Biography: general Books

Book SynopsisFrom the stars of A CHRISTMAS GIFT FROM BOB, now a major film starring Luke Treadaway as James and Bob himself, the sequel to the bestselling A Street Cat Named Bob.Trade ReviewBowen writes with compelling, brutal honesty. Ranging from heartbreakingly sad to laugh-out-loud funny, The World According To Bob is a life-affirming story of sheer human strength in the face of adversity. * Daily Express *The second installment from one of north London's most loved double acts ... The long-awaited sequel picks up where the first book left off, telling the story of what happened to this odd couple of cool cats after their initial success. * Evening Standard *Close proximity to animals does wonders for your mental health. Close proximity to this book will do wonders for it, too. * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisJenny grew up in a house where no-one was safe. Born one of five children in the East End, her childhood was spent in squalor and terror. Her father''s violent beatings, humiliations, and sexual abuse were part of daily life; her mother - also his sexual victim and savagely beaten - was no source of help.Deprived of love and all comforts, the children would turn to each other for support and to the only adult they could trust, Auntie.This is the story of how Jenny, her sister Kim and brother Laurence, not only survived but ultimately transcended the unimaginable degradations heaped on them. With the power of love, cunning, the blackest of black humour and an indestructible self-belief, Jenny eventually broke free of her past.Trade ReviewThis woman is an inspiration and I am honoured to call her my mum * Martine McCutcheon *I'm really proud of Jenny. She has put into words our terrible start in life and made me look openly at who I was and how far I have come. We managed to break free and build a life for oursleves. Now it's time to stop covering the subject in shame. * Kim Challoner, Jenny's sister *

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Near Mount Etna in Sicily lies Casa Cuseni, a beautiful house built in golden stone - and the home which Daphne Phelps was astonished to find she had inherited in 1947. At the age of 34, war-weary from working as a psychiatric social worker, with barely any Italian, and precious little money, she plunged into a fascinating Sicilian world. Every imaginable problem had to be overcome, not only financial difficulties but local authorities and a house staff who initially felt no loyalty to the new Signorina but who gradually accepted her as a respected member of their small community. To help make ends meet, for many years she ran Casa Cuseni as a pensione and to her doors came Roald Dahl, Tennessee Williams, Bertrand Russell and Henry Faulkner. But just as important to her life and her story are the Sicilians with whom she shared the love and care of Casa Cuseni: Don Ciccio the local mafia leader, Vincenzio, general manservant who recited while he served the meals, Beppe, a Don Juan who scented his eyebrows and his moustache to attract the local girls; and above all the steadfast cook and housekeeper who lives with Daphne still and to whom this book is dedicated.

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Book SynopsisFrom the noted Hollywood biographer and author of The Contender comes this celebration of the great American love story—the romance between Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart—capturing its complexity, contradictions, and challenges as never before.In Bogie & Bacall, William Mann offers a deep and comprehensive look at Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, and the unlikely love they shared. Mann details their early years—Bogart’s effete upbringing in New York City; Bacall’s rise as a model and actress. He paints a vivid portrait of their courtship and twelve-year marriage: the fights, the reconciliations, the children, the affairs, Bogie’s illness and Bacall’s steadfastness until his death. He offers a sympathetic yet clear-eyed portrait of Bacall’s life after Bogie, exploring her relationships with Frank Sinatra and Jason Robards, who would become her second husband, and the identity crisis she faced.Surpassing previous biographies, Mann digs deep into the celebrities’ personal lives and considers their relationship from surprising angles. Bacall was just nineteen when she started dating the thrice-married forty-five-year-old Bogart. How might that age gap have influenced their relationship? In addition to what she gained, what might Bacall have lost by marrying a Hollywood superstar more than twice her age? How did Bogart, a man of average looks, become one of the greatest movie stars of all time? Throughout, Mann explains the unparalleled successes of their individual careers as well as the extraordinary love between them and the legend that has endured.Filled with entertaining details and thoughtful insights based on newly available records and correspondence, and illustrated with 30-40 photographs, Bogie & Bacall offers a fresh look at this famous couple, their remarkable relationship, and their legacy.Trade Review"Well-researched . . . . Mann is perceptive, careful and experienced in writing about the film business." — David Thomson, London Review of Books “Engrossing…. Scrupulously attending to the distinct personalities, cultural conditions, and media environment that joined forces to create `arguably Hollywood’s greatest love story,’ Mann delivers a spirited narrative that’s hard to put down….Film buffs will eat this up.” — Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisWhen Marcia and David Pirie abandoned their careers and sailed off in their home-built ketch Moongazer, They embarked on a journey that took them around the world, and became a way of life for nine years. Travellers on a Trade Wind covers the highlights of the journey.

