to visceral fright, resistance and to the wonderful Southall Black Sisters.’ * Beatrix Campbell OBE, writer and activist *‘Bekhal Mahmod is one of the bravest people I’ve ever met. In the face of constant threats to her own life, and angry exclusion by the rest of her family, she held fast to the memory of her beloved sister, murdered on the orders of their own father. Banaz chose love, and died for it; in defending her, Bekhal chose the path of true honour. Her vivid account of the price both sisters paid is raw and heartbreaking’ * Gwyneth Hughes, screenwriter of ITV series Honour *‘Written from witness protection, this is a heartbreaking & incredibly important book telling the true story of the death of [Bekhal Mahmod’s] sister Banaz in a so-called “honour killing” & detailing the quest for justice that followed. Essential reading for everybody’ * Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project *‘When I first met Bekhal at a tree-planting ceremony in Leatherhead for victims of honour-based violence, I was overwhelmed by this very dedicated young woman wanting to leave a lasting tribute to her sister . . . her book is truly a vivid account of her journey, a must-read for all investigators and professionals dealing with honour-based abuse. It articulates the long-lasting painful effects it has on the families left behind.’ * Dr Clive Driscoll, Detective Chief Inspector, Metropolitan Police *

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Book SynopsisAutobiography of the talented and charismatic conductor and musician Alun Guy who has made an enormous contribution to the music scene in Wales. Amidst the people he has met during his career are Robert de Niro, Kiri Te Kanawa and Marisa Robles.

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Book Synopsis'An enchanting picture of farming life, full of warmth and humour' ~ Katie Fforde It seems an impossible dream at first for Sue and Aubrey. She is a horse-mad girl strongly attracted to the idea of farming, Aubrey is the son of a farm manager without land or money. But with limited knowledge, much enthusiasm and the challenge of raising their young family, anything can happen. This is the true story of a shepherding life; where icy nights are spent searching for lost sheep, the lambing sheds are filled with the first cries of newborns, and idyllic summers are spent in the show ring. Amusing, poignant and beautifully detailed, this is a book about how dreams can grow from small beginnings into breeding prize-winning Texel sheep in the Cotswolds. Sue and Aubrey Andrews are internationally renowned breeders of pedigree Texels. The first book in the 5* reviewed series

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Book SynopsisHow can two people survive in a marriage when one of them sees it as an impediment to personal growth?Well, you keep trying and eventually figure ways of making it work. An Unlikely Chemistry is the story of a couplea scientist and a filmmakerwho battle personal issues and external challenges and go on to build aife on their own terms.The scientist, Mohana, stands up to a crippled system, determined to discover an Ayurvedic drug for cancer. On the threshold of global recognition, she is compelled to abandon her research due to the biases of a system plagued by caste-based reservations.The filmmaker, Krishnaswamy, provoked by a distorted American documentary on India, vows to make an authentic film on Indian history, heritage and culture. A vow he fulfils with the release of his four-hour film, Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi, distributed by Warner Bros.Krishnaswamy and Mohana then join hands to weave an illustrious tapestry of over two hundred non-fiction films and a dozen television serials. However, their path isittered with politics, controversies,egal battles and societal prejudices, but their belief in righteousness and spirituality helps them overcome these hurdles.An Unlikely Chemistry is the remarkable autobiography of a coupletheirove and their journey of nearly five decades. Within these pages, there''s also the veritable magic and nostalgia of a bygone era.

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, updated for the 30th anniversary of James' death, with new chapters from Denise.'I was crying so much I couldn't breathe. The thought of leaving the shopping centre without him was crushing. I knew that walking away from the place where he had gone missing, without any idea where he now was, meant that things were really bad. James had been right by my side and then he was gone forever.'On 12th February 1993, Denise Fergus' life changed forever. As she was running errands at New Strand Shopping Centre, she let go of her two-year-old son's hand for a few seconds to take out her purse.Denise never saw her son again.For the first time since that moment 25 years ago, Denise tells her extraordinary story in this heart-wrenching book, an unflinching account of that terrible day. What if she had never taken James shopping? What if she had turned right coming out of the butcher's, instead of left? Denise's initial hope after seeing her son on CCTV with other children quickly turned to devastation when, two days later, James' body was found.His death reverberated around the world and his killers became the youngest ever convicted murderers in UK legal history. Four minutes is all it took for them to lead James away from his mother to his death. Denise took up a tortuous legal battle for James, and it was her astonishing strength and love for her son that ultimately helped to change the way the law treats victims of crime.This is a mother's tale, of finding a way through the despair to remember the happiness and wonderful memories that James brought his family rather than just as a murdered child.

