Biography: general Books

Book SynopsisTHE GLOBAL PHENOMENON THAT HAS TOUCHED THE HEARTS OF OVER 9 MILLION READERS''Mitch Albom sees the magical in the ordinary'' Cecelia Ahern__________Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher or a colleague? Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, and gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it? For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded. Wouldn''t you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you?Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man''s life. Knowing he was dying of ALS - or motor neurone disease - Mitch visited Morrie in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final ''class'': lessons in how to live.Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie''s lasting gift with the world.Don''t miss Mitch''s uplifting new novel THE LITTLE LIAR, available to pre-order now.__________WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE''You cannot put the book down until you reach the end . . . Too good to be missed. It is really an all-time hit''''One of the most beautiful books I''ve read in a long, long time . . . It will always be one of my favourite books''''This book moved me immensely and its teachings will stay with me''''A simple yet moving account of love and loss - but also hope for something better''''A book I will read and re-read''Trade ReviewMitch Albom sees the magical in the ordinary -- Cecilia AhernPowerful . . . Albom has touched the lives of a lot of people he never even knew * Time *Compelling and uplifting -- IndependentA writer with soul -- Los Angeles TimesAlbom breaks hearts with his stories -- Mirror

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Book Synopsis''A real triumph, beautifully written, with many wonderful stories of the Savoy.'' Lady Anne Glenconner, author of Lady in Waiting''An elegantly crafted, yet spritely and sparkling book, perfectly befitting its subject.'' - Ophelia Field, author of The FavouriteIn three generations, the D''Oyly Carte family pioneered the luxury hotel and the modern theatre, propelled Gilbert and Sullivan to lasting stardom, made Oscar Wilde a transatlantic celebrity, inspired a P. G. Wodehouse series, and popularised early jazz, electric lights and Art Deco. Following the history of the iconic Savoy Hotel through three generations of the D''Oyly Carte family, The Secret Life of the Savoy revives an extroardinary cultural legacy. For The Gondoliers-themed birthday dinner, the hotel obligingly flooded the courtyard to conjure the Grand Canal of Venice. Dinner was served on a silk-lined floating gondola, real swans were swimming in the Trade ReviewA thoroughly entertaining account of some of London's most treasured history, with its beloved The Savoy at the heart of a fascinating and delightful plot. Bravo to Olivia Williams and her fantastically colourful cast of characters. * Lady Kinvara Balfour, director and producer *An elegantly crafted, yet spritely and sparkling book, perfectly befitting its subject. Williams uses group biography to beautifully illuminate some of London's greatest hotel and theatre landmarks. * Ophelia Field, author of The Favourite *A cracking good read and a fascinating story that - amazingly - has not been told before. * Fiona Duncan, the Telegraph *A feast of gloriously eccentric and compelling characters... a veritable cornucopia of explanations and clarifications... endlessly compelling. * Mike Leigh, director of Gilbert and Sullivan biopic 'Topsy-Turvy' *This is a fascinating story, and it could not be better told. Elegant, great fun, and with a finely-judged personal touch: much like the Savoy hotel itself. * Laura Thompson, biographer of Agatha Christie and the Mitford Sisters *Williams writes with authority and style, making her ideal to chronicle the story of the Savoy. * Richard Vines, Bloomberg *The story of how one family's vision shaped not only a British institution but the very idea of luxury. From Belle Epoque scandals to Hollywood gossip, and from kitchen politics to corporate swashbuckling, Williams' writing is deliciously alive with the type of behind-the-scenes drama that will transport you back in time. * Francesca Cartier Brickell, author of 'The Cartiers' *A new book by Olivia Williams is to be welcomed as a reminder that "at their height", the D'Oyly Cartes ranked as "the greatest impresarios and hoteliers in the world" - as dynamic, innovative and powerful in their way as any of today's media dynasties. * Daily Telegraph *Whether it's The Beatles being blocked from entry or Marilyn Monroe sipping tea in a daring dress, London's Savoy Hotel has seen its share of intrigue and controversy for more than a century. Olivia Williams reveals its most decadent moments. * You Magazine *From Churchill to the real 007 via the suffragettes - an unbelievable reel of secrets is revealed * Telegraph *A transportive story * Tatler *This sumptuous book offers a delicious insight * The Sun *Delves into the 5 star hotel's illustrious history, from Oscar Wilde's weekly £6,000 bills to whisky heir Thomas Dewar's 40 YEAR stay * Daily Mail *A real triumph, beautifully written, with many wonderful stories of the Savoy * Lady Anne Glenconner, author of LADY IN WAITING *A remarkable biography * The Eastern Eye *A fascinating glimpse into the past. . . Williams' biography is informative and hugely entertaining, painting a deliciously decadent picture of the glamour, theatre and scandal that surrounded the D'Oyly Cartes. * Culture Fly *Rich with details, both serious and frivolous, and deftly sets the story of this singular institution in the context of the greater forces of English history. * The New York Times *

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Book SynopsisTHE GLOBAL PHENOMENON THAT HAS TOUCHED THE HEARTS OF OVER 9 MILLION READERS''Mitch Albom sees the magical in the ordinary'' Cecelia Ahern__________Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher or a colleague? Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, and gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it? For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded. Wouldn''t you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you?Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man''s life. Knowing he was dying of ALS - or motor neurone disease - Mitch visited Morrie in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned Trade ReviewMitch Albom sees the magical in the ordinary -- Cecilia AhernPowerful . . . Albom has touched the lives of a lot of people he never even knew * Time *Compelling and uplifting -- IndependentA writer with soul -- Los Angeles TimesAlbom breaks hearts with his stories -- MirrorA beautifully written book of great clarity and wisdom that lovingly captures the simplicity beyond life's complexities * M Scott Peck, author of THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED. *This is a true story that shines and leaves you forever warmed by its afterglow * Amy Tan, author of THE JOY LUCK CLUB *A moving tribute to embracing life. * GLASGOW HERALD *Albom is naturally a colourful writer... Morrie Schwartz stands out as inspiring. * IRELAND SUNDAY TRIBUNE *

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Book SynopsisJon Krakauer is a mountaineer and the author of Eiger Dreams, Into the Wild, (which was on the New York Times bestseller list for over a year and was made into a film starring Emile Hirsch and Kristen Stewart) Into Thin Air, Iceland, Under the Banner of Heaven and Where Men Win Glory. He is also the editor of the Modern Library Exploration series.Trade ReviewA fascinating story of idealism, fantasy, and the dark side of the wilderness experience -- Paul TherouxTerrifying . . . Eloquent . . . A heart-rending drama of human yearning. * New York Times *A narrative of arresting force. Anyone who ever fancied wandering off to face nature on its own harsh terms should give a look. It's gripping stuff. * Washington Post *It may be nonfiction, but Into the Wild is a mystery of the highest order. * Entertainment Weekly *An astonishingly gifted writer: his account of 'Alex Supertramp' is powerfully dramatic, eliciting sympathy for both the idealistic, anti-consumerist boy - and his parents. * Guardian *A compelling tale of tragic idealism. * The Times *A masterpiece of dramatic storytelling * Mail on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisIt's the nineteenth century. As America prepares for civil war, five men living within ninety miles of one another will change the course of history. The invention and refinement of the repeating firearm-the precursor to today's automatic weapons-means life in America and beyond will never be the same again. In this riveting work of narrative history, veteran reporter John Bainbridge, Jr. vividly brings to life the five charismatic and idiosyncratic men at the heart of the story: the huckster and hard-living Samuel Colt; the cunning former shirt-maker Oliver Winchester; the constant tinkerer Horace Smith; the resilient and innovative businessman Daniel Wesson; and the skinny abolitionist Christopher Spencer. As the men competed ferociously, each trying to corner the market for repeating weapons, invention and necessity collided in a perfect storm: America was crashing violently towards furious sectarianism, irrevocable tensions, and, of course, bloodthirsty war. Though capable of firing many times without reloading, astonishingly, the new guns faced a government backlash for using too much ammunition. Sold directly to soldiers, sometimes just as they were walking into battle, they quickly became coveted possessions, both during the Civil War and in the conquering of the West-and thus America's romance with personal firearms was born. Wide-ranging and vividly told, this is a gripping story of tenacity, conviction, innovation, and pure heartless greed.