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Book SynopsisCharles Wheeler, the BBC's longest-serving foreign correspondent, was one of Britain's greatest news reporters. For more than four decades, he reported for radio and television from most of the world's trouble spots. Present at many of the key episodes of the twentieth century, he had - as a BBC manager noted after the shooting of George Wallace, Presidential candidate and Governor of Alabama, on 15 May 1972, 'a knack of being in the right place at the right time'. It was typical of Charles that he ran towards the sound of the gunshot while the crowd was running in the opposite direction.Wheeler's investigative skill and sense of judgement made him one of the most authoritative reporters of his generation. But what was it like to have been witness to the events that shaped our modern world? In this book - part memoir, part history, part reflection - his daughter, Shirin Wheeler, examines her father's journalistic legacy and brings her personal knowledge to bear on the project. She will tell the story of her father: a patient listener and forensic interrogator who was driven by curiosity and passion to report and expose injustice, and above all to give a voice to people ignored or unheard by many.

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Book Synopsis"Throughout his long career, Frederick Douglass cut an imposing figure, renowned as an impassioned abolitionist, a fiery writer and newspaper editor. He was a great public speaker, who became a one-man crusade for black liberation." - Robert McCrum, The Guardian."It is difficult to think of anyone, at any time, who examined the race problem in its many aspects more profoundly, extensively, and subtly than W. E. B. Du Bois." - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy."I knew that, in a large degree, we were trying an experiment--that of testing whether or not it was possible for Negroes to build up and control the affairs of a large educational institution. I knew that if we failed it would injure the whole race." ?Booker T. Washington.Three African American Classics contains three of the most significant works of African American literature by three authors who led vastly different lives. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), a runaway slave, describes the horrors and humiliations of slavery, his escape, and his journey to becoming one of America''s great statesmen and orators. Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), born into slavery, was freed at the age of nine at the end of the Civil War. Until his first day at school he was known only by the name "Booker," but to be like all the other children, he quickly added "Washington," beginning his non-confrontational approach to self-advancement. Up from Slavery describes his childhood as a slave, his dogged pursuit of education, his founding of the Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University, his work promoting educational and business opportunities for former slaves, and as an advisor to several US presidents.The Massachusetts-born, Harvard-educated W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) begins The Souls of Black Folk with the prescient phrase: "the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour line." Lyrically and poetically written, The Souls of Black Folk is a seminal work in the history of sociology and a cornerstone of African-American literature. It is a profound examination of race in America, drawing on both Du Bois''s academic training and his personal experience as an African American in the United States. The Souls of Black Folk has been called "the political Bible of the Negro race."This edition is set in an easy to read 11-point font. 

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Book Synopsis'This is the most complete self-portrait ever painted by a serial killer... as unique a document as Bundy was a killer. There are lessons in this book for everyone' ROY HAZELWOOD, FORMER FBI PROFILERCharismatic. Articulate. Evil. Killer.Two journalists with unprecedented direct access speak to Ted Bundy and those closest to him - friends and family.What follows is a candid and chilling full account of the life and crimes of the most notorious serial killer in history.What Bundy had to say in over 150 hours of face-to-face interviews is as relevant today as it was at the time.Trade Review'One of the 10 best true crime books ever written' New York Daily News * New York Daily News *'This is the most complete self-portrait ever painted by a serial killer... as unique a document as Bundy was a killer. There are lessons in this book for everyone' Roy Hazelwood, Former FBI Profiler -- Roy Hazelwood