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Book SynopsisPreviously published as NujeenThe story that is inspiring the world.Read about Nujeen who escaped the hell of war in Aleppo and travelled to Europe in a wheelchair.She is our hero. Everyone must read her story. She will inspire you' MALALA YOUSAFZAINujeen Mustafa has cerebral palsy and cannot walk. This did not stop her braving inconceivable odds to travel in her wheelchair from Syria in search of a new life. Sharing her full story for the first time, Nujeen recounts the details of her childhood and disability, as well as the specifics of her harrowing journey across the Mediterranean to Greece and finally to Germany to seek an education and the medical treatment she needs.Nujeen''s story has already touched millions and in this book written with Christina Lamb, bestselling co-author of I Am Malala', she helps to put a human face on a global emergency.Trapped in a fifth floor apartment in Aleppo and unable to go to school, she taught herself to speak English by watching US television.Trade Review‘The story of Nujeen, amazing young woman and Syrian refugee, reminds the world that refugees, just like others, have aspirations and dreams for peace, education and a better society. Nujeen inspires me to dream without limits’MALALA YOUSAFZAI ‘Spirited and humbling, and is proof that a refugee is a person first, a statistic last’, Books of the Year, Sunday Times ‘Extraordinary. We have heard many accounts of refugees’ journeys in the past couple of years but none like this one. If it was Lamb who wrote the words, you sense it is Nujeen’s spirit she has caught. The is important chronicle of our strange and terrible times seems likely, in fact, to make her a star’ The Times ‘THE GIRL FROM ALEPPO is a book about a truly remarkable disabled young girl refugee from Syria. I read it in 24 hours – without a dry eye. Not tears of sadness – tears of joy about the glory of a triumphant human spirit. Go on. I challenge you. I bet you cannot read this, dry eyed, to the end’ PADDY ASHDOWN

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Book SynopsisIsobel Miller gave up God for worldly pursuits. But as graduation approached and her engagement was broken, she questioned that decision. "If You will prove to me that You are, and if You will give me peace, I will give You my whole life." God heard Isobel's prayers and responded. Her search ended, and He gave her a whole new life of fruitful missionary service in China.

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Book SynopsisThe captain who went further than any had before tells her life story for the first time in her own words; perfect for fans of Star Trek: Voyager and the upcoming Star Trek: Prodigy Kathryn Janeway reveals her career in Starfleet, from her first command to her epic journey through the Delta Quadrant leading to her rise to the top as vice-admiral in Starfleet Command. Discover the story of the woman who travelled further than any human ever had before, stranded decades from home, encountering new worlds and species. Explore how she brought together Starfleet and the Maquis as part of her crew, forged new alliances with species across the galaxy and overcame one of Starfleet's greatest threats - the Borg - on their own remote and hostile territory. Get Janeway's personal take on key characters such as Seven of Nine, her trusted friend Tuvok, new arrivals like Neelix and her second-in-command, Chakotay.Trade Review"A fantastic addition to the legend of Star Trek's first female captain... Kudos to author Una McCormack for so thoughtfully expanding Janeway's story, and giving readers some truly interesting material to chew over" - Trek News "A beautiful visual of a little girl who reached her dreams at great cost" - Redshirts Always Die "I love to read biographies and especially memoirs... While this is, of course, fiction and indeed, space fantasy, it pushes all the same buttons." - Women At Warp "Thanks to McCormack's flowing prose, you can lose yourself completely in this book; you may not want to put it down once you start." - TrekMovie.com "A fitting tribute to a character who has been an inspiration to audiences for a quarter of a century" - Daily Trek News "A must-read for any Voyager fan" - TrekMovie "McCormack is a terrific Star Trek author, and... she takes extremely well to Janeway and the Voyager milieu" - TrekCore 'Fans looking for a trip through memory lane and the key encounters of the crew on Star Trek Voyager, all in that calming and authoritative voice, will find it here' - Borg.com 'I loved every bit of it... felt like the final epilogue on a beloved story' - Scifi Chick