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Book SynopsisThe gripping true story of the hunt for a man-eating tiger across the forbidding landscape of Russia's Far East....Trade ReviewAn adventure so heart-thumping, it can feel like a spy thriller.An unbelievable tale, expertly told, with a few paragraphs that I would give my eye teeth to have written.Like its majestic and terrifying subject, John Vaillant's book moves with subtlety and grace, commands a vast terrain - and has the power to shake the observer's soul . . . What unfolds, in a richly layered story that partners cunning with sublimity, is a tragedy in several acts and with multiple dimensions . . . The Tiger also counts as a supreme example of true-crime writing driven by wide-angle empathy and compassion. Some readers may choose to shelve it, not among cosy wildlife yarns, but with Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent *A tale with memorable characters, a beautifully described setting and moments of startling drama . . . Vaillant's research is matched by the elegance of his writing . . . Vaillant is able to empathise so fully with both human and animal protagonists that it is hard to believe he wasn't there . . . This is a remarkable story, exceptionally well told -- Tim Souster * Financial Times *This masterful account of the terror, death and grief caused by a man-eating Amur tiger in Russia in 1997 is as mesmerising, rangy and relentless as the creature in question. * Sunday Telegraph *Extraordinary . . . a brilliantly told tale of man and nature -- Tim Flannery * New York Review of Books *Few writers have taken such pains to understand their monsters, and few depict them in such arresting prose. * New York Times Book Review *Compelling . . . a superb book - hyper-intelligent, wonderfully well-written, with a great cast, both human and animal, and at its heart, the amazing and truly chilling story of one tiger's winter campaign of murderous revenge -- Harry Ritchie * Daily Mail *The structure of Vaillant's nonfiction hunting tale echoes that of Moby Dick, alternating a gripping chase narrative -- the search, in the late 1990s, for a man-eating Amur tiger in the Primorye region, on Russia's far eastern border -- with dense explanations of the culture and ecology surrounding the chase. * New York Times *This is an altogether different kind of manhunt story . . . . The pursuit culminates in a breathtaking stand-off of man versus cat in a forest clearing - a denouement every bit as explosive and surprising as the raid in Abbottabad earlier this week. -- Hampton Sides * Wall Street Journal *Riveting * Washington Post *By all means read Vaillant's magnificent book about the animal: The Tiger offers readers a shiver-inducing portrait of a predator that has been revered - and feared - like no other animal. * San Francisco Chronicle *Brad Pitt has bought the movie rights to The Tiger, but with all due respect to Mr. Pitt, there's no way the movie will match Mr. Vaillant's book. * Washington Times *An affectionate account * TLS *The Tiger is the sort of book I very much like and rarely find. Humans are hard-wired to fear tigers, so this book will attract intense interest. -- Annie Proulx, Puliter Prize-winning author of THE SHIPPING NEWSThe Tiger takes us on a journey to the raw edge of civilization, to a world of vengeful cats and venal men, a world that, in Vaillant's brilliant telling, is simultaneously haunting and enchanting. -- Hampton Sides, author of GHOST SOLDIERSThis book must be read by everybody who is interested in the conservation of wildlife. It takes you to the Russian wilderness to meet face-to-face with the Siberian tiger. -- Temple Grandin, author of ANIMALS IN TRANSLATIONAn absolutely superb book. -- George Schaller, Wildlife Conservation Society & PantheraA masterpiece * Outside *Brilliant * US Library Journal *An instant classic * Calgary Herald *Astoundingly gripping * Toronto Star *Read this fine, true book in the warmth, beside the flicker of firelight. Read it and be afraid. Be very afraid. -- Simon Winchester * Globe and Mail *Breathtakingly exciting * Vancouver Sun *A hair-raising tale in which conservation, madness and even murder collide. * Montreal Gazette *Fascinating and compelling plot * Ottawa Citizen *Not so incidentally, if ever a nonfiction author has used the techniques of fiction any better to recount a real-life narrative, it is difficult to imagine who that author would be. * Seattle Times *Part natural history, part Russian history and part thriller; it tells a gripping and gory story of what it's like to stalk - and be stalked by - the largest species of cat still walking the Earth. * National Public Radio (USA) *John Vaillant is a literary shaman. * Quill & Quire *Enthralling * Christian Science Monitor *An extraordinary account of a tracker on the trail of a Siberian man-eating tiger in 1997. Along the way we get a load of tiger facts and a beautiful portrait of a forbidding region. It is a stunning, lovely, lovely book. * Bookseller *Writing in a vigorous, evocative style . . . Vaillant paints a haunting portrait of man's vexed relationship with nature. * Publishers Weekly *An adventure so heart-thumping, it can feel like a spy thriller.An unbelievable tale, expertly told, with a few paragraphs that I would give my eye teeth to have written.Enriched by sparkling sidetracks into nature and history, this enthralling true-crime narrative takes us on a snowbound search not only for a beast but for a motive. Like its superb quarry, Vaillant's book moves with grace and stealth, covers a vast terrain and shakes the observer's soul * Independent *The structure of Vaillant's nonfiction hunting tale echoes that of Moby Dick, alternating a gripping chase narrative -- the search, in the late 1990s, for a man-eating Amur tiger in the Primorye region, on Russia's far eastern border -- with dense explanations of the culture and ecology surrounding the chase. * New York Times *This masterful account of the terror, death and grief caused by a man-eating Amur tiger in Russia in 1997 is as mesmerising, rangy and relentless as the creature in question. * Sunday Telegraph *This is an altogether different kind of manhunt story . . . . The pursuit culminates in a breathtaking stand-off of man versus cat in a forest clearing - a denouement every bit as explosive and surprising as the raid in Abbottabad earlier this week. * Wall Street Journal *Extraordinary . . . a brilliantly told tale of man and nature * New York Review of Books *The Tiger also counts as a supreme example of true-crime writing driven by wide-angle empathy and compassion. Some readers may choose to shelve it, not among cosy wildlife yarns, but with Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. * Independent *A remarkable story, exceptionally well told. * Financial Times *Few writers have taken such pains to understand their monsters, and few depict them in such arresting prose. * New York Times Book Review *A superb book -- hyper-intelligent, wonderfully well-written, with a great cast, both human and animal, and at its heart, the amazing and truly chilling story of one tiger's winter campaign of murderous revenge. * Daily Mail *Riveting * Washington Post *By all means read Vaillant's magnificent book about the animal: The Tiger offers readers a shiver-inducing portrait of a predator that has been revered - and feared - like no other animal. * San Francisco Chronicle *Brad Pitt has bought the movie rights to The Tiger, but with all due respect to Mr. Pitt, there's no way the movie will match Mr. Vaillant's book. * Washington Times *An affectionate account * TLS *The Tiger is the sort of book I very much like and rarely find. Humans are hard-wired to fear tigers, so this book will attract intense interest.The Tiger takes us on a journey to the raw edge of civilization, to a world of vengeful cats and venal men, a world that, in Vaillant's brilliant telling, is simultaneously haunting and enchanting.This book must be read by everybody who is interested in the conservation of wildlife. It takes you to the Russian wilderness to meet face-to-face with the Siberian tiger.An absolutely superb book.A masterpiece * Outside *Brilliant * US Library Journal *An instant classic * Calgary Herald *Astoundingly gripping * Toronto Star *Read this fine, true book in the warmth, beside the flicker of firelight. Read it and be afraid. Be very afraid. * Globe and Mail *Breathtakingly exciting * Vancouver Sun *A hair-raising tale in which conservation, madness and even murder collide. * Montreal Gazette *Fascinating and compelling plot * Ottawa Citizen *Not so incidentally, if ever a nonfiction author has used the techniques of fiction any better to recount a real-life narrative, it is difficult to imagine who that author would be. * Seattle Times *Part natural history, part Russian history and part thriller; it tells a gripping and gory story of what it's like to stalk - and be stalked by - the largest species of cat still walking the Earth. * National Public Radio (USA) *John Vaillant is a literary shaman. * Quill & Quire *Enthralling * Christian Science Monitor *An extraordinary account of a tracker on the trail of a Siberian man-eating tiger in 1997. Along the way we get a load of tiger facts and a beautiful portrait of a forbidding region. It is a stunning, lovely, lovely book. * Bookseller *Writing in a vigorous, evocative style . . . Vaillant paints a haunting portrait of man's vexed relationship with nature. * Publishers Weekly *

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Book Synopsis**One of AudioFile Magazine''s Best Audiobooks of 2019**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThe Moment of Lift is an urgent call to courage. It changed how I think about myself, my family, my work, and what's possible in the world. Melinda weaves together vulnerable, brave storytelling and compelling data to make this one of those rare books that you carry in your heart and mind long after the last page. Brené Brown, Ph.D., author of the New York Times #1 bestseller Dare to LeadMelinda Gates has spent many years working with women around the world. This book is an urgent manifesto for an equal society where women are valued and recognized in all spheres of life. Most of all, it is a call for unity, inclusion and connection. We need this message more than ever. Malala YousafzaiMelinda Gates''s book is a lesson in listening. A powerful, poignant, and ultimately humble call to arms. Tara Westover, author of the

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Book SynopsisFrancoise Gilot was a young painter in Pasis when she first met Picasso - he was sixty-two and she was twenty-one. During the following ten years they were lovers, worked closely together and she became mother to two of his children, Claude and Paloma. Life with Picasso, her account of those extraordinary years, is filled with intimate and astonishing revelations about the man, his work, his thoughts and his friends - Matisse, Braque, Gertrude Stein and Giacometti among others. Francois Gilot paints a compelling portrait of her turbulent life with the temperamental genius that was Picasso.She is a superb witness to Picasso as an artist and to his views on art.Trade Review[Gilot's] recall of his [Picasso's] discussions about art, details of private visits to friends such as Matisse, Braque and Giacometti, and her intimate understanding of his temperament, make this work unique * DAILY TELEGRAPH *This memoir is both a vivd portrait of a monstrously difficult man and a brilliant depiction of a great artist at work * NEW YORK TIMES *... no-one in the Picasso entourage was so close to him... fascinating. * Tim Hilton *

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Book SynopsisWaris Dirie (the name means desert flower) lives a double life - by day she is a famous model and UN spokeswoman on women's rights in Africa, at night she dreams of her native Somalia. Waris, one of 12 children, was born into a traditional family of desert nomads in East Africa. She remembers her early childhood as carefree- racing camels and moving on with her family to the next grazing spot - until it came her turn to meet the old woman who administered the ancient custom imposed on most Somalian girls: circumcision. Waris suffered this torture when she was just five years old. Then, aged 12, when her father attempted to arrange a marriage with a 60 year old stranger in exchange for five camels - she took flight. After an extraordinary escape through the dangerous desert she made her way to London and worked as a maid for the Somalian ambassador until that family returned home. Penniless and speaking little English, she became a janitor in McDonalds where she was famously discovered by a fashion photographer. Her story is a truly inspirational and extraordinary self-portrait of a remarkable woman whose spirit is as breathtaking as her beauty.Trade ReviewWaris's story is one of remarkable courage. From the deserts of Somalia to the world of high fashion ... she emerges a real champion. She is the most beautiful inspiration to anyone * ELTON JOHN *A story that traverses continents, spans worlds of human experience and human pain ... Waris Dirie was a victim once, but she never will be again * EXPRESS *She was circumcised at five, fled an arranged marriage at 12, then became a Pirelli girl in her teens. Now, at twenty-eight, Waris Dirie is an ambassador for the UN. Her mission? To rid Africa of its most barbaric ritual * OBSERVER *Dirie's story is an extraordinary one. * SUNDAY TIMES *