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Book SynopsisLawrence Beesley's book, The Loss of the S. S. Titanic, provides a firsthand and heartbreaking account of the catastrophic sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. A survivor of the accident, Lawrence Beesley, contributes his personal experience and acute insights to this thorough tale, delivering a harrowing and sad viewpoint on one of history's most iconic maritime tragedies. Readers are transported to the ill-fated voyage through his words, feeling the growing tension and witnessing the turmoil that erupted as the ship met its fatal end. The author's scrupulous attention to detail, along with his own experience as a passenger on the ship, lends his descriptions an unrivaled realism. Beesley recounts the initial shock, the desperate search for lifeboats, and the indescribable anguish as the Titanic sank into the frigid waters of the North Atlantic.

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Book SynopsisThe Independent's 2017 Book of the Year and a 2020 London Eater recommended read for lockdown'If Malcolm Gladwell were to write a book about wine, the results wouldn't linger much more pleasurably on the palate than this accessible, adventurous, amusing and informative book by Bianca Bosker' - The Times Professional journalist and amateur drinker Bianca Bosker didn't know much about wine - until she discovered the world of elite sommeliers who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of flavour. Fascinated by their fervour and seemingly superhuman sensory powers, she set out to uncover what drove their obsession, and whether she, too, could become a 'cork dork.' With boundless curiosity, humour and a healthy dose of scepticism, Bosker takes the reader inside underground tasting groups, exclusive New York City restaurants, mass-market wine factories and even a neuroscientist's fMRI machine as she attempts to answer the most nagging question of all: what's the big deal about wine? Funny, counterintuitive and compulsively readable, Cork Dork does for drinking what Kitchen Confidential did for dining out, ensuring you'll never reach blindly for the second cheapest bottle on the menu again.Trade ReviewAccessible, adventurous, amusing and informative * The Times *Perhaps the most purely pleasurable book about wine ever written, this account of Bianca Bosker's journey from clueless wine boor to certifiable wine bore is everything wine writing so seldom is: nimble, self-aware, funny. -- George Reynolds * Eater London *Bosker's journey into this sodden universe is thrilling, and she tells her story with gonzo élan. * New York Times *Remarkably entertaining. Bosker is a talented writer, a thorough reporter and is unfailingly funny. * San Francisco Chronicle *such a good story, so brilliantly written...Make this the first book you buy in 2018. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK. * JancisRobinson.com *A marvelous journey through the mad, manic, seductive subculture of wine and wine lovers. * Susan Orlean *I loved this book. It's not just about wine. It's about learning how to listen to your senses, to more deeply experience and appreciate the world around you, and everyone could use another glass of that. * Mary Roach *A brilliant feat of screwball participatory journalism. * Jay McInerney *excellent -- Martin Moran * The Sunday Times Ireland *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the PEN/Ackerley Prize 2014The book opens and we are inside the wave: thirty feet high, moving at twenty-five mph, racing two miles inland. And from there into the depths of the author's despair: how to live now that her life has been undone? Sonali Deraniyagala tells her story - the loss of her two boys, her husband, and her parents - without artifice or sentimentality. In the stark language of unfathomable sorrow, anger, and guilt: she struggles through the first months following the tragedy -- someone always at her side to prevent her from harming herself, her whole being furiously clenched against the reality she can't face; and then reluctantly emerging and, over the ensuing years, slowly allowing her memory to function again. Then she goes back through the rich and joyous life she's mourning, from her family's home in London, to the birth of her children, to the year she met her English husband at Cambridge, to her childhood in Colombo while learning the balance between the almost unbearable reminders of her loss and her fundamental need to keep her family, somehow, still with her.Trade ReviewIn her unflinching writing you live through the horror and despair, but also feel her self-generated repair and the promise of survival -- Harriet Walter * The Week *

