Biography: adventurers and explorers Books

Book SynopsisThe Man Who Knew Infinity is the true story of a friendship between Srinivasa Ramanujan and G.H. Hardy that forever changed mathematics. In 1913, a young unschooled Indian clerk wrote a letter to G H Hardy, begging the pre-eminent English mathematician''s opinion on several ideas he had about numbers. Realising the letter was the work of a genius, Hardy arranged for Srinivasa Ramanujan to come to England. Thus began one of the most improbable and productive collaborations ever chronicled.With a passion for rich and evocative detail, Robert Kanigel takes us from the temples and slums of Madras to the courts and chapels of Cambridge University, where the devout Hindu Ramanujan, ''the Prince of Intuition,'' tested his brilliant theories alongside the sophisticated and eccentric Hardy, ''the Apostle of Proof''. In time, Ramanujan''s creative intensity took its toll: he died at the age of thirty-two and left behind a magical and inspired legacy that is

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Book SynopsisNow available in paperback, the original English-language translation of O Cadhain's raucous masterpieceTrade Review“Wonderfully capture the surrealism and claustrophobia and jet-black humour of the original.”—Robert McMillen, Irish News -- Robert McMillen * Irish News *

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Book SynopsisThe remarkable story of Western polymaths from the fifteenth century to the present dayTrade Review “An admirable mixture of industry and erudition.”—Robert Wilson, Wall Street Journal "A few pages at a time about interdisciplinary giants such as Leibniz, Diderot and Germaine de Stael can be energizing."—Michael Dirda, Washington Post"In a mind-stretching history, Peter Burke describes '500 western polymaths' from the half-millennium since Leonardo da Vinci."—Andrew Robinson, Nature.comIncluded in the Financial Times’ round up “2020 visions: the year ahead in books”“This book not only teaches us something important about polymathy's past; it does an excellent job of opening our eyes to polymathy's future too.”—Costica Bradatan, Times Literary Supplement“In a mind-stretching history, Peter Burke describes “500 western polymaths” from the half-millennium since Leonardo da Vinci.”—Andrew Robinson, Nature“[I]t is most welcome to find a great historian, Peter Burke, tackling the history of the intellectual persona who refuses to be stymied by disciplinary boundaries: the ‘polymath’...Burke has compiled a list of five hundred individuals...Given this range, it would be impossible not to find something interesting in this book.”—Dimitri Levitin, Literary Review“As Samuel Johnson said, "All knowledge is of itself of some value. There is nothing so minute or inconsiderable, that I would not rather know it than not." The Polymath dares us to follow Johnson's optimism, making serendipitous connections as we go.”—Peter Chappell, Prospect“The Polymath serves a valuable role as the first modern attempt to categorise and analyse an inherently slippery group of thinkers who are easily missed or seen in only one dimension by other studies….Burke’s work will be an essential starting point for future scholars wishing to explore in more detail the initial outline presented here.”—Kelsey Jackson Williams, Cultural and Social History“A book such as Burke's meets a pressing contemporary need. His minor tour de force of painstakingly assembled erudition deserves to find its way into the hands of everyone, humanists and scientists alike.”—Roger Hausheer, Society“An absorbing and polymathic account of an important intellectual species. This is a significant and timely book, because in illustrating why our culture needs polymaths as well as specialists it prompts us to think afresh about the aims of education and what we need to better inform our public conversation.”—A. C. Grayling“As well as illuminating general patterns, Burke’s polymaths fizz with their own energy, obsessiveness, and life.”—Neil Kenny,author of The Uses of Curiosity in Early Modern France and Germany"The author and his subjects undoubtedly inhabit a shared world, which Burke explains to the rest of us with remarkable insight and understanding, providing both historical depth and remarkable cross-disciplinary breadth.”— Paul Duguid, co-author of The Social Life of Information “In this kaleidoscopic account, Peter Burke unfolds the amazing stories of “monsters of erudition,” tracing the fate of the universal thinker in a world flooding with information.”— Daniel Rosenberg, co-author of Cartographies of Time

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Book SynopsisDiscover the authoritative, illuminating biography of T. E. Lawrence the man who inspired the iconic film Lawrence of Arabia from The World''s Greatest Living Explorer Ranulph FiennesAn excellent guide to a colourful life for readers who enjoy tales of adventure in the desert sands' Daily Telegraph ''Corking, rip-roaring, crisply written, full of extraordinary characters. An immaculate retelling of this cracking story'' Daily Mail---Thomas Edward Lawrence first set foot on the hot sands of Arabia in 1909. By 1918 there was a 20,000 price on his head. How did this fresh-faced archaeologist, liaison and map officer end up fighting alongside guerrilla forces during the Arab Revolt? How did a slight man journey more than 300 miles through blistering heat to capture Aqaba? And how did an unhappy outsider take a pivotal role in peace conferences to decide the future of the Middle East? Explore

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Book SynopsisExtraordinary lives, tangled relationships, innovative art: the story of sisters Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf and their Bloomsbury Group.Trade Review'A page-turning collage of lives.' -- Times Literary Supplement

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Book Synopsis'A treatise on empathy and grace in extraordinary circumstances' Jojo Moyes'Today I sat on a bench facing the sea, the one where I waited for L to be born, and sobbed my heart out.

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Book Synopsis''Stories that will curl your toes, make you laugh out loud and break your heart all at the same time.''PROFESSOR DAME SUE BLACK, author of All That Remains Why would anyone want to work with thieves, murderers and rapists?Told from the inside out, this is a harrowing, humorous and hard-hitting tale of life behind bars by a prison doctor who has seen it all. Literally.Dr Shahed Yousaf spends his time running between emergencies - from overdoses to assaults, from cell fires to suicides - with one hand perpetually hovering over the panic button. Being a prison doctor is not for the faint-hearted. An outsider on the inside, in Stitched Up he introduces us to a cast of unforgettable characters, including killers, con men and auto-cannibals. To Dr Yousaf, they are patients first and prisoners second - because any one of us could end up on the wrong side of the law. Dedicated to caring for people on the

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Book SynopsisExcellentsummation The fundamentals of Churchill's extraordinary life stand outtrue and clear, and his example of leadership is revived for a new generation' International Churchill SocietyIn Winston Churchill, veteran historian Peter Caddick-Adams gives us an overview of Churchill's life, from his early days as a soldier and part-time journalist through to the Second World War and beyond. Caddick-Adams argues that the recipe for Churchill's success during his wartime premiership of 1940-45 can be found in the First World War. The nation, and its leaders, had undergone a dress rehearsal' in 1914-18: conscription, rationing, convoys, air raids, mass production, women's uniformed services, coalitions and war cabinets had all happened before, which Churchill had personally witnessed and, in some cases, helped administer. This experience, combined with Churchill's extraordinary abilities (along with some foibles), were what enabled Britain to survive. Winston Churchill is the first bo