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Book SynopsisMatthew Dennison's elegant and magisterial biography of Her late Majesty, updated following the death of Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III. 'A worthy and balanced overview of the Queen's life. Dennison is especially good on her childhood... quietly, tactfully, tastefully reverent.'The Times The death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022 was more than just a moment of profound sadness; her passing marked the end of an era in our national life – and the final closing of the Elizabethan Age. For millions of people, both in Britain and across the world, Elizabeth II was the embodiment of monarchy. Her long life spanned nearly a century of national and global history, from a time before the Great Depression to the era of Covid-19. Her reign embraced all but seven years of Britain's postwar history up to the accession of her son King Charles III; she was served by fifteen UK prime ministers from Churchill to Truss, and witnessed the administrations of fourteen US presidents from Truman to Biden. In this brand-new biography of the longest-reigning sovereign in British history, Matthew Dennison traces her life and reign across an era of unprecedented and often seismic social change. Stylish in its writing and nuanced in its judgements, The Queen charts the joys and triumphs as well as the disappointments and vicissitudes of a remarkable royal life; it also assesses the achievement of a woman regarded as the champion of a handful of 'British' values endorsed – if no longer practised – by the bulk of the nation: service, duty, steadfastness, charity and stoicism.Trade ReviewA worthy and balanced overview of the Queen's life. Dennison is especially good on her childhood... Quietly, tactfully, tastefully reverent' * The Times *Anyone who wants a rapid, lucid, well-organised dash through the Queen's seven decades on the throne couldn't do better * Daily Telegraph *An elegant new biography * OK! Magazine *Dutiful and modest – a superb portrait of Her Majesty * Sunday Telegraph *An engaging retelling of a remarkable life of selflessness and service * Choice Magazine *[It] deftly weaves together a wealth of sources, painting the late monarch as a dedicated and humble public servant, with a pragmatic approach to her work * Independent *This balanced and brilliantly written biography is an extremely detailed depiction of the Queen's life * Harper's Bazaar *

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Book SynopsisIt is the 1970s in LA, and Jacaranda Leven - child of sun and surf - is swept into the dazzling cultural milieu of the beautiful people. Floating on a cloud of drink, drugs and men, she finds herself adrift, before her talent for writing, and a determined literary agent, set her on a course for New York and a new life.Sex & Rage is a recently re-discovered classic from author Eve Babitz, herself a muse to many an artist, writer and musician in the 1970s. A semi-autobiographical novel, it charts the highs and lows of a life lived at the limits, and transports the reader to a sunnier, dreamier, more reckless time and place.Trade ReviewAs cool, sharp and delicious as a perfectly executed Mint Julep. Babitz writes with wit and clarity - and always, always with a whole lot of heart -- ELIZABETH DAYBabitz writes like no one else, but if she sounds like anyone, it is Nora Ephron writing songs for Lana del Rey. Sex & Rage is seductive, funny and infuriating - it's a slacker siren song, a novel about writers and writing and a heavenly holiday to '70s LA all at once -- DAISY BUCHANANPure pleasure - a perpetual-motion machine of no-stakes elation and champagne fizz * * New Yorker * *Babitz's style is cool, conversational, loose, yet weighted with a seemingly effortless poetry * * Guardian * *Gritty, glamorous, toxic and intoxicating * * The New York Times * *Babitz's talent is in the telling. She surfs between prose and poetry, describing tenderness and cruelty with equally weighted vividness, and lacerates with her wit. Even though the book is forty years old, the title is more resonant than ever . . . Jacaranda's greatest dilemmas feel painfully contemporary * * Independent * *Eve Babitz is to prose what Chet Baker, with his light, airy style, lyrical but also rhythmic, detached but also sensuous, is to jazz * * Vanity Fair * *A beautiful stylist . . . The joy of Babitz's writing is in her ability to suggest that an experience is very nearly out of language while still articulating its force within it * * New Republic * *The portrait of the artist as an ever-evolving young woman * * W * *

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Book SynopsisBlues guitarist Blind Willie Johnson led a hardscrabble life, but in 1977, NASA's Voyager spacecrafts were launched, carrying a golden record to introduce planet Earth to the cosmos, and one of his songs became the defining anthem.

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Book Synopsis''Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand history - and then go out and change it'' Barack Obama''The authentic voice of Mandela shines through this book'' The Times''Burns with the luminosity of faith in the invincible nature of human hope and dignity'' Andre Brink''Splendid... This is his story and the story of that struggle and a people''s victory'' Desmond TutuThe riveting memoirs of the outstanding moral and political leader of our time, Long Walk to Freedom brilliantly re-creates the drama of the experiences that helped shape Nelson Mandela''s destiny. Emotive, compelling and uplifting, Long Walk to Freedom is the exhilarating story of an epic life; a story of hardship, resilience and ultimate triumph told with the clarity and eloquence of a born leader.Trade ReviewEssential reading for anyone who wants to understand history - and then go out and change it * Barack Obama *Enthralling...Mandela emulates the few great political leaders such as Lincoln and Gandhi, who go beyond mere consensus and move out ahead of their followers to break new ground * Sunday Times *The authentic voice of Mandela shines through this book...humane, dignified and magnificently unembittered * The Times *This life of a man who has been a political activist for fifty years, in one of the most difficult and complex conflicts of the twentieth century, is a major achievement * Observer *Riveting...both a brilliant description of a diabolical system and a testament to the power of the spirt to transcend it * Washington Post *Burns with the luminosity of faith in the invincible nature of human hope and dignity... Unforgettable * Andre Brink *Indispensable ... a unique life-story * Anthony Sampson *A splendid book... Justice, freedom, goodness and love have prevailed spectacularly in South Africa and one man has embodied that struggle and its vindication. This is his story and the story of that struggle and a people's victory. It is a fitting monument. It will help us never to forget, lest we in our turn repeat the ghastliness of apartheid * Desmond Tutu *A truly stunning account of his extraordinary life... A vivid testimony to an unusual mixture of courage, persistence, tolerance, and forgiveness * Sir David Steel *One of the most life-affirming books you'll read * GQ *A tale of anger and sorrow, love and joy, grace and elegance * Daily News *The autobiography succeeds because the vicissitudes Mandela has gone through in the course of his life are so dramatic that the reader cannot help responding to them as if to a fairy tale or moral fable of some kind. No hero of legend ever went through such protracted trials in order to arrive at so improbable a victory * Sunday Telegraph *A compelling book... both a brilliant description of a diabolical system and a testament to the power of the spirit to transcend it... One of the most remarkable lives of the twentieth century * Washington Post *A work of literature as well as an important document * Scotland on Sunday *Most searing in its portrayal of the harshness of the island prison and the author's yearning for family life... Most exciting in its descriptions of Mandela's period underground, including his clandestine journey through newly independent Africa -- Barbara Trapido * Spectator *An engrossing tapestry of recent South African history that grips the reader from the first pages... Riveting and sometimes painfully honest * San Francisco Chronicle *Mandela writes with rare and moving candour * The Economist *Long Walk to Freedom is, unexpectedly, a sociological treasure trove... a work of constant revelations -- Wole Soyinka * Times Higher Education Supplement *Irresistible... one of the few political biographies that's also a page-turner * Los Angeles Times *Absorbing reading... the work of a great politician who still retains the ability to reflect on himself as a mere mortal -- Beverley Naidoo * Times Educational Supplement *A story that is at once appalling and inspirational: appalling in its depiction of the waste of human potential; inspirational in the triumph of the human spirit -- Geoffrey Howe * Country Life *An enthralling tale told simply, the story of one man's remarkable life and of a people which finally became free * Sunday Tribune *One of those masterpieces, perhaps the greatest of twentieth-century autobiographical literature, which is a sharp, poignant, elegant and eloquent counter to the prevailing cynicism about the rottenness of politics * Caribbean Times *One of the most extraordinary political tales of the twentieth century and well worth the investment for anyone truly interested in the genesis of greatness * Financial Times *An epic of struggle and learning and growing, it tells of a man whose idealism and hope have inspired a world prone to cynicism... [it] should be compulsory reading -- Mary Benson * Daily Telegraph *This fluid memoir matches South African President Mandela's stately grace with wise reflection on his life and the freedom struggle that defined it... His belief in repairing his country inspires * Publishers Weekly *This is an articulate, moving account of Mandela's life...Over a third of Mandela's memoir tells of his twenty-seven years in prison, an account that could stand alone as a prison narrative. He ends his book with the conclusion that his 'long walk' for freedom has just begun * Library Journal *This memoir is remarkably free of polemics, self-pity, and self-aggrandizement. It is the work of a man who has led by action and example-a man who is one of the few genuine heroes we have * Kirkus *

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Book SynopsisThe first-ever biography of Mozhdah Jamalzadah: refugee, pop singer, and champion of women’s rights.Many have tried to silence her, but Mozhdah Jamalzadah remains the most powerful female voice of her generation in Afghanistan, boldly speaking out about women’s rights. Voice of Rebellion charts her incredible journey, including arriving in Canada as a child refugee, setting her father’s protest poem to music (and making it a #1 hit), performing that song for Michelle and Barack Obama, and, finally, being invited to host her own show in Afghanistan. The Mozhdah Show earned her the nickname “The Oprah of Afghanistan” and tackled taboo subjects like divorce and domestic violence for the first time in the country’s history. But even as her words resonated with women and families, Mozhdah received angry death threats—some of them serious—and was eventually advised to return to Canada.Traversing Central Asia and North America, Voice of Rebellion profiles a devoted singer and activist who continues to fight for change, even from afar.Trade Review"Refugee stories are too seldom hopeful. But Voice of Rebellion, the story of one of Afghanistan’s most remarkable women, is an inspiration—a gripping tale of triumph and of breaking barriers."—Melissa Fleming, chief spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and author of A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea“Women can see themselves in the heroine of this story, Mozhdah, and find true inspiration from her strength and courage to return to Afghanistan. This book cries out with passion to follow your true calling despite overwhelming obstacles.”—Nazanin Afshin-Jam MacKay, human rights activist"A heartbreaking and empowering tale of self-discovery, Voice of Rebellion offers chilling insights into the plight of refugees and invokes incredible empathy for those adjusting to life in a new country. Mozhdah's journey from trying to fit in to embracing her identity and speaking up against injustice is something all can relate to, while her rebellious courage to drive change is awe-inspiring. I found it difficult to put this book down!"—Samra Zafar, bestselling author of A Good Wife“Voice of Rebellion is a book that should be read for a better understanding of the current war in Afghanistan, the destruction it has ravished, and how one voice can begin to make changes despite all the obstacles which may lie in the path ahead.”—The Girly Book Club

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Book SynopsisThroughout history, and all over the world, seemingly intelligent people have made foolish decisions based on delusions. This has affected love affairs, politics, finance, science, warfare, showbusiness and even sport. It has also wrecked marriages, bankrupted millionaires, lost battles, destroyed empires, brought down leaders and royalty, split religions, ruined reputations, changed climates, thwarted gangsters and even exposed sex pests. Donough O'Brien and Liz Cowley shine a spotlight on 150 intriguing, and often hidden, corners of such calamities... And in so doing they highlight over 650 characters who prove to be both fascinating and flawed. Dreams, Delusions & Disasters is an absorbing take on history.Trade Review"The authors delve into little known, but really significant, corners of history that highlight human frailty and unpredictability." Christopher Joll - Author and HistorianTable of ContentsAttraction and Its Pitfalls; Money and Miscalculation; From Leaders to Losers; Crime and Punishment; Science and Medicine; Misjudgement and the Military; Lies and Disinformation; Sport and Entertainment; Appendix; Thanks; Acknowledgements to Authors; Picture Credits; Index.