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Book SynopsisA Short History of Falling like The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and When Breath Becomes Air is a searingly beautiful, profound and unforgettable memoir that finds light and even humour in the darkest of places.Now with a Foreword by Joe's widow, Gill HammondWe keep an old shoebox, Gill and I, nestled in a drawer in our room. It's filled with thirty-three birthday cards for our two young sons: one for every year I'll miss until they're twenty-one. I wrote them because, since the end of 2017, I've been living with and dying from motor neurone disease.This book is about the process of saying goodbye. To my body, as I journey from unexpected clumsiness to a wheelchair that resembles a spacecraft, with rods and pads and dials and bleeps. To this world, as I play less of a part in it and find myself floating off into unlighted territory. To Gill, my wife. To Tom and Jimmy.A Short History of Falling is about the sadness (and the anger, and the fear), but it's about what's beautiful tooTrade Review‘it is Hammond’s curiosity about death and his desire to report from the front line that makes this such a strangely invigorating read…his testimony deserves a place on the shelf beside When Breath Becomes Air and Late Fragments’ Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love,The Times ‘His voice is captivating, his observations are searing, and his book is a blessing. This book will inspire you even as it breaks your heart’ Kathryn Mannix, author of With the End in Mind ‘I loved this book, and read it in a day. It's surprising and uncommon and I don't think I'll ever forget it’ Sunjeev Sahota, author of The Year of the Runaways 'A Short History of Falling is a beautifully written reminder that life can be tragic as well as full of joy' Christie Watson, bestselling author of The Language of Kindness ‘Touching and tragic. It is very hard to imagine how anyone could write so lyrically,dispassionately and persuasively of their imminent demise and its effect on those around them’ James Le Fanu, author of Too Many Pills 'An inspirational, ultimately heartbreaking account of experiencing life as the nervous system fails, shared with courage and humour' Professor Stephen Westaby, author of Fragile Lives ‘It’s something of a cliché to call memoirs about a terminal illness life-affirming. But you will cherish everyone and everything you love, not to mention the capabilities of your own body, all the more dearly after reading this beautiful, devastating and stunningly written memoir’ Caroline Sanderson, Bookseller Book of the Month

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Book SynopsisMartha is now in her thirties. Her daughter has left home and she is lonely and vulnerable. The hard knocks have taken their toll on her health, and as she looks into the years still lying ahead of her, she shakes her head, feeling she hasn't the heart or the strength to go on. As she teeters on the brink of a nervous breakdown, a phone call summons ghosts from the past. She discovers that one of the family is dead and the others need her help. Martha returns and when she comes face to face with the evil, psychotic Jackser, she can no longer suppress the nightmares of her childhood. A suicide attempt sees her admitted to the 'mad house', where a hunger strike takes her even nearer to death. But finally she sees a chink of light at the end of the tunnel. Could love in an unexpected form pull her back from the brink?Trade ReviewBlunt, moving and laugh-out-loud funny * Irish World *

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Book SynopsisAn intimate and moving portrait of a family combined with an account of the events which swept through Africa in the post-independence period.Aminatta Forna's intensely personal history is a passionate and vivid account of an African childhood of an idyll that became a nightmare. As a child she witnessed the upheavals of post-colonial Africa, the bitterness of exile in Britain and the terrible consequences of her dissident father's stand against tyranny.Mohamed Forna, a man of unimpeachable integrity and great charisma, was a new star in the political firmament Sierra Leone as the country faced its future as a fledgling democracy. Always a political firebrand, he was one of the first black students to come to Britain after the war. In Aberdeen he stole the heart of Aminatta''s mother, to the dismay of her Presbyterian parents, and returned with her to Sierra Leone. But the new ways of Western parliamentary democracy were tearing old Africa apart, giving rise only to dictatorships and Trade Review‘This is a book of quite extraordinary power and beauty. Aminatta Forna has excavated not only her memory but the hidden recesses of the heart.’ Fergal Keane ‘An extraordinary and gripping story…Aminatta Forna’s book glows with compassion. A modern classic, of which her courageous father would have been proud.’ Peter Gowin, author of ‘Mukiwa’ ‘An engrossing account of pain, love and discovery that had the capacity not only to make me understand but also to move me to tears’ Gillian Slovo, author of ‘Every Secret Thing’ ‘I had tears in my eyes almost the whole way through, although it is the least sentimental of books…Aminatta Forna manages, quite brilliantly, to evoke not only all the honour and pity that is in her family’s story, but its beauty and tenderness too.’ Katie Hickman, author of ‘Daughters of Britannia’

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Book SynopsisAn English and updated version of Hanner Amser, published in 2008. Nigel Owens is a familiar figure on stage and television, and is considered one of the best rugby referees in the world. But before reaching his current status in the world of professional rugby, he went through an excruciating personal crisis. A hardback version is also available. Reprint.