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisA lavishly illustrated volume is the authoritative biography of a consummate self-portraitist and a riveting depiction of a paradoxical personality.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and winner of the Royal Society Prize for Science Books, Richard Holmes’s dazzling portrait of the age of great scientific discovery is a groundbreaking achievement.Trade Review‘Rich and sparkling, this is a wonderful book.’ Claire Tomalin, Guardian, Books of the Year ‘Exuberant…Holmes suffuses his book with the joy, hope and wonder of the revolutionary era. Reading it is like a holiday in a sunny landscape, full of fascinating bypaths that lead to unexpected vistas…it succeeds inspiringly.’ John Carey, Sunday Times ‘Thrilling: a portrait of bold adventure among the stars, across the oceans, deep into matter, poetry and the human psyche.’ Peter Forbes, Independent ‘A glorious blend of the scientific and the literary that deserves to carry off armfuls of awards and confirms Holmes's reputation as one on the stellar biographers of the age.’ Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year ‘No question – the non-fiction book of the year is Richard Holmes's “The Age of Wonder”, not only beautifully written, but also kicking open a new perspective on the Romantic age.’ Andrew Marr, Observer, Books of the Year ‘Itself a wonder – a masterpiece of skilful and imaginative storytelling.’ Michael Holroyd, Guardian, Books of the Year ‘Dazzling and approachable. It's a brilliantly written account…original in its connections and very generous in its attention.’ Andrew Motion, Guardian, Books of the Year ‘Witty, intellectually dazzling and wholly gripping.’ Richard Mabey, Guardian, Books of the Year ‘So immediate and so beguiling is Holmes's prose that we are with him all the way.’ Sunday Telegraph ‘Brimming with anecdote, Holmes's enthusiastic narrative amply conveys the period's spirited, often reckless pursuit of discovery with an astute balance of technical detail and the wider cultural picture.’ Financial Times

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Book SynopsisNow an eight-part docuseries on Apple TV+ featuring Kim Kardashian, Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Wanda Sykes, Megan Thee Stallion and more She couldn’t have been more than seven or eight years old. “Go ahead, ask your question,” her father urged, nudging her forward. She smiled shyly and said, “You’re my hero. Who’s yours?”  Many people – especially girls – have asked us that same question over the years. It’s one of our favourite topics. HILLARY: Growing up, I knew hardly any women who worked outside the home. So I looked to my mother, my teachers, and the pages of Life magazine for inspiration. After learning that Amelia Earhart kept a scrapbook with newspaper articles about successful women in male-dominated jobs, I started a scrapbook of my own. Long after I stopped clipping articles, I continued to seek out stories of women who seemed to be redefini