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Book Synopsis‘Tomorrow I will be leaving the delights of beautiful, snowy Ramsbury and setting off on my adventure to Ghana ...’ The inspirational true story of one woman, two villages, infinite optimism and thousands of lives transformed – TO LAWRA WITH LOVE is the funny, heart-warming, hard-hitting memoir of charity founder Sarah Gardner. It’s 2012, and Sarah is leaving her too-safe life in leafy England and heading to Ghana, Africa, with a suitcase full of cream-coloured linen and the romantic dream of ‘having an adventure and saving the world’. But the last thing the people of far-away, impoverished Lawra need is another white saviour. Which is just as well, because Sarah – hopelessly out of her depth and very, very sweaty – is not saving anyone. She can barely look after herself. Then, a terrible tragedy changes everything. Sarah begins breaking rules and building relationships – one in particular – bringing together her English village and his Ghanaian one on a mission to transform thousands of lives … including her own. A behind-the-scenes of international development as you’ve never read it before. A heart-wrenchingly honest account of work and love across cultures and continents. A testament to what listening, kindness, community and optimism can achieve. Totally relatable to anyone who cares about the world and the state of their hair.

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Book SynopsisSurgeons cut, but physicians... what do physicians actually do? And is it true that other doctors really call them 'the magicians'? John Quin worked for thirty-three years as a physician for the NHS in both Scotland and England, specialising in endocrinology. He was told the subject was easy because 'hormones - well, they just go up and down'. This, it turned out, was something of an over-simplification. Days on the wards were uproariously funny one minute, infinitely tragic the next. From tackling fraudulent medical students to trying and failing to induce hypoglycaemia in Glaswegian alcoholics (all in the name of research), Dr Quin, Medicine Man is packed with vividly told tales of the joy and reward of getting the diagnosis right, the disaster of getting it wrong. Chasing Chekhov's two rabbits of medicine and writing, meanwhile, Quin sought solace in literature, art and music, applying the lessons of Bulgakov's country doctor to 1980s Glasgow, where none of the patients seemed to have a full complement of fingers, and to 21st-century Brighton, dealing with the consequences of a decade of austerity measures. Darkly amusing and with a keen eye for the absurd, this sharply observed memoir is not only an acute insight into the farcical frustrations and tensions of working in a chronically underfunded system but also a timely reminder of the humanity of the NHS staff who care for us.Trade Review"Refreshing and eloquent" - Libby Purves, The Times “Quin’s acute powers of observation vividly convey the hinterland of the modern general hospital. Quite sweary, this is a medical memoir for the Trainspotting generation.” - The Tablet

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Book SynopsisI would like to introduce myself, I feel it's only fair. Only I know you so well now, you might get a scare. I know you know I'm in there, though I crept with greatest stealth: I am the hidden monster buried within yourself. Joyce is only sixteen when she's torn from the life she loves. Two years pass, but Joyce, her family, and her best friend Logan, are no closer to learning what's causing her dizzying array of symptoms. As Joyce tried to come to terms with her increasing limitations those around her struggle to understand what she is going through. Baffled and unsure, the doctors eventually diagnose Joyce with ME and CFS. But when Joyce and her family refuse to accept this diagnosis, her mental stability is called into question. Desperate for the truth and scared for Joyce's life, their only hope lies in a private hospital where she is finally diagnosed with Lyme Disease. Can Joyce survive a treatment as brutal as her illness? Can she find her way in a world she no longer recognises?

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Book Synopsis*THE OUTRAGEOUS INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*The classic Michael Lewis book that defined an era of greed, gluttony, and outrageous fortune in London and New York, by the author of The Big Short and Going Infinite. What readers are saying about Liar''s Poker:''Still has relevance today'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''Probably Michael Lewis''s best work''⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''A great insider''s look at the most important firm on Wall Street during the 1980''s'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''An absolute classic'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐__________The time was the 1980s. The place was Wall Street. The game was called Liar''s Poker.Michael Lewis was fresh out of Princeton and the London School of Economics when he landed a job at Salomon Brothers, one of Wall Street''s premier investment firms. During the next three years, Lewis rose from callow trainee to bond salesman, raking in millions for the firm and cashing in on a modern-day gold rush.From mere trainee to lowly geek, to triumphal Big Swinging Dick: that was Michael Lewis''s pell-mell progress through the dealing rooms of Salomon Brothers in New York and London during the heady mid-80s when they were probably the world''s most powerful and profitable merchant bank.Funny, frightening, breathless and heartless, Liar''s Poker is the original story of hysterical greed and excessive ambition, one that is now more potent and enthralling than ever.__________''If you thought Gordon Gekko of the Wall Street movie was an implausibly corrupt piece of fiction, see how you like the real thing. This rip-the-lid-off account of the bond-dealing brouhaha is the work of a real-life bond salesman.'' The Sunday Times''So memorable and alive . . . one of those rare works that encapsulate and define an era.'' Fortune''The funniest book on Wall Street I''ve ever read.'' Tom Wolfe''Wickedly funny'' Daily Express''Hilarious'' New York TimesTrade ReviewAn amazing book, readable, funny and mind-boggling ... one of the great business books of all time * Punch *Read all about it: headlong greed, inarticulate obscenity, Animal House horseplay . . . * The Sunday Times *Immense verve and wit * 20/20 Magazine *A highly immoral book * Daily Mail *Wickedly funny * Daily Express *As traders would say, this book is a buy * Financial Times *

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Book Synopsis **A Sunday Times top ten bestseller****Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award 2023****Shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize for Non-Fiction 2023****Shortlisted for the Slightly Foxed First Biography Prize 2023**Masterly.' ObserverWonderful, joyous.' Maggie O'FarrellFrankly brilliant.' Sunday TimesUnmissable.' Simon JenkinsEvery page sparkles.' Claire TomalinA triumph.' Matt HaigStylish, scholarly and gripping.' Rose TremainJohn Donne lived myriad lives. Sometime religious outsider and social disaster, sometime celebrity preacher and establishment darling, Donne was incapable of being just one thing.He was a scholar of law, a sea adventurer, an MP, a priest, the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral and perhaps the greatest love poet in the history of the English language.In Super-Infinite, Katherine Rundell shows us the many sides of Donne's extraordinary life, his obsessions, his blazing words, and his tempestuous Elizabethan times unveiling Donne as the most remarkable mind and as a lesson in living.Katherine Rundell''s book Super-Infinite was a Sunday Times Bestseller w/c 16-04-2022Trade Review'Fascinating and incisive: spellbinding.' - John Carey'A wonderful, joyous piece of work . . . with fierce, interrogative intelli-gence. it is fantastic to have this most elusive and mysterious of men brought out into the light, for all to see. I just loved it.'- Maggie O'Farrell