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Book SynopsisThis ground-breaking biography is as much about Sun Ra's music as it is about his passionate, often wildly unorthodox views on the galaxy, black people and spiritual matters. With the various incarnations of his inimitable Arkestra, his repertoire ranged from boogie-woogie to swing to be-bop to fusion to New Age, and his influence extended throughout the jazz and rock worlds. While Sun Ra made a lifelong effort to obscure many of the facts of his early years, he did acknowledge that he was born on the planet Saturn. John Szwed has succeeded brilliantly in delving into and evoking the life and work of this extraordinary artist.Trade ReviewThose who read this book will be spellbound * * The Voice * *a brilliant book, a sprawling, curlicued, swinging account of anextraordinary man's great adventure with a bunch of ideas that madesense to him out of a senseless world * * Independent on Sunday * *this is the year's best jazz biography * * Evening Standard * *one of the best books ever written about anything * * The Idler * *Quite possibly the most inspirational music biography ever written - Essential. * * MUZIK * *

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Book SynopsisOne of the most powerful Christian testimonies of the twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisRanulph Fiennes has entered the public imagination as the intrepid explorer par excellance. Taunted by his wife over the challenge of the never-before attempted circumpolar navigation of the globe, he set off in 1979 on a gruelling 52,000 mile adventure. Together with fellow members of 21 SAS regiment, Fiennes left from Greenwich, travelling over land, passing through both ends of the polar axis. Completed over three years later, it was the first circumpolar navigation of the globe, and justifiably entered Fiennes into the record books. TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH is the record of that journey. It captures the natural beauty of the landscapes they passed through, and the cameraderie that necessarily grows between men who had served in the British forces'' elite regiment and were now throwing themselves into danger of a different sort. Time and again, the expedition found themselves in life-threatening situations, weaving through the pack ice of the Arctic Ocean or sharing a single

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Book Synopsis'Enthralling' Daily MailIn 1998, Françoise Malby-Anthony founded a game reserve with her late husband, dedicating their lives to the protection of these beautiful, troubled animals. The Elephants of Thula Thula is the profound, compelling story of their life's work.Françoise Malby-Anthony is the owner of a game reserve in South Africa with a remarkable family of elephants whose adventures have touched hearts around the world. The herd’s feisty matriarch Frankie knows who’s in charge at Thula Thula, and it’s not Françoise. But when Frankie becomes ill, and the authorities threaten to remove or cull some of the herd if the reserve doesn’t expand, Françoise is in a race against time to save her beloved elephants . . .The joys and challenges of a life dedicated to conservation are vividly described in this charming and moving book. The search is on to get a girlfriend for orphaned rhino Thabo – and then, as his behaviour becomes increasingly boisterous, a big brother to teach him manners. Françoise realizes a dream with the arrival of Savannah the cheetah – an endangered species not seen in the area since the 1940s – and finds herself rescuing meerkats kept as pets. But will Thula Thula survive the pandemic, an invasion from poachers and the threat from a mining company wanting access to its land?As Françoise faces her toughest years yet, she realizes once again that with their wisdom, resilience and communal bonds, the elephants have much to teach us.Trade ReviewFrançoise’s descriptions of the empathetic behaviour of elephants, both towards each other and towards the humans who love them, are beguiling * Daily Mail *

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Book Synopsis'A fine biography...Rogers has done a wonderful job' Daily Telegraph J. L. Carr was the most English of Englishmen: headmaster of a Northamptonshire school, cricket enthusiast and campaigner for the conservation of country churches. But he was also the author of half a dozen utterly unique novels, including his masterpiece, A Month in the Country, and a publisher of some of the most eccentric - and smallest - books ever printed. Byron Roger's acclaimed biography reveals an elusive, quixotic and civic-minded individual with an unswerving sympathy for the underdog, who led his schoolchildren through the streets to hymn the beauty of the cherry trees and paved his garden path with the printing plates for his hand-drawn maps, and whose fiction is quite remarkably autobiographical. Much more than the life of a thoroughly decent man, The Last Englishman is a comic and touching anatomy of the best kind of Englishness. 'Conveying the significance of the author of Carr's Dictionary of Extraordinary Cricketers to anyone unfamiliar with his books, or what may now fairly be called his myth, was always going to be difficult. Somehow, Roger's has managed it' D. J. Taylor, Sunday Times 'A great success, and more life-affirming than F. R. Leavis's entire output' Independent on Sunday