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Book SynopsisPatrick Leigh Fermor (1915-2011) was a war hero whose exploits in Crete are legendary, and above all he is widely acclaimed as the greatest travel writer of our times, notably for his books about his walk across pre-war Europe, A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water; he was a self-educated polymath, a lover of Greece and the best company in the world.Artemis Cooper has drawn on years of interviews and conversations with Paddy and his cloest friends as well as having complete access to his archives. Her beautifully crafted biography portrays a man of extraordinary gifts - no one wore their learning so playfully, nor inspired such passionate friendship.Trade Review'Artemis Cooper's funny, wise, learned but totally candid biography reveals Leigh Fermor to be an adventurer through and through . . . page-turning' * Barnaby Rogerson, Independent *'Artemis Cooper's definitive biography draws on many years' encounters with Fermor, and is probably the most important travel-related book of the year' * Conde Nast Traveller *'Patrick Leigh Fermor survived enough assaults on his existence to make Rasputin seem like a quitter . . . He was elegant as a cat, darkly handsome, unboreable, curious, fearless, fortunate, blessed with a near eidetic memory, and is surely one of the great English prose stylists of his generation . . . At last his biography has been detailed in full, in Artemis Cooper's tender and excellent book' * Robert MacFarlane, Guardian *'This book is a primer for those poor souls yet to encounter his work, and a valuable, decoding manual for the multitude who believe that Leigh Fermor's trilogy about his youthful walk from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul marks one of the high points of twentieth-century English prose . . . Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover' * Allison Pearson, Daily Telegraph *'Xenophilia is as English as Stilton. In one of the wonderful letters quoted in this perceptive, haunting and highly readable biography, Patrick Leigh Fermor called living in England "like living in the heart of a lettuce. I pine for hot stones and thorns and olive trees and prickly pears"' * Philip Mansel, The Spectator *'Happy the hero who, after a lifetime of glorious achievement, in death finds a biographer worthy of his memory. Artemis Cooper . . . makes this marvellous book less a mere life story than an evocation. [Patrick Leigh Fermor] is justly commemorated in this magnificent biography, and will surely be remembered for ever as one of the very best of men' * Jan Morris, Sunday Telegraph *'Magnificent . . . Cooper's book is the perfect memorial to this remarkable man . . . For those of us who loved him and his work, and for a whole generation of writers who set off in his footsteps, he was the exemplar, showing how magnificently an English life could still be lived. He remains . . . the model to which we still aspire' * William Dalrymple, Financial Times *'Whether describing a night attack on Crete, a love affair or the political tensions over Cyprus that poisoned Anglo-Greek relations after the Second World War, she writes with a cool hand and clear head. Her book lives up to the majesty of the man' * Country Life *'Artemis Cooper has done a brilliant job. The story rips along, as Leigh Fermor's life did, with friends and lovers, books and journeys and parties. And in the quieter moments we are left with something far more enduring: a man for whom the world was endlessly fascinating, and who found that he could create for his readers with carefully crafted words the same wonder that it gave him' * Philip Marsden, Mail on Sunday *'The outstanding achievement in literary biography this year' * Robert McCrum, Observer Books of the Year 2012 *'It is not easy writing a biography of someone who has poured so much of his life into his books, but Artemis Cooper has done a brilliant job' * Mail on Sunday *'In a splendid biography Artemis Cooper shows how a rather frustrated young man, who found it difficult to conform, changed the course of his life by undertaking an extraordinary journey . . . Cooper has done a sterling job in recounting his time on Crete' * We Love This Book *'He is the greatest travel writer of the last century, a master of English prose . . . no one has written so well about what it is like to be young and hopeful, with one's future spread before one. Artemis Cooper has done him proud' * Jeremy Lewis, Literary Review *'Artemis Cooper carries us on a calm, confident journey . . . Cooper has mastered a tremendous amout of material' * Nicholas Shakespeare, Daily Telegraph *'Artemis Cooper winningly followed in the footsteps of the great charmer, warrior and yarn-spinner' * Indpendent *'Artemis Cooper's biography proved magnificently that a somewhat over-eulogised hero could be well worth the eulogising after all' * Jan Morris, Sunday Telegraph *'There's a true biographical treat in store with the long-awaited arrival of . . . Patrick Leigh Fermor, the sure-to-be glorious life of the twentieth century's greatest Hellenic traveller' * Sunday Telegraph preview Jan 2012 *'Artemis Cooper draws on years of interviews with the author and his friends in this much-anticipated biography' * Guardian *'By any standards, Patrick Leigh Fermor led an extraordinary life' * Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times *'Excellent, well-sourced' * Daily Telegraph *'Fermor emerges as a man determined to live on his own terms, if not his own means, and who mostly - and most magnificently - succeeded' * Observer *'I also adored Artemis Cooper's biography of my favourite travel writer . . . in her new biography Cooper has left the perfect memorial to this remarkable man, which is as full of joie de vivre as its subject' * William Dalrymple, Observer Books of the Year *'The life of an immensely charming man . . . compelling, funny and wise' * Jane Ridley, The Spectator Books of the Year *'Artemis Cooper . . . has done him proud' * Literary Review *'[Patrick Leigh Fermor's] experiences have been rubbed smooth by much telling, often inaccurate as well as humdrum, and it is very much to Artemis Cooper's credit that she irons out the inaccuracies and places each anecdote in its proper context, backing it up with careful documentation' * Peter Green, Times Literary Supplement *'An outstanding account of an extraordinary life; tender and evocative, without ever hardening into hagiography' * Guardian Books of the Year 2012 *'An admirably fair-minded portrait of the celebrated travel writer and adventurer' * Sunday Times *'In describing Leigh Fermor's life, Artemis Cooper had often to revisit a told tale while correcting detail, expounding and inserting context. It was not an easy commission, and she has delivered it brilliantly . . . Artemis Cooper's fine biography gives colour and substance to the adventure, and a delicate, sympathetic portrait of the man who made it his life' * Scotsman *'It is not easy to convey the flavour of a man whose fame to a large extents rests on his ebullient personality and conversation but Ms Cooper succeeds admirably in this readable and entertaining book' * The Economist *'Unputdownable biography' * Big Issue *'Artemis Cooper has done a fine job of documenting his travels' * Lonely Planet Magazine *'Tender and excellent' * Week *'A fine, friendly biography of a heroic, headlong character' * The Times *Praise for Patrick Leigh Fermor's writing:'Elegant and vividly exotic . . . done with brilliant aesthetic feeling and a charming philosophic melancholy' * The Times *'Beautiful is the adjective which comes uppermost . . . Patrick Leigh Fermor is a writer with outstanding descriptive powers' * John Betjeman, Daily Telegraph *'A wandering scholar but with a difference: unlike the celebrated travellers of the past he has become part of the country he describes' * Sunday Times *'Meticulously researched' * Independent on Sunday *'Cooper does this iconic figure proud in a well-researched biography' * Sunday Herald *'One of the 20th century's truly great men, Fermor is admirably served by this splendid biography' * Lady *'Cooper does full justice to this 20th-century Renaissance man' * Saga Magazine *'A superb biography of the adventurous travel writer and war hero, draws on the years of interviews and complete access to his archives' * Independent *'A roster of adventure and exuberant derring-do' * Independent on Sunday *'His writing beautifully evokes exotic people and places. There wasn't nearly enough of it, but what there was has endured' * Peter Lewis, Daily Mail *'Artemis Cooper's Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure was widely admired for its vivid portrait of a remarkable man' * David Robson, Sunday Telegraph *'A clear-sighted account of an extraordinary life' * Sunday Express *'She successfully communicates his enormous enthusiasm for life' * Paul Torday, Sunday Express *Artemis Cooper reveals a quite extraordinary human being * Good Book Guide *Affectionate but never credulous, Cooper gets the measure of the man * Guardian *It is the depth, pace and objectivity that distinguishes this impressive biography * Daily Mail *Affectionate and amiable biography * Sunday Times Culture *Cooper makes a familiar life - the adolescent walk across Europe, the derring-do in wartime Crete, the books that established him as one of the great prose writes of the 20th century - seem new * Sunday Telegraph *Tender and excellent * Guardian *Artemis Cooper does a wonderful job of retelling the story of how 'Paddy' tramped across Europe in the 1930s, slept with princesses and kidnapped Nazis on his beloved island of Crete. Affectionate but never credulous, Cooper gets the measure of the man * Observer *

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Book SynopsisThis is the story of Messalina - third wife of Emperor Claudius and one of the most notorious women to have inhabited the Roman world.According to the Roman historians Tacitus and Suetonius, the Empress Messalina was a sexually insatiable schemer. The tales they told about her including a twenty-four-hour sex competition with a prostitute have taken deep root in the Western imagination, but Messalina's real story is much more complex.In her reappraisal of one of the most slandered female figures of ancient history, Honor Cargill-Martin finds an intelligent, passionate and ruthless woman who succeeded in asserting herself in the overwhelmingly male world of imperial Roman politics. Rather than setting out to salvage' Messalina's reputation, she looks at her life in the context of her time. Above all, she seeks to reclaim the humanity of a life story previously circumscribed by currents of high politics and patriarchy.

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Book SynopsisMoving from the Middle-Eastern campaigns of the First World War to bohemian Berlin in the 1920s, to the horror of the concentration camps and the trials in Belsen and Nuremberg, this book tells the story of two German men whose lives diverged, and intersected, in an unusual way.Trade ReviewThomas Harding has shed intriguing new light on the strange poison of Nazism, and one of its most lethal practitioners... Meticulously researched and deeply felt. -- Ben Macintyre * The Times, Book of the Week *Fascinating and moving...This is a remarkable book, which deserves a wide readership. -- Max Hastings * The Sunday Times *A gripping thriller, an unspeakable crime, an essential history. -- John Le CarréThis is a stunning book...both chilling and deeply disturbing. It is also an utterly compelling and exhilarating account of one man's extraordinary hunt for the Kommandant of the most notorious death camp of all, Auschwitz-Birkenau. -- James HollandOnly at his great uncle’s funeral in 2006 did Thomas Harding discover that Hanns Alexander, whose Jewish family fled to Britain from Nazi Germany in the 1930s, hunted down and captured Rudolf Höss, the ruthless commandant of Auschwitz, at the end of World War Two. By tracing the lives of these two men in parallel until their dramatic convergence in 1946, Harding puts the monstrous evil of the Final Solution in two specific but very different human contexts. The result is a compelling book full of unexpected revelations and insights, an authentic addition to our knowledge and understanding of this dark chapter in European history. No-one who starts reading it can fail to go on to the end. -- David Lodge