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Book Synopsis'This is a devastating book. It is matter-of-fact, makes no attempt to score political points, does not attempt to solicit sympathy for its protagonist and yet is among the most chilling indictments of war I have ever read. Everybody, in particular every woman ought to read it' ARUNDHATI ROY 'One of the most important personal accounts ever written about the effects of war and defeat' ANTONY BEEVOR Between April 20th and June 22nd 1945 the anonymous author of A Woman in Berlin wrote about life within the falling city as it was sacked by the Russian Army. Fending off the boredom and deprivation of hiding, the author records her experiences, observations and meditations in this stark and vivid diary. Accounts of the bombing, the rapes, the rationing of food and the overwhelming terror of death are rendered in the dispassionate, though determinedly optimistic prose of a woman fighting for survival amidst the horror and inhumanity of war. This diary was first published in America in 1954 in an English translation and in Britain in 1955. A German language edition was published five years later in Geneva and was met with tremendous controversy. In 2003, over forty years later, it was republished in Germany to critical acclaim - and more controversy. This diary has been unavailable since the 1960s and this is a new English translation. A Woman in Berlin is an astonishing and deeply affecting account.Trade ReviewThis is a devastating book. It is matter-of-fact, makes no attempt to score political points, does not attempt to solicit sympathy for its protagonist and yet is among the most chilling indictments of war I have ever read. Everybody, in particular every woman ought to read it -- Arundhati RoyOne of the most important personal accounts ever written about the effects of war and defeat -- Antony BeevorThis is not an hysterical woman ... you simply cannot dismiss it ... profoundly, acutely embarrassing ... an insight into the resilience of people in an unknowable situation -- Robert SandhillComplex, closely observed diary by a woman living in conquered Berlin at the end of WWII * Kirkus Reviews *Let Anonymous stand witness as she wished to: as an undistorted voice for all women in war and its aftermath, whatever their names or nation or ethnicity. Anywhere * Los Angeles Times *An astonishing record of survival . . . the voice of Anonymous emerges as both shrewd and funny . . . a fresh contribution to the literature of war * Entertainment Weekly *A stunning account of a German woman's battle to survive repeated rape at the hands of the victors among the ruins of Berlin . . . While leaders plot their dreams of glory and victory, the lives of ordinary people--on all sides--are trampled and destroyed. A most salutary work -- David Hare * Guardian *The author has a fierce, uncompromising voice, and her book should become a classic of war literature * Publishers Weekly *Marvelous . . . As it is a human instinct to survive, this book, which could have been horrifying, is instead exhilarating: a rare tribute to the human spirit * Daily Mail *Coolly written, tearingly honest . . . This is a classic not only of war literature but also of writing at the very extreme of human suffering * Daily Telegraph *This is a devastating book. It is matter-of-fact, makes no attempt to score political points, does not attempt to solicit sympathy for its protagonist and yet is among the most chilling indictments of war I have ever read. Everybody, in particular every woman ought to read it. * Arundhati Roy, author of The Good of Small Things *Complex, closely observed diary by a woman living in conquered Berlin at the end of WWII. * Kirkus Reviews *Let Anonymous stand witness as she wished to: as an undistorted voice for all women in war and its aftermath, whatever their names or nation or ethnicity. Anywhere. * Los Angeles Times *An astonishing record of survival . . . the voice of Anonymous emerges as both shrewd and funny . . . a fresh contribution to the literature of war. * Entertainment Weekly *A riveting account of a military atrocity . . . The author doesn't try to explain or moralize the horror. She simply records it as perhaps no one else has, in all of its devastating essence. * The New York Observer *A stunning account of a German woman's battle to survive repeated rape at the hands of the victors among the ruins of Berlin . . . While leaders plot their dreams of glory and victory, the lives of ordinary people--on all sides--are trampled and destroyed. A most salutary work. -- David Hare * The Guardian *The author has a fierce, uncompromising voice, and her book should become a classic of war literature. * Publishers Weekly *Marvelous . . . As it is a human instinct to survive, this book, which could have been horrifying, is instead exhilarating: a rare tribute to the human spirit. * Daily Mail *Coolly written, tearingly honest . . . This is a classic not only of war literature but also of writing at the very extreme of human suffering. * The Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisDiscover the extraordinary diaries of the real Anne Lister: the inspiration for Gentleman Jack and Emma Donoghue's new novel Learned By Heart'Engaging, revealing, at times simply astonishing' SARAH WATERS'[Anne Lister's] sense of self, and self-awareness, is what makes her modern to us . . . The diaries gave me courage' JEANETTE WINTERSON'The Lister diaries are the Dead Sea Scrolls of lesbian history' EMMA DONOGHUEWhen this volume of Anne Lister's diaries was first published in 1988, it was hailed as a vital piece of lost lesbian history. The editor, Helena Whitbread, had spent years painstakingly researching and transcribing Lister's extensive journals, much of which were written in an elaborate code - what Lister called her 'crypthand', which allowed her to record her life in intimate, and at times, explicit, detail. Until then, Anne Lister's lesbianism had been supressed or hinted at; this was the first time her story had been told. Anne Lister defied the role of nineteenth century womanhood: she was bold, fiercely independent, a landowner, industrialist, traveller and lesbian - a woman who lived her life on her own terms.These diaries include the years 1816-1824. The second volume, continuing Anne's story, THE SECRET DIARIES OF MISS ANNE LISTER: NO PRIEST BUT LOVE, is now available.Trade Review[Anne Lister's] sense of self, and self-awareness, is what makes her modern to us. She was a woman exercising conscious choice. She controlled her cash and her body. At a time when women had to marry, or be looked after by a male relative, and when all their property on marriage passed to their husband, Anne Lister not only dodged the traps of being female, she set up a liaison with another woman that enhanced her own wealth and left both of them free to live as they wished . . . The diaries gave me courageThe Lister diaries are the Dead Sea Scrolls of lesbian history; they changed everything. By resurrecting them and editing them with such loving attention and intelligence, Helena Whitbread has earned the gratitude of a whole generation

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Book Synopsis'Immensely powerful and is an extraordinary testament to the human desire for survival' Daily MailA harrowing and inspiring true story of a young boy's abusive childhood, from internationally bestselling author Dave Pelzer. Brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother - Dave became a slave; he was no longer a boy, but an 'it'. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and unwashed, and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dog's bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. But throughout Dave kept alive dreams of finding a family to love him. This book covers the early years of his life and is an affecting and inspirational book of the horrors of child abuse and the steadfast determination of one child to survive. It is the first book in the My Story trilogy.'Heartfelt... cannot fail to move you' HeatTrade ReviewThis heartfelt true story of one child's courage to survive cannot fail to move you - HEATHis tale will both break and warm your heart - DAILY MIRRORA remarkable true story... Truly touching, and emotionally shocking. A marvel - BESTWhat has made Dave Pelzer's story a bestseller is that it is also a story of redemption. It is a story where love, kindness, patience and endurance triumph - DAILY MAIL

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Book Synopsis'I hope The Long Walk will remain as a memorial to all those who live and die for freedom, and for all those who for many reasons could not speak for themselves'Slavomir RawiczSlavomir Rawicz was a young Polish cavalry officer. On 19 November 1939 he was arrested by the Russians and after brutal interrogation he was sentenced to twenty-five years in a gulag.After a three-month journey in the dead of winter to Siberia, life in a Soviet labour camp meant enduring hunger, extreme cold, untreated wounds and illnesses and facing the daily risk of arbitrary execution. Realising that to remain meant almost certain death, Rawicz, along with six companions, escaped. In June 1941, they crossed the trans-Siberian railway and headed south, climbing into Tibet and freedom in British India nine months later, in March 1942, having travelled over four thousand miles on foot through some of the harshest regions in the world, including the Gobi Desert, Tibet and the Himalayas.First published in 1956, this is one of the greatest true stories of escape, adventure and survival against all odds. In 2010, a film, The Way Back, based on the book, directed by six-time Academy Award-nominee Peter Weir (Master and Commander, The Truman Show, and The Dead Poets Society) was released. It starred Colin Farrell, Jim Sturgess and Ed Harris.Trade ReviewPositively Homeric. -- Cyril Connolly * The Times *The Long Walk is a book that I absolutely could not put down and one that I will never forget. -- Stephen AmbroseA poet with steel in his soul. * New York Times *One of the most amazing, heroic stories of this or any other time. * Chicago Tribune *A book filled with the spirit of human dignity and the courage of men seeking freedom. * Los Angeles Times *Heroism is not the domain of the powerful; it is the domain of people whose only other alternative is to give up and die . . . [The Long Walk] must be read - and reread, and passed along to friends. * National Geographic Adventure *The ultimate human endurance story . . . told with clarity, vivid description, and a good dash of romance and humor. * Vancouver Sun *One of the epic treks of the human race. Shackleton, Franklin, Amundsen . . . History is filled with people who have crossed immense distances and survived despite horrific odds. None of them, however, has achieved the extraordinary feat Rawicz has recorded. He and his companions crossed an entire continent - the Siberian Arctic, the Gobi Desert and then the Himalayas - with nothing but an axe, a knife and a week's worth of food . . . His account is so filled with despair and suffering it is almost unreadable. But it must be read - and re-read. -- Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect StormEssentially it comes down to some sort of inner tenacity and that is what is so gripping about the book because you know that this is actually about all of us. It's not just some Polish bloke who wanted to get home. It's about how we all struggle on every day. Somehow or other we find a reason to keep on going and it's the same here but on an epic scale. -- Benedict Allen, explorer and bestselling author of Into the Abyss and Edge of Blue Heaven

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Book SynopsisBeing diagnosed with incurable cancer that had spread to the liver and bones, might justifiably be regarded as a bad day at the oncologist’s office. Add to this a fractured neck, a life expectancy of six months and isolation from loved ones due to Covid lockdowns, and one could be forgiven for descending into the depth of despair. But not Issy Hogg. On receiving the news, this indefatigable and fun-loving defence lawyer told her oncologist, in true Shakespearean style, that she had no intention of ‘shuffling off this mortal coil’ anytime soon. Issy then began regaling family and friends with a series of amusing and inspirational posts providing updates on her experience in hospital, treatment programme and anecdotes from an eventful professional and personal life. Over a year beyond her death sentence, Issy has committed her experiences to this book. The primary aim being to share the overwhelming benefits of positive thought and a, literary, ‘never say die’ approach with those who encounter or fear unwelcome life-changing events of whatever nature.

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Book Synopsis In the early 2000's, as an undergraduate, Michele Filgate started writing an essay about being abused by her stepfather. It took many years for her to realize what she was actually trying to write about: the fracture this caused in her relationship with her mother. When her essay, “What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About,” was published by Longreads in October of 2017, it went on to become one of the most popular Longreads exclusives of the year and was shared on social media by Anne Lamott, Rebecca Solnit, Lidia Yuknavitch, and other writers, some of whom had their own individual codes of silence to be broken. The outpouring of responses gave Filgate an idea and the resulting anthology offers an intimate, therapeutic and universally resonant look at our relationships with our mothers. As Filgate poignantly writes, “Our mothers are our first homes and that’s why we’re always trying to return to them.”Contributions by Cathi Hanauer, Melissa Febos, Alexander Chee, Dylan Landis, Bernice L. McFadden, Julianna Baggott, Lynn Steger Strong, Kiese Laymon, Carmen Maria Machado, André Aciman, Sari Botton, Nayomi Munaweera, Brandon Taylor, and Leslie Jamison.Trade Review“These essays, each one exceptional on its own, encompass both love and writing at their most vulnerable, and could power entire cities with their electricity.”--Booklist, starred review "Fifteen essayists—many luminaries—write unflinchingly about their mothers...Each one of these intimate and gut-wrenching essays reaches beyond itself to forge connections with readers."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review"The essays all address the authors' relationships with their mothers in stories to be savored but not necessarily read in one sitting. …beautifully composed."--Library Journal, starred review"A fascinating set of reflections on what it is like to be a son or daughter… the range of stories and styles represented in this collection makes for rich and rewarding reading."--Publishers Weekly "These are the hardest stories in the world to tell, but they are told with absolute grace. You will devour these beautifully written—and very important— tales of honesty, pain, and resilience.”--Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Eat Pray Love"By turns raw, tender, bold and wise, the essays in this anthology explore writers’ relationships with their mothers. Kudos to Michele Filgate for this riveting contribution to a vital conversation.”--Claire Messud, bestselling author of The Burning Girl"Fifteen literary luminaries, including Filgate herself, probe how silence is never even remotely golden until it is mined for the haunting truths that lie within our most primal relationships-with our mothers. Unsettling, brave, sometimes hilarious and sometimes scorching enough to wreck your heart, these essays, about love or the terrifying lack of it, don’t just smash the silence; they let the light in, bearing witness with grace, understanding and writing so gorgeous you’ll be memorizing lines."--Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Is This Tomorrow and Pictures of You“This collection of storytelling constellated around mothers and silence will break your heart and then gently give it back to you stitched together with what we carry in our bodies our whole lives.”--Lidia Yuknavitch, national bestselling author of The Misfit's Manifesto"This is a rare collection that has the power to break silences. I am in awe of the talent Filgate has assembled here; each of these fifteen heavyweight writers offer a truly profound argument for why words matter, and why unspoken words may matter even more."--Garrard Conley, New York Times bestselling author of Boy Erased"Who better to discuss one of our greatest shared surrialities -- that we are all, once and forever, for better or worse, someone's child -- than this murderer's row of writers? The mothers in this collection are terrible, wonderful, flawed, human, tragic, triumphant, complex, simple, baffling, supportive, deranged, heartbreaking and heartbroken. Sometimes all at once. I'll be thinking about this book, and stewing over it, and teaching from it, for a long time."--Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers