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Book SynopsisOne of the most brilliant writers of her day, George Eliot (1819-1880) was also one of the most talked about. Intellectual and independent, she had the strength to defy polite society with her highly unorthodox private life, so why did she deny her fictional characters the same opportunities?Trade Review'A fascinating study of Eliot's writing and life that should send you scuttling back to re-read her novels' Annabel Edwards, THE TIMES 'Anyone who wants to rind out about the real George Eliot could not do better than to read Jennifer Uglow ... Generous, exacting and illuminating' A.S. BYATT

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Book SynopsisCharles Dickens is the acclaimed definitive biography by bestselling author Claire Tomalin Charles Dickens was a phenomenon: a demonicly hardworking journalist, the father of ten children, a tireless walker and traveller, a supporter of liberal social causes, but most of all a great novelist - the creator of characters who live immortally in the English imagination: the Artful Dodger, Mr Pickwick, Pip, David Copperfield, Little Nell, Lady Dedlock, and many more.At the age of twelve he was sent to work in a blacking factory by his affectionate but feckless parents. From these unpromising beginnings, he rose to scale all the social and literary heights, entirely through his own efforts. When he died, the world mourned, and he was buried - against his wishes - in Westminster Abbey.Yet the brilliance concealed a divided character: a republican, he disliked America; sentimental about the family in his writings, he took up passionately with a young actress; usually generous, he cut off his impecunious children. From the award-winning author of Samuel Pepys, Charles Dickens: A Life paints an unforgettable portrait of Dickens, capturing brilliantly the complex character of this great genius. If you loved Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol, this book is invaluable reading.''By far the most humane and imaginatively sympathetic account yet for the general reader'' Amanda Craig, New Statesman

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Book SynopsisUplifting and engaging, this story recounts the life and career of a rebellious 20th-century British artist

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Book SynopsisEvie and Elliot are scrawny, filthy and wide-eyed with fear when they turn up on foster carer Maggie Hartley''s doorstep. Aged just two and three years old, this brother and sister have hardly set foot outside their own home. They have been prisoners, locked in a terrifying world of abuse, violence and neglect. Maggie soon realises that Evie and Elliot are lacking the basic life skills we all take for granted. The outside world terrifies them; the sound of the doorbell sends them into a panic that takes hours to abate. Gradually unlocking the truth of their heart-breaking upbringing, Maggie tells their shocking true story.From emotionally scarred and damaged little children, we see how - with warmth and dedication - Maggie transforms their lives. As this moving story unfolds, we share Maggie''s joy when these children finally smile again, when they realise they do have a future after all.A true story of hope from Sunday Times bestselling author Ma

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Book SynopsisThe artist memoir, ghetto narrative and manual of divine mathematics from hip-hop's most exalted wise man.

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Book SynopsisThe end of a journey, the beginning of a new life.—I’m Syrian, and I got here from Turkey.—Whoaaa! That’s a hell of a trip!—You could say that . . . I left home almost three years ago.After being rescued from the Mediterranean, Hakim and his son reach European soil, full of hope. But before they can get to France, they face a new series of challenges: overcrowded detention centers, run-ins with border police, and a persistent xenophobia that seems to follow them almost everywhere they go. Will Hakim’s determination and the kindness of strangers be enough to carry him to the end of his journey and reunite his family?By turns heart-warming and heart-wrenching, this final installment in the Hakim’s Odyssey trilogy follows Hakim and his son as they make their way from Macedonia to the south of France. Based on true events, it lays bare the tremendous effects that the policies of wealthy countries and the attitudes of their people have on the lives of the displaced and dispossessed.Trade Review“Toulmé’s affecting storytelling depicts the vast differences of each country’s treatment of migrants, as well as the Kafkaesque maze many ordinary people fleeing hardships face. Series fans will appreciate this thoughtful conclusion, and the completed trilogy should gain a wider readership as well as ready adoption into schools or reading groups.”—starred review Publishers Weekly“A satisfying conclusion to an authentic, epic modern quest adventure.”—starred review Foreword Reviews