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Book SynopsisThe beautiful and moving histories of four young girls in the Holocaust, all linked by a red jumper. This is the story of four Jewish girls - Joch, Anita, Chana and Regina - who resisted, sacrificed, or survived the Holocaust through resilience, skills, and kindness, and with the help, in each case, of a fragile red sweater. Each girl's story highlights a fascinating and moving aspect of Holocaust history, from the journey of a young refugee on the Kindertransport, to revolt and resistance at a death camp. They show how Jewish lives unravelled under the Nazi regime, contrasted with quiet heroism from so-called ordinary people.Four Red Sweaters is a universal story of love, separation and connections. PRAISE FOR THE DRESSMAKERS OF AUSCHWITZ: 'Compelling ... Adlington tells the stories of the women with clarity and steely precision' - Jewish Chronicle'An utterly absorbing, important and unique historical read' - Judy Batalion, New York Times bestselling author of The Light of Our Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos'Powerful ... a fascinating account.' - Woman

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Book SynopsisThe epic bestselling biography of Catherine the Great and Prince Potemkin, her outrageous lover and co-rulerTrade ReviewOne of the great love stories of history in a league with Napoleon and Josephine and Antony and Cleopatra ... Excellent, with dazzling mastery of detail and literary flair * THE ECONOMIST *A rather wonderful book ... -- Mick Jagger * SUNDAY TIMES *If you want a good racy historical read, CATHERINE THE GREAT & POTEMKIN certainly provides it! Book of the Year -- Antonia FraserIt is a wonderful story, and Simon Sebag Montefiore tells it with joyful verve. He evidently warms to Potemkin's overblown personality and relishes the adventurers who swarmed around him. He has a firm grasp of the politics at the Russian court and of the diplomatic context, which is not easy, since the centre of gravity of this story shifts between St Petersburg, Vienna, Berlin and Istanbul. He is very good on the relationship between Potemkin and Catherine. His explanation of the day-to-day mechanics of the unusual ménage is light-handed, movingly told and psychologically credible -- Adam Zamoyski * THE TIMES *This well researched and highly ambitious biography has succeeded triumphantly in re-creating the life of an extraordinary man of mixed moods... Sebag Montefiore also provides a remarkably good panorama of the period -- Antony Beevor * SUNDAY TIMES *Clearly what fascinates Sebag Montefiore is the man himself - his personality, his achievements, his lifelong relationship with his sovereign/lover - and that fascination shines through every page of this book. Although more than 500 pages long, it could easily have been double the length, so enjoyable is it to read * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *With great industry and huge enthusiasm he has combed the archives to give us a detailed account of a gigantic but, until now, almost forgotten figure. The writing is fluent, the sympathy obvious * SUNDAY EXPRESS *This exhaustive and beautifully-written biography... Montefiore vividly brings to life his supporting cast of envious conspirators, aristocratic mistresses, dandies, diplomats and adventurers * DAILY MAIL *The contradictions in Potemkin's character are beautifully brought out in this magnificent biography * INDEPENDENT *Montefiore's reputation so far has been for lively journalism and a couple of novels. With this lavish biography he has announced himself as a historian who deserves to be taken seriously * EVENING STANDARD *This splendid biography, as sprawling, magnificent and exotic as its subject, provides for the first time in English a fully researched, accurate and immensely readable history of this extraordinary man * LITERARY REVIEW *Magnificent ... Montefiore's passionate and committed revisionism on behalf of his hero is just one of a host of excellent things about this book. Massively researched in Russian archives, it is a work of fine scholarship ... This is a superb biography and it is hard to see how it can ever be superseded * FINANCIAL TIMES *Exhilarating ... In describing Potemkin's career, Sebag Montefiore succeeds admirably in capturing its scale and ambition -- Stella Tillyard * MAIL ON SUNDAY *This gripping and richly researched biography ... CATHERINE THE GREAT & POTEMKIN makes it easy to see why novelists are often seduced away from fiction to write biography - where, just sometimes, implausible reality exceeds plausible fantasy many times over * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *An example of how to make a page-turner out of the most profound scholarship * NEW STATESMAN *Impeccably researched, beautifully written and handsomely presented, it takes us at an unslackening pace through the colourful life of one of the most legendary of all Russians, a war hero, consummate politician, visionary and lover of Catherine the Great * DAILY MAIL *A triumph of research and a joy to read -- Antony Beevor * INDEPENDENT *This book is a conspicuous achievement. The author's researches have been extensive and his command of his subject exemplary. His writing has the quality of a vivid soap-opera of the highest class, more than equal to his subject. He brings out Potemkin's personality perfectly... Potemkin is depicted in this work as the giant he undoubtedly was, and the biography will secure him a new audience, and a renewed place in history * COUNTRY LIFE *This irresistible biography is history from above. To write this stupendous, engaging tour de force, the first biography of Potemkin in any language since 1891, Montefiore has devoted many hours in the archives of Moscow and Petersburg and covered thousands of miles of the former Russian empire * SPECTATOR *One of the great love stories of history in a league with Napoleon and Josephine and Antony and Cleopatra ... Excellent, with dazzling mastery of detail and literary flair * Economist *A rather wonderful book ... -- Mick Jagger * Sunday Times *If you want a good racy historical read, CATHERINE THE GREAT & POTEMKIN certainly provides it! Book of the Year -- Antonia FraserIt is a wonderful story, and Simon Sebag Montefiore tells it with joyful verve. He evidently warms to Potemkin's overblown personality and relishes the adventurers who swarmed around him. He has a firm grasp of the politics at the Russian court and of the diplomatic context, which is not easy, since the centre of gravity of this story shifts between St Petersburg, Vienna, Berlin and Istanbul. He is very good on the relationship between Potemkin and Catherine. His explanation of the day-to-day mechanics of the unusual ménage is light-handed, movingly told and psychologically credible -- Adam Zamoyski * The Times *This well researched and highly ambitious biography has succeeded triumphantly in re-creating the life of an extraordinary man of mixed moods... Sebag Montefiore also provides a remarkably good panorama of the period -- Antony Beevor * Sunday Times *Clearly what fascinates Sebag Montefiore is the man himself - his personality, his achievements, his lifelong relationship with his sovereign/lover - and that fascination shines through every page of this book. Although more than 500 pages long, it could easily have been double the length, so enjoyable is it to read -- Anne Applebaum * Sunday Telegraph *With great industry and huge enthusiasm he has combed the archives to give us a detailed account of a gigantic but, until now, almost forgotten figure. The writing is fluent, the sympathy obvious -- Nigel Jones * Sunday Express *This exhaustive and beautifully-written biography... Montefiore vividly brings to life his supporting cast of envious conspirators, aristocratic mistresses, dandies, diplomats and adventurers -- Christopher Hudson * Daily Mail *The contradictions in Potemkin's character are beautifully brought out in this magnificent biography -- Petronella Wyatt * Independent *Montefiore's reputation so far has been for lively journalism and a couple of novels. With this lavish biography he has announced himself as a historian who deserves to be taken seriously -- Victor Sebestyen * Evening Standard *This splendid biography, as sprawling, magnificent and exotic as its subject, provides for the first time in English a fully researched, accurate and immensely readable history of this extraordinary man -- Nikolai Tolstoy * Literary Review *Magnificent ... Montefiore's passionate and committed revisionism on behalf of his hero is just one of a host of excellent things about this book. Massively researched in Russian archives, it is a work of fine scholarship ... This is a superb biography and it is hard to see how it can ever be superseded -- Frank McLynn * Financial Times *Exhilarating ... In describing Potemkin's career, Sebag Montefiore succeeds admirably in capturing its scale and ambition -- Stella Tillyard * Mail on Sunday *This gripping and richly researched biography ... CATHERINE THE GREAT & POTEMKIN makes it easy to see why novelists are often seduced away from fiction to write biography - where, just sometimes, implausible reality exceeds plausible fantasy many times over -- Peter Nasmyth * TLS *An example of how to make a page-turner out of the most profound scholarship * New Statesman *Impeccably researched, beautifully written and handsomely presented, it takes us at an unslackening pace through the colourful life of one of the most legendary of all Russians, a war hero, consummate politician, visionary and lover of Catherine the Great -- Simon Heffer * Daily Mail *A triumph of research and a joy to read -- Antony Beevor * Books of the Year, Independent Weekend Review *This book is a conspicuous achievement. The author's researches have been extensive and his command of his subject exemplary. His writing has the quality of a vivid soap-opera of the highest class, more than equal to his subject. He brings out Potemkin's personality perfectly... Potemkin is depicted in this work as the giant he undoubtedly was, and the biography will secure him a new audience, and a renewed place in history * Country Life *POTEMKIN opened up a whole world ... to me. Book of the year -- Alain de Botton * Independent *This irresistible biography is history from above. To write this stupendous, engaging tour de force, the first biography of Potemkin in any language since 1891, Montefiore has devoted many hours in the archives of Moscow and Petersburg and covered thousands of miles of the former Russian empire ... -- Philip Mansel * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisA Daily Mail Best History Book of the Year; A Spectator Best Book of the YearIt is generally accepted that Queen Victoria reigned but did not rule. This couldn't be more wrong.In Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers, Anne Somerset masterfully traces Victoria's political evolution, from headstrong teenager to seasoned octogenarian. This book demonstrates her passionate involvement in state affairs, and casts fresh light on her relationships with her ten prime ministers.Victoria herself acknowledged that when it came to likes and dislikes' of her prime ministers, she had them very strongly'. She showed girlish adoration for her first Prime Minister, the worldly-wise Lord Melbourne, whose delightful conversation and kindly guidance enchanted her. Later in her reign, Benjamin Disraeli who flattered her shamelessly, tirelessly praising her sagacity and judgement and filling her life with poetry, romance and chivalry' became her favourite.While she developed a powerful bond with several of her Prime Ministers, in other cases the relationship fell little short of mutual detestation. Victoria's keenest antipathy was reserved for Disraeli's great rival, the Liberal William Gladstone. When he became prime minister for a fourth time at the age of 82, Victoria declared it a bad joke' that this dangerous old fanatic' should be thrust down her throat'.Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers charts the bitter clashes and affectionate interactions Victoria had with her ten premiers in often hilarious detail. Drawing extensively on unpublished sources such as material from the Royal Archives and never-before-seen prime ministerial papers, it casts a fresh and highly illuminating perspective not just on Victoria, but on the exceptionally able politicians who served her in government.