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Book SynopsisStock market multimillionaire at 26. Federal convict at 36. The iconic true story of greed, power and excess.THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER AND MAJOR MOVIE SENSATION, DIRECTED BY MARTIN SCORSESE AND STARRING LEONARDO DICAPRIO''What separates Jordan''s story from others like it, is the brutal honesty'' Leonardo DiCaprioBy day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could. From the binge that sunk a 170-foot motor yacht and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids who waited for him for at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in Jordan Belfort''s own words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called THE WOLF OF WALL STREET.In the 1990s Jordan Belfort became one of the most infamous names in American finance: a brilliant, conniving stock-chopper who led his merry mob on a wild ride out of the canyons of Trade ReviewWhat separates Jordan's story from others like it, is the brutal honesty. * Leonardo DiCaprio *Raw and frequently hilarious. * The New York Times *Reads like a cross between Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities and Scorsese's Goodfellas ... Laugh-out-loud funny. * The Sunday Times *an incredible - and strangely compelling - story of shocking greed and power. * The Sunday Telegraph *The wicked Wolf of Wall Street ... Cocaine. Girls. James Bond cars. Billion-dollar deals and jail for fraud ... the outrageous memoirs of the real Gordon Gekko. * The Daily Mail *This book reads like The Financial World presented by Ozzy Osbourne ... One reads a book like this for tales of excess, and Belfort certainly delivers, to the point where you long for a night in with Dad's Army and something eggy on a plate. * The Mail on Sunday *A truly fascinating read. * Daily Express *Gleefully crass and terribly sad [but] you actually feel for the guy. * Rolling Stone *A rollicking tale of [Jordan Belfort's] rise to riches as head of the infamous boiler room Stratton Oakmont ... Proof that there are indeed second acts in American lives. * Forbes *A cocky bad boy of finance recalls ... [his] career as a master of his own universe ... A hell of a read. * Kirkus *A memoir that reads like fiction ... [about a] vast amount of sex, drugs and risky physical behavior Belfort managed to survive. * Publishers Weekly *For those not completely familiar with Wall Street, this is an important read. Think of it as a tour of the sort of underbelly of the financial market scene, the dark side of which, in some form, is always out there. For those more experienced, this can be, plain and simple, a fun read. * TheStreet.com *

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Book SynopsisThe bestselling, much-loved classic account of an English couple escaping to enjoy the fruits of French rural summer living - an irresistible feast of humour and heart.Peter Mayle and his wife did what most of us only imagine doing when they made their long-cherished dream of a life abroad a reality: throwing caution to the wind, they bought a glorious two hundred year-old farmhouse in the Lubéron Valley and began a new life.In a year that begins with a marathon lunch and continues with a host of gastronomic delights, they also survive the unexpected and often hilarious curiosities of rural life. From mastering the local accent and enduring invasion by bumbling builders, to discovering the finer points of boules and goat-racing, all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life are conjured up in this enchanting portrait.''One of the most successful travel books of all time... Mayle created a new travel genre'' Guardian''Delightful'' Washington Post''Engaging, funny and richly appreciative'' New York Times Book Review''Stylish, witty, delightfully readable'' Sunday Times''I really loved this book'' Julia Child

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times Bestseller “I was born and broken in Birkenhead, abused from infancy by a network of every kind of pervert from ‘thinks it’s love’ to ‘show it hurts’. I was unwanted, beaten, sold, swapped, photographed, filmed, left for dead, corrupted, blamed, betrayed, ignored and orphaned. But I was also born with a fire inside me. I call it my Phoenix Fire. I am no victim – that word only describes what happened to me. Nor am I a survivor because that implies I am over it. I am a Phoenix – a work in progress. This is my story…”Trade Review"Beaten, left for dead and raped from the age of four, but now a national campaigner - Shy Keenan, we salute you." * Eve magazine *"I found Broken very painful (in fact, I remain haunted by its contents). Shy is trying hard to make the world a safer place for my children." * Observer *

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Book SynopsisThe fascinating true story of an Englishwoman who spent 12 years alone in a cave in the Himalayas and became a world-renowned spiritual leader

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Book SynopsisFROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA'Daphne du Maurier has no equal' DAILY TELEGRAPH'Miss du Maurier has brought to the art of the biography the narrative urgency' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW ' . . . she is unravelling a long distorted mystery' KIRKUS REVIEWS Pursued by the twin demons of drink and madness, Branwell Bronte created a private world that was indeed infernal. As a bold and gifted child, his promise seemed boundless to the three adoring sisters over whom his rule was complete. But as an adult, the precocious flame of genius distorted and burned low. With neither the strength nor the resources to counter rejection, unable to sell his paintings or publish his books, Branwell became a spectre in the Bronte story, in pathetic contrast with the astonishing achievements of Charlotte, Emily and Anne. Daphne du Maurier concentrates all her biographer's skill on the shadowy figure of Branwell Bronte. No reader could fail to be intensely moved by Branwell's final retreat into laudanum, alcohol and death. Trade ReviewMiss du Maurier has brought to the art of the biography the narrative urgency which gives such animation to her storytelling * New York Times Book Review *Daphne du Maurier has no equal * Daily Telegraph *Her craftsmanship has made of the material something more than a case of literary research; almost one feels that she is unravelling a long distorted mystery * Kirkus Reviews *

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Book SynopsisThis is a stunningly well-written account of the life of a surgeon: what it is like to cut into people's bodies and the terrifying - literally life and death - decisions that have to be made.There are accounts of operations that go wrong; of doctors who go to the bad; why autopsies are necessary; what it feels like to insert your knife into someone.Trade ReviewI don't know if Atul Gawande was born to be a surgeon - I very much suspect so - but he was certainly born to write.This wise and exciting account of life as a surgical resident ... perfectly captures the wonder and fearful responsibility that come with cutting people open in the hope of making them whole again. -- Bill BrysonEver wondered how realistic ER is? Then read Gawande's superb book. The truth, you will find, is far more compelling, though the endings are never as neat ... Gawande makes the scenes far more dramatic than television ever can. He is a first-class writer. * Scotland on Sunday *Written as tautly as a thriller. * The Observer *Gawande draws you in with the story but leaves you wiser about science, about health, and even about the human condition. -- Michael Kinsley