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Book Synopsis‘Security guards told the police that they were surprised by assailants who had somehow evaded the sophisticated security system. They could not say how many robbers there were…it appears to be one of the biggest robberies in U.S. history.’ New York Times, front page In 1993 $7.4 million was stolen from the Brink’s Armored Car Depot in Rochester, New York, the fifth largest robbery in US history. Sam Millar was a member of the gang who carried out the robbery. He was caught, found guilty and incarcerated, before being set free by Bill Clinton's government as an essential part of the Northern Ireland Peace Process. This remarkable book is Sam's story, from his childhood in Belfast, membership of the IRA, time spent in Long Kesh internment camps and the Brinks heist and aftermath. Unputdownable.Trade Review“On The Brinks tells the story of [Millar] an IRA activist imprisoned in the worst jails in Ireland, prior to one of the most famous robberies in American history. It this were fiction, it would be an excellent thriller, but it’s a true story, sustained by terrific writing.” * Rolling Stone Magazine *“The indomitable Irish. On The Brinks is an amazing book built in two stages. Belfast, firstly, New York, each other. Two cities for two extraordinary lives. The story of those years is terrible humiliation, torture, acts of barbarism, man reduced to the level of a beast. Between Nazi concentration camps and gulags, Long Kesh finds its place among these horrors.” * Le Figaro *“This man {Millar} is a true force of nature…with a strong will, a spirit unswervingly tough. On The Brinks is a piece of history narrated with humor, humility and simplicity. How can such a combination be possible? Yet it is true and an incredible story of Sam Millar, the indomitable Irish. Grab a copy now.” -- Corine Pirozzi * Huffington Post *“Mesmerizing and fascinating, On The Brinks is one of the most revealing and powerful memoirs you will ever read.” * New York Journal of Books *…many twists and turns…perfect for a film… * Irish Times *

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Book SynopsisSUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLERDear Leader contains astonishing new insights about North Korea which could only be revealed by someone working high up in the regime. It is also the gripping story of how a member of the inner circle of this enigmatic country became its most courageous, outspoken critic.Jang Jin-sung held one of the most senior ranks in North Korea's propaganda machine, helping tighten the regime's grip over its people. Among his tasks were developing the founding myth of North Korea, posing undercover as a South Korean intellectual and writing epic poems in support of the dictator, Kim Jong-il.Young and ambitious, his patriotic work secured him a bizarre audience with Kim Jong-il himself, thus granting him special status as one of the 'Admitted'. This meant special food provisions, a travel pass and immunity from prosecution and harm. He was privy to state secrets, including military and diplomatic policies, how the devastating 'Scrutiny' was effected, and the real position of one of the country's most powerful, elusive men, Im Tong-ok. Because he was praised by the Dear Leader himself, he had every reason to feel satisfied with his lot and safe.Yet he could not ignore his conscience, or the disparity between his life and that of those he saw starving on the street. After breaking security rules, Jang Jin-sung, together with a close friend, was forced to flee for his life: away from lies and deceit, towards truth and freedom.Trade ReviewA searing true story that takes the reader to some of the most frightening places on earth...utterly compelling...real lyricism...As an historical document, this is an enormously important book that deserves the widest possible readership. As a story of survival, it is an instant classic. * The Times *Extraordinary...exciting...A rare portrait of life and death in North Korea...This year a United Nations commission of enquiry found that the Kim regime has committed crimes against humanity. The commission warned China that its treatment of Koreans violated international law. It recommended that the case be tried by the International Criminal Court or a UN tribunal. One day that will happen, and this book will be part of the indictment. * Sunday Times *As one of the most prominent North Koreans in exile in South Korea, Jang Jin-sung is eminently placed to interpret North Korea...His memoirs change the way we look at the country...they offer a radically different explanation of who holds power in North Korea and the historical sequence of events leading up to this situation. As such they are an absolute must-read for those who wish to formulate a sensible action plan [for the country]. -- Remco Breuker, Professor of Korean Studies, University of LeidenA fascinating insider account… a testament to Mr Jang’s literary flair * Economist *Harrowing...important and convincing...A major contribution to understanding what appears to be a nation impossible to understand * Observer *

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