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Book Synopsis''A fast-moving, entertaining and finely written story'' Simon Schama''Masterly ... a remarkable portrait of a brilliant complex and tragic genius'' William Dalrymple, Los Angeles TimesGeorge Nathaniel Curzon''s controversial life in public service stretched from the high noon of the British Empire to the traumatized years following the First World War. As Viceroy of India under Queen Victoria and Foreign Secretary under George V, the obsessive Lord Curzon left his unmistakable mark on the era. David Gilmour''s lucid and elegant biography is a brilliant assessment of Curzon''s character and achievements, offering a rich and dramatic account of the infamous vendettas, the turbulent friendships, and the passionate, reckless love affairs that complicated and enriched his life.''A magnificent work ... entirely convincing in its evocation of Curzon''s extraordinary character ... It is, in short, the definitive life'' Trade ReviewIt is a magnificent work ... entirely convincing in its evocation of Curzon's extraordinary character. It is, in short, the definitive life -- David Cannadine * Observer *A superb new biograpahy ... a tragic story, brilliantly told -- Andrew Roberts * Literary Review *Masterly ... a remarkable portrait of a brilliant, complex and tragic genius -- William Dalrymple * Los Angeles Times *

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Book SynopsisA DAILY TELEGRAPH AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 ''A remarkable book: the dramatic story of a truly extraordinary man ... brilliant'' Helen Castor, author of She-Wolves A major new biography of one of the most extraordinary of all rulers, and the father of present-day EuropeCharles, King of the Franks, is one of the most remarkable figures ever to rule a European super-state. That is why he is so often called ''Charles the Great'': by the French ''Charlemagne'', and by the Germans ''Karl der Grosse''. His strength of character was felt to be remarkable from early in his long reign. Warfare and accident, vermin and weather have destroyed much of the evidence for his rule in the twelve centuries since his death, but a remarkable amount still survives. Janet L. Nelson''s wonderful new book brings together everything we know about Charlemagne and sifts through the evidence to come as close as we cTrade ReviewNelson assembles an astonishingly rich picture from the most unrewarding of texts. The way she puzzles out probable facts and motivations is a joy to witness ... The narrative voice emerges as that of a patient, inquisitive, incisive and helpful master detective, with funny asides, a beautiful style and sensible politics. -- Bettina Bildhauer * Times Literary Supplement *This is a terrific book ... It is lovely to read, in part because it is so lightly written ... One leaves Jinty Nelson's book with the sense that one does, yes, get from it a sense of what Charlemagne was actually like. Which is what biographies are for, and why this is one to read. -- Chris Wickham * History Today *An immense achievement - brilliantly learned and profoundly wise, it is as revelatory about the practise of history as it is about the great man himself. -- Helen Castor * BBC History Magazine *An imaginative, deeply thoughtful, often provocative, always important book. -- Geoffrey Koziol, Professor of History at UC BerkeleyThis is a remarkable book: at once the dramatic story of a truly extraordinary man, and a masterclass in the practice of history from a superlative historian. Janet Nelson's brilliant insight illuminates a world that is both familiar and strange, and full of resonances between past and present. Here - seen through challenging sources, sifted and weighed with wisdom and wit - is everything we can know, twelve centuries on, about the king and emperor called Charlemagne. -- Helen Castor, author of SHE-WOLVES and JOAN OF ARCChristianity entered a new era in 800 when Charles, King of the Franks, became the first Holy Roman Emperor, and entrenched the faith in European civilisation. His story is told in Janet L Nelson's outstanding King and Emperor. * The Telegraph *[The author is] a giant in the field, who knows that myths concerning Charlemagne, which began before his corpse grew cold, are difficult to lay to rest. * H-France Review *