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Book SynopsisA biography of Gwilym Prys-Davies, an astute and hard working politician who had a massive influence on Welsh politics and culture. Written by his friend of over half a century, D. Ben Rees.Trade ReviewPleser yw cael croesawu o’r diwedd cofiant sylweddol a chytbwys ei farn i un o gewri gwleidyddol mwyaf nodedig yr ugeinfed ganrif yng Nghymru. Mae’n astudiaeth hollbwysig. Roedd yr awdur yn adnabod ei wrthrych yn dda am nifer fawr o flynyddoedd ac yn gyfaill mynwesol iddo am ddegawdau lawer. Y mae’n gwerthfawrogi ei rinweddau, ei gryfderau a’i gyfraniadau mewn sawl cyfeiriad gwahanol. Yn dilyn ei farwolaeth yn 93 mlwydd oed yn 2017 daeth archif bwysig o’i bapurau i’r Llyfrgell Genedlaethol, a Ben Rees oedd un o’r ymchwilwyr cyntaf i wneud defnydd helaeth ohonynt ar gyfer y llyfr hwn. Mae’r archif yn cynnwys yn arbennig gohebiaeth ddadlennol a diddorol. Mae’r cofiant hefyd yn seiliedig ar waith ymchwil manwl mewn nifer fawr o archifau pwysig eraill. Ac, yn hollol wahanol i Jim Griffiths, Aneurin Bevan a Cledwyn Hughes, sef y gwleidyddion y mae’r Dr D. Ben Rees wedi llunio cofiannau sylweddol iddynt yn barod (gan gynnwys cofiant i Griffiths yn y Saesneg yn ogystal), nid gwleidydd proffesiynol, cyhoeddus yn yr un modd oedd yr Arglwydd Gwilym Prys-Davies, ond un a lafuriai’n aml yn y dirgel, gan ddylanwadu ar eraill a chyflawni gwyrthiau yn dawel dros Gymru a’r Gymraeg. Gan ei fod yn ŵr swil a diymhongar wrth natur ac yn hoffi byw ei fywyd yn yr encilion, nid pawb a werthfawrogai ei gyfraniad. Yn rhy aml o lawer, cofir am Gwilym Prys-Davies yn bennaf fel yr ymgeisydd aflwyddiannus y Blaid Lafur yn isetholiad nodedig sir Caerfyrddin yng Ngorffennaf 1966 pan gipiwyd y sedd gan Dr Gwynfor Evans, llywydd Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru ers 1945 – sef ‘isetholiad pwysicaf yr ugeinfed ganrif’ ym marn Ben Rees. Ym 1964 cafodd Gwilym Prys-Davies siom aruthrol na ddewiswyd ef yn ymgeisydd ar gyfer etholaeth sir Feirionnydd. Ond mae llawer iawn mwy i drafod, wrth gwrs. Fel y gwelwn, gwnaeth Gwilym waith arloesol i hybu’r defnydd o’r iaith Gymraeg yn y llysoedd yn ystod y 1960au. Roedd hefyd yn un o’r selogion a frwydrodd i sefydlu S4C ym 1982, ac roedd ei gyfraniad yn amhrisiadwy wrth lunio Deddfau’r Iaith Gymraeg 1967 ac eto 1993. Roedd ei gyfraniad hefyd yn fwy cyffredinol yn sgil ei gefnogaeth i hybu datganoli yng Nghymru o’r 1960au ymlaen. Gweithredodd fel ‘cynghorydd arbennig’ i John Morris AS pan roedd yntau’n Ysgrifennydd Gwladol dros Gymru yn y 1970au, roedd yn aelod gweithgar a dylanwadol o Fwrdd Ysbytai Cymru am flynyddoedd, a thaflodd ei hun i ganol bywyd Tŷ’r Arglwyddi gydag ymroddiad a brwdfrydedd. Enillodd barch ei gyd-arglwyddi yn fuan iawn, a phriodol iawn yw’r ffaith i Ben Rees gyflawni’r astudiaeth hon i’r Arglwydd John Morris. Mae Ben Rees yn ogystal wedi meistroli’n llwyr yr elfennau hynny a ddaeth ynghyd i greu personoliaeth a chymeriad ei wrthrych. Yn eu plith mae ei gefndir teuluol yn Llanegryn, sir Feirionnydd, ei ddyddiau coleg yn Aberystwyth, ei waith o fewn Mudiad Gweriniaethol Cymru, a’i berthynas agos a phwysig gyda Goronwy O. Roberts AS a Huw T. Edwards, ac mae nifer fawr o wleidyddion Llafur eraill yr ugeinfed ganrif yng Nghymru hefyd yn cael eu lle o fewn y stori ryfeddol hon. Llunnir y cyfan o’r testun mewn Cymraeg graenus a darllenadwy. Rhaid llongyfarch yr awdur ar gyhoeddi campwaith pwysig arall a fydd yn derbyn croeso cynnes gan nifer fawr o ddarllenwyr gwerthfawrogol. -- J. Graham Jones @ www.gwales.com

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Book SynopsisA selected group of NZ writers have chosen a favourite New Zealander to write an essay on. These pieces are personal, illuminating and often moving. Around 5,000 words per essay, the writers had full choice on who to write about and what approach to take, so there is great variety in the styles. Writers are; Lloyd Jones on Paul Melser (potter), Paula Morris on Matiu Rata (politician), Catherine Robertson on Dame Margaret Sparrow (doctor and health advocate), Greg McGee on Ken Gray (all black), Stephanie Johnson on Carole Beu (bookseller), Malcolm Mulholland on Ranginui Walker(academic) Selina Tusitala Marsh on Albert Wendt (writer), Elspeth Sandys on Rewi Alley (writer and activist), and Paul Thomas on John Wright (cricketer).

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for Harper's Bazaar Book of the Year 2019A Guardian, Spectator and Mail on Sunday Book of the Year 2018'A lyrical portrait of a fast-vanishing way of life . . . Thompson is a terrific writer' New StatesmanLaura Thompson’s grandmother Violet was one of the great landladies. Born in a London pub, she became the first woman to be given a publican’s licence in her own name and, just as pubs defined her life, she seemed in many ways to embody their essence.Laura spent part of her childhood in Violet’s Home Counties establishment, mesmerised by her gift for cultivating the mix of cosiness and glamour that defined the pub’s atmosphere, making it a unique reflection of the national character. Her memories of this time are just as intoxicating: beer and ash on the carpets in the morning, the deepening rhythms of mirth at night, the magical brightness of glass behind the bar…Through them Laura traces the story of the English pub, asking why it has occupied such a treasured position in our culture. But even Violet, as she grew older, recognised that places like hers were a dying breed, and Laura also considers the precarious future they face.Part memoir, part social history, part elegy, The Last Landlady pays tribute to an extraordinary woman and the world she epitomised.Trade Review 'A lyrical portrait of a fast-vanishing way of life ... Thompson is a terrific writer, and her detailed evocation of the day in the life of the pub ... has all the visual richness and emotional power of a Terence Davies film' New Statesman 'Just occasionally a book comes along that leaves you breathless with pleasure, admiration and a dash of envy too. The Last Landlady is Laura Thompson's exquisitely observed and brilliantly written memoir of the life and times of her grandmother, the first woman in England to hold a pub licence in her own right... Simply delicious' Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday 'You really mustn’t miss Laura Thompson’s brilliant The Last Landlady … A wonderfully observed story about female agency in the post-war period' Guardian 'It is about the pub as theatre … A typically eclectic mix of social history and elegy, ironic comedy and indelible Englishness' The Spectator, Books of the Year 'The award-winning Thompson turns her acute eye for detail on her own family in this gorgeous memoir of her indomitable grandmother, Vi, the first woman to hold a pub licence in England' Independent

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Book SynopsisIn this second book of the Bunny DeBarge trilogy, ''The Kept Ones: The Fame Years" Bunny presents captivating revelations detailing her family''s rise to the top of R&B music royalty and how they each came tumbling down, one DeBarge member at a time.And so the story begins in 1979 with Bunny and her two young children preparing to leave the bitter cold of their small hometown in Grand Rapids, Michigan to follow the lead of her already famous brothers, Bobby and Tommy DeBarge in the sunshine, glitz and glam of fabulous Hollywood, where they''d already established success and notoriety as members of the R&B group, "Switch". An exciting time indeed for an emerging young star experiencing her first taste of stardom! As you turn the pages, one chapter at a time, Bunny''s definitive story of what began as a glamorous life, takes a dark and turbulent turn.This is the inspiring story of a beautiful, extremely gifted and hopeful musical family and how they navigated through the best and the toughest of times, with many of their hardships playing out in the public eye. Readers will be astonished with the way in which Bunny DeBarge so eloquently delivers her testimony about her life as she saw it. Read on to see how Bunny untangles the importance of forgiveness, the value of self-awareness and the importance of recognizing that GOD''s hand was on her life. She was always and will forever be The Kept One.