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Book Synopsis'I have been a campaigner in many human rights causes, some successful, some less so, some failed. My mother once said, 'Anthony, we had such a fine system until you ruined it!' I hope she was wrong.' Over the course of his illustrious, pioneering and sometimes controversial career, Anthony Lester transformed Britain's approach to human rights. As a brave and creative lawyer, and as a peer in the House of Lords, he worked tirelessly to combat abuses of public power and to introduce new legal frameworks for human rights, equality and free speech. In these honest and remarkable personal memoirs, which map the history of human rights in this country over the past half-century, Anthony Lester explores the social conditions and interior circumstances that shaped his life as a relentless and passionate campaigner for equality and justice.Trade Review"An informative, provocative and deeply personal account of a distinguished life in law and politics." - Lord Pannick QC "A brave trailblazer for human rights." - Sir Harold Evans, former editor of the Sunday Times "In his eloquent memoir, Anthony Lester weaves the story of the expansion of human rights at home and abroad, drawing on his own involvement in many of the legal breakthrough moments. We too often forget how human rights have been strengthened around the globe, even as our democratic societies face renewed assaults on the rule of law. This rich history by a great human rights lawyer is a reminder that 'hope dies last...', and that we cannot give up hope." - Margaret H. Marshall, former Chief Justice, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

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Book SynopsisBy the time of his death, Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826) was the founder of Singapore and Governor of Java, having left school in his early teens to become a clerk for the British East India Company. Charismatic and daring, Raffles forged an extraordinary path for himself in South East Asia - refusing to be satisfied with the trading posts available to the British, he defied Dutch governors and wrangled with warring local rulers to establish what is now a world city. An ardent linguist and zoologist, Raffles spoke fluent Malay and found time to write The History of Java, as well as naming several species of flora and fauna he discovered on his travels. He founded London Zoo and promoted the study of Malay alongside European languages in Southeast Asia. Raffles remains a controversial figure - a utopian imperialist, disobedient employee and knight of the realm who died deeply in debt, predeceased by all but one of his children. He built racial segregation into his urban planning, but was also a staunch abolitionist. Renowned biographer Victoria Glendinning charts Raffles' prodigious rise in this new edition, specially updated for the bicentenary of the foundation of Singapore in 1819. His life was short, complicated and shot through with tragedy, but Raffles' fame lives on.Trade Review'Spirited, fluent and immaculately researched ... Glendinning's book, with its breezy prose and brisk judgments, makes a splendid tribute to a great British character ' * Sunday Times *'Marvellously readable, personally illuminating and highly entertaining' * Guardian *'A judicious and utterly compelling account of the man who would change the map of South East Asia' * John Keay *