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Book Synopsis ''A fine and deeply affecting work of history and memoir'' Philippe SandsDecades ago, the historian Bernard Wasserstein set out to uncover the hidden past of the town forty miles west of Lviv where his family originated: Krakowiec (Krah-KOV-yets). In this book he recounts its dramatic and traumatic history. ''I want to observe and understand how some of the great forces that determined the shape of our times affected ordinary people.'' The result is an exceptional, often moving book.Wasserstein traces the arc of history across centuries of religious and political conflict, as armies of Cossacks, Turks, Swedes and Muscovites rampaged through the region. In the Age of Enlightenment, the Polish magnate Ignacy Cetner built his palace at Krakowiec and, with his vivacious daughter, Princess Anna, created an arcadia of refinement and serenity. Under the Habsburg emperors after 1772, Krakowiec developed into a typical shtetl, with a jostling populationTrade ReviewA fine and deeply affecting work of history and memoir -- Philippe SandsThis poignant journey of discovery provides some profound insights into how hatred can be incited and manipulated to destroy communities, and is all too relevant to what is happening in the region today. -- Adam Zamoyskiextraordinarily moving ... Though he has been thinking about the story and researching it for decades, the writing feels immediate. The book is part memoir, part history lesson about 'old Europe' as a battleground between four empires, and part lament for the lost world of European Jewry. Perhaps the most valuable thing about it for British readers is its reminder of how lucky we are to have welcomed refugees to our shores and not to have exported them. Wasserstein has a deep understanding of places where borders have violently changed every couple of generations and whole populations have been massacred as a result of ideology, religion or whim. -- Victor Sebestyen * Spectator *This formidable book takes pride of place among the growing corpus of literature coming out of the swampy bloodlands. If you want to understand why hate has been unleashed again in Europe, this is the indispensable guide -- Roger Boyes * The Times *Using the lens of his own family's betrayal, Bernard Wasserstein's A Small Town in Ukraine revisits one of the country's darkest moments ... revelatory and dramatic ... [a] noble, nicely detailed enterprise of historical and familial recovery -- Julian Evans * The Telegraph *he employs a microscope to portray the fates of many through an account of very few. Near the scene of his grandparents' murder, he found a memorial to Ukrainian nationalists executed by the Russians after the Second World War more prominent than a plaque commemorating the vastly larger number of dead Jews, "as if to assert that Ukrainians, not Jews, were the true victims of this history and would have the last word". His anger is just, his book a finer monument than any plaque. -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *This is a deeply moving book, beautifully written, all the sadder now that refugees are again trudging those same roads. -- Lucy Beckett * The Tablet *a compelling history, which pays tribute to his ancestors while raising issues that remain tragically relevant today ... alongside this touching personal material, Wasserstein's book vividly traces how what was once a Polish town became 'a predominantly Jewish one' by around 1800 and is 'now almost entirely Ukrainian'. ... among its many other virtues, this book is a sharp reminder of the dangers of turning history into a simplistic morality tale -- Matthew Reisz * Observer *The personal thread of his own family's experiences lends warmth and tragedy to the facts that he meticulously documents. ... succeed[s] in putting a human face to the suffering of ordinary people trapped in the turmoil of physical conflict and political ideologies ... steadfastly refuse[s] to airbrush the past -- Rebecca Abrams * Financial Times *We believe that we think with our minds. But a part of us - a deep and important part - thinks with the blood. Our sense of self is deeply entwined with the places we came from and the people who formed us. ... For the historian Bernard Wasserstein, that origin story includes the violence, injustice and trauma suffered by his family at the hands of the Nazis. But A Small Town in Ukraine is more than just a family biography. It is Wasserstein's attempt not just to chronicle the suffering experienced by his parents and grandparents but also to understand it. His method is to examine, in minute and forensic detail, the history of the place from which they came, the small town of Krakowiec - 'a little place, you won't have heard of it', as his father used to say. ... Wasserstein offers an evocative and detailed portrait of the world that formed his grandfather's and ancestors' lives. ... his book is a moving chronicle of a lost world, written with eloquence and emotional intelligence but without bitterness -- Owen Matthews * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisA pioneering marine biologist takes us down into the deep ocean in this ''thrilling blend of hard science and high adventure'' (New York Times)LONGLISTED FOR THE SNHN NATURAL HISTORY BOOK PRIZEEdith Widder grew up determined to become a marine biologist. But after complications from a surgery during college caused her to go temporarily blind, she became fascinated by light as well as the power of optimism. Below the Edge of Darkness explores the depths of the planet''s oceans as Widder seeks to understand bioluminescence, one of the most important and widely used forms of communication in nature. In the process, she reveals hidden worlds and a dazzling menagerie of behaviours and animals. Alongside Widder, we experience life-and-death equipment malfunctions and witness breakthroughs in technology and understanding, all of it set against a growing awareness of the deteriorating health of our largest and least understood ecosyTrade ReviewA thrilling blend of hard science and high adventure * New York Times Book Review *A vivid account of ocean life... Stylish, eloquent -- Robin McKie * Guardian Book of the Day *Edie's story is one of hardscrabble optimism, two-fisted exploration and groundbreaking research. As I've said many times, I'd have wrapped my submersible, the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER, in bacon if it would have lured the elusive giant squid from the depths. In Below the Edge of Darkness, Edie tells you how she did it -- James CameronTo shed light on a subject is what any scientific book should do. To go into it in depth without losing the reader is a harder task. Edith Widder's subject is light itself - the manufacture of light by strange and eerie denizens of the deep sea - and her scintillating style is worthy of it. This is a book to delight the general reader while simultaneously informing the professional: a book of marvels, marvellously written -- Richard DawkinsMy experience of exploring the deep ocean and its alien life with Edie Widder was fabulous. She enthrals us with many such stories in her book. I recommend it * Ray Dalio *Personal and page-turning, adventurous and awe-inspiring, Below the Edge of Darkness sparkles with the thrill of exploration and glows with an urgent plea for the future of our precious seas. Comparisons to Jacques Cousteau spring to mind, as Edith Widder shares the profound journey of her life -one as unique and important as the unexplored realms of our very own planet -- Juli Berwald, author of Spineless: the Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a BackboneLuminous - the topic, the heroic journey, and the author herself. Dive in with Edith Widder, trail-blazing scientist and explorer, as she reveals the galaxy of light and life in the universe below the surface of the sea, out-shining sceptical male colleagues with dignity, grace and a robust sense of humour -- Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Explorer in Residence; Founder, Mission Blue, Oceanographer