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE 2015 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARDWINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2016'A thrilling adventure story' Bill Bryson'Dazzling' Literary Review 'Brilliant' Sunday Express'Extraordinary and gripping' New Scientist'A superb biography' The Economist'An exhilarating armchair voyage' GILES MILTON, Mail on Sunday Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) is the great lost scientist - more things are named after him than anyone else. There are towns, rivers, mountain ranges, the ocean current that runs along the South American coast, there's a penguin, a giant squid - even the Mare Humboldtianum on the moon. His colourful adventures read like something out of a Boy's Own story: Humboldt explored deep into the rainforest, climbed the world's highest volcanoes and inspired princes and presidents, scientists and poets alike. Napoleon was jealous of him; Simon Bolívar's revolution was fuelled by his ideas; Darwin set sail on the Beagle because of Humboldt; and Jules Verne's Captain Nemo owned all his many books. He simply was, as one contemporary put it, 'the greatest man since the Deluge'.Taking us on a fantastic voyage in his footsteps - racing across anthrax-infected Russia or mapping tropical rivers alive with crocodiles - Andrea Wulf shows why his life and ideas remain so important today. Humboldt predicted human-induced climate change as early as 1800, and The Invention of Nature traces his ideas as they go on to revolutionize and shape science, conservation, nature writing, politics, art and the theory of evolution. He wanted to know and understand everything and his way of thinking was so far ahead of his time that it's only coming into its own now. Alexander von Humboldt really did invent the way we see nature.Trade ReviewA big, magnificent, adventurous book - so vividly written and daringly researched - a geographical pilgrimage and an intellectual epic! Brilliant, surprising, and thought-provoking . . . a major achievement * RICHARD HOLMES, author of The Age of Wonder and Coleridge *A truly wonderful book . . . Andrea Wulf has told the tale with such brio, such understanding, such depth. The physical journeyings, all around South America when it was virtually terra incognita, are as exciting as the journeys of Humboldt's mind into astronomy, literature, philosophy and every known branch of science. This is one of the most exciting intellectual biographies I have ever read, up there with Lewes's Goethe and Ray Monk's Wittgenstein * A N Wilson *Andrea Wulf's marvellous book should put this captivating eighteenth century German scientist, traveller and opinion-shaper back at the heart of the way we look at the world . . . irresistible and consistently absorbing life of a man whose discoveries have shaped the way we see * MIRANDA SEYMOUR, author of Noble Endeavours: A History of England and Germany *Andrea Wulf is a writer of rare sensibilities and passionate fascinations. I always trust her to take me on unforgettable journeys through amazing histories of botanical exploration and scientific unfolding. Her work is wonderful, her language sublime, her intelligence unflagging * ELIZABETH GILBERT, author of The Signature of All Things and Eat, Pray, Love *Engrossing . . . Wulf successfully combines biography with an intoxicating history of his times * Kirkus *Extraordinary, and often still sadly relevant too * Wanderlust *The phrase 'lost hero of science' in the subtitle of [Wulf's] book is no exaggeration . . . A big book about a big subject, written with scholarship and enthusiasm * Irish Examiner *In her coruscating account, historian Andrea Wulf reveals an indefatigable adept of close observation with a gift for the long view * Nature *[A] gripping study . . . No one who reads this brilliant book is likely to forget Humboldt * New Scientist *This book sets out to restore Humboldt to his rightful place in the pantheon of natural scientists. In the process Wulf does a great deal more. This meticulously researched work - part biography, part cabinet of curiosity - takes us on an exhilarating armchair voyage through some of the world's least hospitable regions -- Giles Milton * Mail on Sunday *Thrilling . . . It is impossible to read The Invention of Nature without contracting Humboldt fever. Wulf makes Humboldtians of us all . . . At times The Invention of Nature reads like pulp explorer fiction . . . She has gone to near-Humboldtian lengths to research her book * New York Review of Books *Engrossing . . . Andrea Wulf magnificently recreates Humboldt's dazzling, complex personality and the scope of his writing * Wall Street Journal *A rollicking adventure story . . . a fascinating history of ideas, in which Wulf leads us expertly along a series of colourful threads that emanate from the great tapestry of Humboldt's life and work . . . What really fascinated me about The Invention of Nature is how relevant Humboldt's ideas are today . . . Arriving in South America, Darwin took his first steps in the tropical forest and exclaimed: "I formerly admired Humboldt, I now almost adore him". Readers of Wulf's marvellous new book may feel the same way * Financial Times *Wulf's telling of his life reads like a Who's Who of his age . . . in its mission to rescue Humboldt's reputation from the crevasse he and many other German writers and scientists fell into after the Second World War, it succeeds * Independent on Sunday *Wulf's biography is a magnificent work of resurrection, beautifully researched, elegantly written, a thrilling intellectual odyssey * Sunday Times *Wulf's brilliant biography traces [Humboldt's] daring travels in South America and across the Andes, his sojourns in Berlin, Paris and London, and the intellectual circles he moved in * Sunday Express *Andrea Wulf is clearly as passionate about this remarkable man as his peers and successors were, and she does an impressive job of capturing the scale and scope of Humboldt's substantial achievements * Press Association *In a superb biography, Andrea Wulf makes an inspired case for Alexander von Humboldt to be considered the greatest scientist of the 19th century . . . Ecologists today, Ms Wulf argues, are Humboldtians at heart. With the immense challenge of grasping the global consequences of climate change, Humboldt's interdisciplinary approach is more relevant than ever * The Economist *We all know who Darwin was because he came up with that memorable line about us all being descended from apes, but, as he himself would readily have admitted, the great man would never have arrived at his great theory had it not been for the very considerable influence of Alexander von Humboldt . . . Given the magnitude of his influence, why Humboldt isn't a household name today is a mystery . . . On the evidence of this wonderful book, however, he should be hastily added to every school syllabus in the land * Scotsman *Darwin pronounced him the greatest scientific traveller who ever lived, but the brilliant German Alexander von Humboldt left no groundbreaking theory or world-changing book. Wulf sets out to restore his diminished reputation, and has given us the most complete portrait of one of the world's most complete naturalists * Mark Cocker, The Spectator, Books of the Year *Wulf's narrative relates Humboldt's life and ideas at a good pace and with a strong eye for the details which will attract the reader's attention * TLS *Wulf imbues Humboldt's adventures there with something of the spirit of Tintin, relishing the jungles, mountains and dangerous animals at every turn . . . [she] has an unfailing ability to spot an interesting quotation or a curious situation. She is very good on the cities where Humboldt lived and the rival atmospheres of Paris and Berlin . . . a superior celebration of an adorable figure * Guardian *This ambitious book restores Humboldt to his rightful place in the pantheon of scientific history. The best chapters describe his exciting travels * Lady *Humboldt's vision became the inspiration for Darwin and a whole generation of American Romantics, including Thoreau and Poe. Humboldt, like Einstein, breathed life into Kant's transcendental unity. We still live in the world they imagined, even if few of us comprehend it * Telegraph *Wulf writes about complicated topics with lucidity and vitality. The Invention of Nature is a book of ideas, which repays careful reading. The intuitive yet systematising genius, courage and charm of Humboldt also make this a most inspiring book * The Times *Andrea Wulf's superb biography is a re-evaluation of a great lost scientist whose thinking strongly affected the way we now conceptualise nature . . . His extensive travels mean his biography is also an adventure story, and Wulf combines scrapes and the science to great effect * Independent *Read Andrea Wulf's gripping biography and you will be wowed by him too. If Humboldt doesn't win prizes I'll eat my party hat * New Scientist, Books of the Year *An absolutely stupendous biography * A.N. Wilson, Evening Standard, Books of the Year *Evocative descriptions of his expeditions . . . delightful stories . . . Wulf's stories of wilderness adventure and academic exchange flow easily, and her affection for von Humboldt is contagious * Publishers Weekly, Books of the Year *Wulf offers a highly readable account of the German scientist's monumental journey in the Americas * 100 Notable Books of 2015, New York Times *Engaging and accomplished * Sunday Times *Explorer, polymath, friend of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Thomas Jefferson and Simon Bolívar, Alexander von Humboldt was one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century. His ideas are as relevant today as they ever were * The Economist, Books of the Year *The real achievement of this wonderful biography is that it is as much a rattling good read as it is an explicit attempt to revive Humboldt's reputation . . . [Wulf] offers us the most complete picture of one of most complete naturalists who has ever lived * New Statesman *Stimulating biography . . . The Invention of Nature elegantly captures a cosmopolitan who straddled the Enlightenment and Romanticism * Country Life *Colourful and engaging * Sunday Telegraph *Explorer, polymath, friend of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Thomas Jefferson and Simon Bolívar, Alexander von Humboldt was one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century. His ideas are as relevant today as they ever were * The Economist *Like Humboldt himself, The Invention of Nature, is scholarly but extremely good fun * The Times, Books of the Year *Wulf does [Humbolt] full justice, bringing his extraordinary and colourful life to a new generation. Based on enormous research, it is the first real biography of this great figure in English and it provides much fascinating detail without overloading the narrative. I can't recommend it highly enough * Morning Star *Wulf takes English speaking readers on a fulsome tour of Humboldt and those he influenced . . . She has travelled in Humboldt's footsteps and made good use of original German evidence. I have much enjoyed my eco-tour through the planet world in her company * Financial Times *In this illuminating, vivid biography, historian and writer Andrea Wulf reveals a great explorer a century or more ahead of his time . . . a cracking read * BBC Wildlife Magazine *A pleasure to read . . . Buckle up and prepare yourself for Andrea Wulf's hugely enjoyable voyage of discovery . . . [a] rip-roaring yarn * Ecologist *Full of vivid renditions of his feats, the narrow mountain paths he trod, the rapid rivers in which he almost drowned, and the exotic ailments from which he suffered . . . much more than an adventure story . . . well-informed and astute . . . among the most attractive features of The Invention of Nature is Wulf's infectious admiration for her subject * London Review of Books *Masterly * Daily Mail *A superior celebration of an adorable figure * Guardian *The decisive factor for the winning book was that it excited and gripped us as judges the most. The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf is a thrilling adventure story as much as a science book about a polymath who had an extraordinary impact on our contemporary understanding of nature. It is a book you will find yourself talking endlessly about with friends in the pub -- Bill Bryson, chairman of the judges for the Royal Society Prize 2016Humboldt may not be well known today but he remains very much of our time: his work tackled many of today's big issues like climate change and biodiversity loss and the interconnectedness of nature. Moreover, he was a polymath who was curious about everything and was a superb communicator. His interdisciplinary approach puts paid to the ridiculous notion that science and the arts are separate entities. We should be taking our cues from Humboldt - be curious and be informed by science on the big issues -- Brian CoxWhen I read The Invention of Nature, long before it was nominated for the Royal Society prize, it was obvious that it was a contender for major honors. It was deeply researched and reported; it told a fine and little known story; it connected the personal to a big idea, and the past to a very pressing present-day concern * The Atlantic *Concise, well-written and extensively researched book . . . vivid, atmospheric and engrossing, a beautiful portrait * Tribune *[A] gripping account of Alexander von Humboldt's synthesis of the science of the natural world -- Stephen Curry * Guardian 'Favourite reads of 2016 as chosen by scientists' *In this meticulously researched and beautifully written biography, Andrea Wulf skilfully rescues Alexander von Humboldt from his undeserved obscurity as she chronicles his long and fascinating life * Forbes.com, 10 Best Popular Science Books of 2016 *Deep scholarship and entertaining writing style. The Invention of Nature is highly recommended * ICON *Historians of science have long recognized the naturalist and traveller Alexander von Humboldt as a pivotal figure in the history of science, but for too long he has been undervalued in the English-speaking world. This beautifully written biography effectively conveys his significance to a wide audience, in an animated and adventurous narrative that echoes the liveliness of Humboldt's own writings. The award of the Dingle Prize particularly recognizes Andrea Wulf's mastery of the vast range of history of science scholarship on Humboldt and her command of original sources in multiple languages. Timely and significant-particularly given current attacks on climate change science - this is scientific biography at its best * Winner of the 2017 Dingle Prize *

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Book SynopsisA brilliant companion piece to Wide Sargasso Sea, this is Jean Rhys''s beautifully written, bitter-sweet autobiography, covering her chequered early years in Dominica, England and Paris.Jean Rhys wrote this autobiography in her old age, now the celebrated author of Wide Sargasso Sea but still haunted by memories of her troubled past: her precarious jobs on chorus lines and relationships with unsuitable men, her enduring sense of isolation and her decision at last to become a writer. From the early days on Dominica to the bleak time in England, living in bedsits on gin and little else, to Paris with her first husband, this is a lasting memorial to a unique artist.Includes an introduction by Diana Athill.

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Book SynopsisNorah Vincent became an instant media sensation with the publication of Self-Made Man, her take on just how hard it is to be a man, even in a man's world. Vincent spent a year and a half disguised as her male alter ego, Ned, exploring what men are like when women aren't around. As Ned, she joined a bowling team, took a high-octane sales job, went on dates with women (and men), visited strip clubs, and even managed to infiltrate a monastery and a men's therapy group. At once thought-provoking and pure fun to read, Self-Made Man is a sympathetic and thrilling tour de force of immersion journalism.Trade ReviewThis captivating account will forever change the way you see men - and perhaps yourself * Marie Claire *An addictive, enthralling read...breathtaking -- Viv Groskop * Observer *Beautifully written...a brave and fascinating book * Sunday Times *Funny, compelling and human -- Sarah Vine * The Times *Intelligent, articulate and perceptive... one of the most sympathetic renderings of masculinity you're likely to read -- Lionel Shriver * Guardian *

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