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Book SynopsisMarylebone has been home to its fair share of rogues, villains and eccentrics, and their stories are told here. The authors also want to remind the reader that alongside the glamour of Society, there has also been hardship and squalor in the parish, as was graphically illustrated in Charles Booth's poverty maps of London in 1889.Over the past 10 years the Marylebone Journal has printed historical essays on the people, places, and events that have helped shape the character of the area. Some are commemorated with a blue plaque, but many are not. This is not a check-list of the grandees of Marylebone, though plenty appear in these pages.The essays have been grouped into themes of: history, politicians and warriors, culture and sport (from pop music and television to high art), love and marriage (stories from romance to acrimonious divorce), criminals, science and medicine, buildings and places, and the mad bad and dangerous to know ‒ those whose stories don't fit a convenient box but are too good not to tell.Table of Contents INTRODUCTION A brief history of Marylebone POLITICIANS & WARRIORS Edwin James, the dishonourable member Leo Marks and the code wars The lonely demise of Benedict Arnold The very model of a modern major general Profile: Earl Charles Stanhope (1753-1816) Profile: Talleyrand (1754-1838) Profile: William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806) Profile: Lord George Bentinck (1802-1848) Profile: Earl Frederick Sleigh Roberts (1832-1914) Profile: Emily Faithfull (1835–1895) Profile: Emma Cons (1838-1912) CULTURE & SPORT John Ruskin's tea shop The tragi-comedy of Edward Lear The bitter end of Anthony Trollope Wilkie Collins: Marylebone man The ghost of Sarah Siddons The Hollywood tale of Edgar Wallace The urban idyll of Patrick Lichfield George Stubbs and the equine obsession James Figg, king of Marylebone Plains Thomas Lord and the MCC Profile: Arthur Wing Pinero (1855-1934) Profile: John Buchan (1875-1940) Profile: Douglas Jardine (1900-1958) Profile: Edward R Murrow (1908-1965) Profile: Victor Weisz (1913-1966) Profile: Kenneth Williams (1926-88) Profile: Jacqueline Du Pré (1945-1987) LOVE & MARRIAGE The Barrett-Browning story St Marylebone: for better, for worse The mismatches of St Mary's The public undoing of Mrs Mary Evans The Earl of Orkney and the burlesque dancer The old lady and her Buttons The scandalous life of Lady Jane Digby The Wallace Collection's dirty laundry The loveless marriage of Edward James CRIMES & MISDEMEANOURS The revolution at Cato Street The Great London Diamond Robbery of 1871 The public destruction of Dr Stephen Ward Jacob Henriques and the body in the barrel The lady thief of Portman Square The memoirs of a Marylebone judge Viscount Galway and the gambling den The US ambassador's deception The suspicious death of Dr Gordon Ley SCIENCE & MEDICINE A brief history of Harley Street Dr Allinson's big mouth Sydney Ringer's heartfelt solution Dr Hunter's miracle cure The US dentist and the British smile The medical men of Wimpole Street Dr Richardson and the awkward bequest The eccentric genius of Charles Babbage Profile: Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1857) Profile: Charles Lyell (1797-1875) Profile: Mary Seacole (1805-1881) Profile: Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) MAD, BAD & DANGEROUS TO KNOW The death of St George Henry Lowther Lady Mary Jeune, the real Lady Bracknell William Wellesley's final humiliation The strange legacy of Joanna Southcott The distinguished failure of Francis of Teck The horse banquet at the Langham Hotel The green door of Reverend and Mrs Haweis The Baker Street mad dog Ye Ancient Order of Froth Blowers The ladies of Lower Jerome Place Debenham & Freebody v Alfred Mellon BUILDINGS & PLACES The genius of John Nash The architects' architecture Marylebone's garden squares The parks and gardens of Marylebone The mystery of the Fitzpatrick Mausoleum The rise and fall of Marylebone station John Castles and Grotto Passage The Marylebone street fight The workhouse of St Marylebone Profile: Alfred Waterhouse (1830-1905) Index