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Book SynopsisThis biography is a frank account of Charles Kennedy's political career that began in triumph and ended in tragedy.Trade Review'An excellent account of how a highly attractive and popular politician self-destructed' Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer; 'Greg Hurst's admirably thorough and even-handed account of Kennedy's career marshals evidence and is punctuated by shrewd, pithy judgements' Michael White, The Guardian

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Book SynopsisPhilosopher, dramatist, rhetorician, Stoic and pragmatist, Seneca was one of the most contradictory figures in ancient Rome, embracing a stern ascetic morality while amassing a fortune under Nero and eventually committing suicide. This definitive biography reveals a life lived perilously in the gap between ideals and reality.Trade ReviewSeneca lived in a world where dissimulation was a way of life, and the confusion between reality and failure woven into the very fabric of the state. It is the mirror he holds up to it which makes him such a great and unsettling writer, and which Wilson's fine biography does so much to explicate -- Tom Holland * Telegraph *Absorbing * Observer *Morally our author is tough on Seneca, contrasting, for example, his lickspittle approach to Nero with Boudicca's resistance. But she is a persuasive extoller of his writing and the final chapter about his diverse legacy is breathtaking * Spectator *The most famous and poignant example of a philosopher trying and spectacularly failing to improve a ruler, is that of the Roman Stoic Seneca, whose life is wonderfully retold here by the classicist Emily Wilson * Sunday Times *This is a riveting and complete picture of Seneca's complex and compromised life. It is impeccably researched, carefully structured, and written with admirable brio. For good or ill, ours is a Senecan age -- Simon Critchley, The New School for Social ResearchA fresh, perceptive, and in-depth look at the enigmatic Seneca, giving us a nuanced perspective into the conflicted mind and motives of the philosopher who embraced lofty Stoic ideals while serving Nero and amassing great wealth in the process. I honestly could not put it down, it is so insightful and well written and yes -- suspenseful, even though we know the ending -- Margaret George, author of Elizabeth I: The Novel and Helen of Troy: A Novel

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Book Synopsis‘The bravest of us all’ – Violette Szabo is probably the most famous female agent of the legendary SOE in the Second World War. Her extraordinary story is told here by her daughter

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Book SynopsisThe classic story of four nineteenth-century women who, for different reasons, gravitated to the wildness of the Middle East and North Africa.Trade ReviewTheir true stories, first told grippingly by Blanch in 1954, are amazing...makes you realise that we, with our wimpish long-haul packages and compulsory travel insurance, don't know we're born. -- Val Hennessy * DAILY MAIL *

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisThe story of Koestler's imprisonment in France in 1940, his escape and his extraordinary and adventurous journey to the safety of London, which unfolds like some travel nightmare by Kafka. The 'scum of the earth' are those heroic individuals, like Koestler himself, who had fought the tide of fascism and come to live in liberal France under the mistaken impression that they would be safe.

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Book SynopsisIn 1884, the distinguished German jurist Daniel Paul Schreber suffered the first of a series of mental collapses that would afflict him for the rest of his life. In his madness, the world was revealed to him as an enormous architecture of nerves, dominated by a predatory God. It became clear to Schreber that his personal crisis was implicated in what he called a 'crisis in God's realm,' one that had transformed the rest of humanity into a race of fantasms. There was only one remedy; as his doctor noted: Schreber 'considered himself chosen to redeem the world, and to restore to it the lost state of Blessedness. This, however, he could only do by first being transformed from a man into a woman....'

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Book SynopsisThe true story behind the 2023 ITV series, STONEHOUSE, starring Matthew Macfayden and Keeley Hawes. ''An extraordinary life . . . a vivid account'' Telegraph''Completely absorbing'' CAROL ANN LEE, author of The Murders at White House Farm and A Passion For Poison''I literally consumed the book in just a few hungry sittings . . . most definitely a must read'' DR SALEYHA AHSAN, filmmaker and journalist, CambridgeIn November 1974, British MP and former cabinet minister John Stonehouse walked into the sea off a beach in Miami and disappeared, seemingly drowned.Then he was found - on the other side of the world, in Australia - and his extraordinary story began to come to light: a Labour cabinet minister and a devoted family man; also in a long-term affair with his secretary, and a spy for the Czech State Security agency, who had committed fraud and attempted to fake his own death to escape catastrophic business failures.Trade ReviewWhat a book - and what a character. I loved every minute . . . I should imagine that had Stonehouse's life story occurred to John Le Carré as a plot for one of his novels, he would have dismissed it as too far-fetched. Completely absorbing and told with huge compassion, integrity and skill. Stonehouse was ahead of his times in many ways, yet decadent, deceitful but also very engaging and intelligent . . . it's really the power of his personality that drives the book, which is ripe for dramatic interpretation of some kind, either television or film. Julian Hayes is a born storyteller too, and his family certainly gifted him with a remarkable story that lingers long after the final reading. -- Carol Ann Lee, author of The Murders at White House Farm and A Passion For PoisonWhat a book. I didn't have to turn the pages. They turned themselves . . . Julian's sharp, succinct writing weaves fact and detail together into a captivating narrative . . . the authentic truth from the perspective of one who was a witness. Julian Hayes is perfectly placed to tell this story . . . His legal expertise makes sense of criminal proceedings, but while he beautifully lays out the factual detail, it is the human side of this very personal story that is so captivating. Some of this obtained through conversations with his family but also the recollections of a young Julian, who witnessed much of what is shared through the innocent eyes of a child. This is most definitely a must read. -- Dr Saleyha Ahsan, filmmaker and journalist, Cambridge[Hayes], a criminal lawyer, mounts the case for the prosecution. This is that Stonehouse was an avaricious chancer who faked his death in a last-throw attempt to escape a series of failed and fraudulent business dealings in which he had entangled innocent friends and relatives, including the author's father. While posing "as if he were the innocent victim of the entire, bizarre spectacle", Stonehouse was a "callous" man who brought "a tidal wave of distress, anguish and ruin crashing down on his extended family, not only Barbara and their children, but also dragging his nephew, Michael, and his young family under with them. -- Andrew Rawnsley * Guardian *The minister's nephew recounts an extraordinary life . . . The book is a vivid account of how, in the 1960s and 1970s, Stonehouse - once tipped as a future Labour prime minister - betrayed his country, made a mockery of domestic and international law, ripped off investors and friends, humiliated both Harold Wilson and Parliament and shattered his own family and then, when the jaws of his self-made trap began to close around him, organised and executed a fake-your-own-death escape of such breathtaking chutzpah, he later tried to explain it as the work of a second personality living within him. -- Harry de Quetteville * Telegraph *This book is the nearest thing we have to a definitive account of the Stonehouse affair . . . fascinating and thoroughly absorbing -- Simon Caterson * Sydney Morning Herald *

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Book SynopsisA memoir chronicling the early personal and political life of the current Prime Minster of Italy. I have heardtoo many people talk about me and my ideas not to realize how different my life and I actually are from the way we are portrayed. So, I decided to open up, to show who I am, what I believe in, and how I got here. In her memoir, Giorgia Meloni speaks about herself in depth for the first time. She talks about her roots, her childhood, and her relationship with her mother Anna, her sister Arianna, her grandparents Maria and Gianni, and the pain of her father's absence. She shares her visceral passion for politics, which took her from her neighborhood of Garbatella to the Government as a Minister, and then to the leadership of Fratelli d'Italia and the European Conservatives. She also expresses the joy of being the mother of little Ginevra and her love story with Andrea. Additionally, she discusses her dreams and the future she envisions for Italy and Europe. With her characteristic frankness and clarity, she also tackles complex topics such asmotherhood, identity, and faith. This passionate and engaging account reveals the past, present, and future of a political leader who has caught the attention of many, both in Italy and beyond.

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Book SynopsisThe biography of George Clinton, one of music's most fascinating, colourful and innovative characters, featuring a new cover and foreword by critic Miles Marshall Lewis.

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Book SynopsisThe true story behind the 2023 ITV series, STONEHOUSE, starring Matthew Macfayden and Keeley Hawes. ''An extraordinary life . . . a vivid account'' Telegraph ''Completely absorbing'' CAROL ANN LEE, author of The Murders at White House Farm and A Passion For Poison ''I literally consumed the book in just a few hungry sittings . . . most definitely a must read'' DR SALEYHA AHSAN, filmmaker and journalist, Cambridge In November 1974, British MP and former cabinet minister John Stonehouse walked into the sea off a beach in Miami and disappeared, seemingly drowned. Then he was found - on the other side of the world, in Australia - and his extraordinary story began to come to light: a Labour cabinet minister and a devoted family man; also in a long-term affair with his secretary, and a spy for the Czech State Security agency, who had committed fraud and attempted to fake his own death to escapTrade ReviewWhat a book - and what a character. I loved every minute . . . I should imagine that had Stonehouse's life story occurred to John Le Carré as a plot for one of his novels, he would have dismissed it as too far-fetched. Completely absorbing and told with huge compassion, integrity and skill. Stonehouse was ahead of his times in many ways, yet decadent, deceitful but also very engaging and intelligent . . . it's really the power of his personality that drives the book, which is ripe for dramatic interpretation of some kind, either television or film. Julian Hayes is a born storyteller too, and his family certainly gifted him with a remarkable story that lingers long after the final reading. -- Carol Ann Lee, author of The Murders at White House Farm and A Passion For PoisonWhat a book. I didn't have to turn the pages. They turned themselves . . . Julian's sharp, succinct writing weaves fact and detail together into a captivating narrative . . . the authentic truth from the perspective of one who was a witness. Julian Hayes is perfectly placed to tell this story . . . His legal expertise makes sense of criminal proceedings, but while he beautifully lays out the factual detail, it is the human side of this very personal story that is so captivating. Some of this obtained through conversations with his family but also the recollections of a young Julian, who witnessed much of what is shared through the innocent eyes of a child. This is most definitely a must read. -- Dr Saleyha Ahsan, filmmaker and journalist, Cambridge[Hayes], a criminal lawyer, mounts the case for the prosecution. This is that Stonehouse was an avaricious chancer who faked his death in a last-throw attempt to escape a series of failed and fraudulent business dealings in which he had entangled innocent friends and relatives, including the author's father. While posing "as if he were the innocent victim of the entire, bizarre spectacle", Stonehouse was a "callous" man who brought "a tidal wave of distress, anguish and ruin crashing down on his extended family, not only Barbara and their children, but also dragging his nephew, Michael, and his young family under with them. -- Andrew Rawnsley * Guardian *The minister's nephew recounts an extraordinary life . . . The book is a vivid account of how, in the 1960s and 1970s, Stonehouse - once tipped as a future Labour prime minister - betrayed his country, made a mockery of domestic and international law, ripped off investors and friends, humiliated both Harold Wilson and Parliament and shattered his own family and then, when the jaws of his self-made trap began to close around him, organised and executed a fake-your-own-death escape of such breathtaking chutzpah, he later tried to explain it as the work of a second personality living within him. -- Harry de Quetteville * Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisNan Sloane is an author, speaker and trainer with an interest in the role of women in the public space, particularly in politics and the Labour Party. Her books include Uncontrollable Women: Radicals, Reformers and Revolutionaries (2022), The Women In the Room: Labour's Forgotten History (2018), In Our Own Words: A Dictionary of Women's Political Quotations (2016), and A Great Act of Justice: The Flapper Election and After (2009).

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Book SynopsisThe incredible true story of the SAS''s mission to liberate Europe, featuring never-before-seen archive materialFROM BESTSELLING MILITARY HISTORIAN DAMIEN LEWISSummer, 1943: the largest invasion fleet ever assembled sailed for Europe, aiming to bulldoze its way onto Nazi shores. At its vanguard went a few hundred elite soldiers, their Royal Navy warship bearing the iconic motto ''Who Dares Wins''. The aim: Led by the legendary SAS commander Blair ''Paddy'' Mayne, these war-bitten, piratical raiders were tasked to do the impossible - to bulldoze their way onto the most heavily defended Nazi shores - against all odds, outnumbered fifty-to-one. If they succeeded, it would mark the turning point in the war. If they failed, the consequences were unthinkable.Action-packed and filled with heroic endeavour, SAS Forged in Hell is breath-taking combat writing at its best, in true Damien Lewis style.

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Book SynopsisA lucid, gripping account of the human side of one of the bloodiest chapters of British history. The war between the houses of Lancaster and York for the throne of England was characterised by treachery, deceit and - at St Albans, Blore Hill and Towton, - some of the goriest and most dramatic battles on England''s soil. Between 1455 and 1487 the royal coffers were bankrupted, and the conflict resulted in the downfall of the houses of Lancaster and York and the emergence of the illustrious Tudor dynasty.Alison Weir''s account focuses on the people and personalities involved in the conflict. At the centre of the book stands Henry VI, the pious king whose mental instability led to political chaos, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York and Henry''s rival, and most important of all, Margaret of Anjou, Henry''s wife who took up her arms in her husband''s cause and battled for many years in a violent man''s world.''A joy to read'' EconomistTrade ReviewWeir provides immense satisfaction. She writes in a pacy, vivid style, engaging the heart as well as the mind * Independent *A joy to read * Economist *A lively account of plotting and intrigues * Daily Mail *An exciting and fast-moving account. -- Rachel Bellerby * www.suite101.com *

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