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Book SynopsisWinner of the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction. A letter arrives. You’ve got an appointment with a trainee clinical psychologist on April 29, 2008. You don’t attend. Another letter arrives. It says they don’t normally reschedule appointments, but they know this is hard for you, so they’re offering you another appointment. It’s on May 13, 2008. You don’t attend. Two years later you shoot three people and shoot yourself. You will be called a monster. You will be called evil. The prime minister, David Cameron, will stand up in Parliament and say you were a callous murderer, end of story. You have nine days and your whole life to prove you are more than a callous murderer. Go. Raoul Moat became notorious one hot July week when, after killing his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend, shooting her in the stomach, and blinding a policeman, he disappeared into the woods of Northumberland, evading discovery for seven days. Eventually, cornered by the police, Moat shot himself. Here, Andrew Hankinson re-tells Moat's story using Moat’s words, and those of the state services which engaged with him, bringing the reader disarmingly close, at all times, to the mind of Moat.Trade Review‘Immersing the reader in Moat’s self-justifications, You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat] is both an experiment in empathy and an exploration of the limits of empathy — holding the reader hostage in the echo chamber of an angry and confused man’s head.’ -- Louis Theroux‘Brilliantly written … Smart literary non fiction.’ -- Jon Ronson, author of The Psychopath Test‘The media love the idea that a killer’s mind is somehow “impenetrable”, because it gives them carte blanche to fill it up with their sensationalised bullshit … This book does the commendable job of demystifying evil yet again, and showing us the rainy-Tuesday-afternoon-dullness and grinding frustration that can lead some unbalanced people to topple into the abyss.’ -- Will Self‘What sets this book apart is the fact that Hankinson’s narrative, written in the second person, is formed entirely of Moat’s own words. The result is a desperately sad book about masculinity, deprivation, and loss.’ -- Rachel Cooke * The Observer *‘Andrew Hankinson’s You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat] is an account of Moat’s last days that, written in the second person and drawing on diary entries and previously unheard tapes, reads like a novel.’ -- Tom Gatti * New Statesman *‘Writer and reader squat inside a mind that moves from irrational anger and self-pity to despondency … Hankinson deftly assembles [Moat’s] inner workings, lending credibility to his portrait while, beyond the myopic commentary, we know, although we don’t see it, that the outside world is closing in.’ -- Benjamin Myers * New Statesman *‘Brilliant, gripping, and important. Fans of Gordon Burn have found a new favourite writer.’ -- Will Storr, author of The Heretics: adventures with the enemies of science‘We all know how the story ends, but this balled fist of a book reads like a thriller.’ -- Dan Rhodes, author of When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow‘A powerful portrayal of the banality of violence … a trigger finger of a book: taut, tense, and on edge.’ -- Helen Davies * Sunday Times *‘Claustrophobic, tense, and truly original, this gripping account of Raoul Moat’s last days is impossible to put down. Andrew Hankinson has done a superb job in marshalling the source material and presenting it in such a way that the reader sees an unravelling world through Moat’s eyes. The result is utterly unexpected, leaving one torn between feelings of disgust, fear and pity. This is a book that stays with you for a long time.’ -- Dan Davies, author of In Plain Sight‘A claustrophobic true-crime account in the tradition of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood … [Hankinson’s] purpose is to show Moat as a product of our culture and society … Moat is presented as an intriguing case study in disintegration, making bad choices then devoting all his intelligence to justifying them in his own head.’ -- Gavin Knight * The Guardian *‘Hankinson’s approach, a descendant of the literary non-fiction favoured by fellow Northerners Gordon Burn, Blake Morrison, and David Peace, allows us to inspect Moat’s bitter logic up close.’ -- Philip Maughan * Financial Times *‘An extraordinary study of violence, in all its bathos and banality.’ -- Sarah Ditum * The Spectator *‘Masculinity, media, and life on the margins of modern Britain are all put under the microscope via the true and sorry story of outlaw Raoul Moat … His very public disintegration is captured perfectly by Andrew Hankinson.’ -- Benjamin Myers, author of Beastings and Pig Iron‘[Hankinson’s] bold non-fiction debut puts you in the gunman’s shoes by weaving an urgent second-person narrative from his on-record thoughts … Intelligently done.’ -- Anthony Cummins * Metro *‘Taut, uncomfortably thrilling … An unvarnished reconstruction of Moat’s murderous rampage, which allows the facts — and the perpetrator — to speak for themselves … Moat was a tormented man with little mastery over his violent urges. His testimony lays bare a retarded moral sense: right until the end he was largely unrepentant of his actions, elated even, and indifferent or oblivious to the pain he had caused. He was a destroyer, not a hero.’ -- Rob Doyle * Irish Times *‘In less skilful hands, telling the story through Moat’s eyes could have burnished the outlaw “legend” of Moat. Hankinson does not do that, even though he shows us flashes of humanity … His book does its bit in demystifying evil.’ * The Times *‘A remarkable book … [which] gives the reader the chilling, dreadful impression of being inside Moat’s head. Nothing less than compelling.’ * Irish Independent *‘[A] gripper, a powerful literary experiment written in the voice of the killer.’ -- Jessie Burton * The Guardian *‘Chilling … A very unsettling read.’ * The Herald *‘Impressive … A powerful, intimate account of a ruined mind.’ -- Sam Jordison * 3:AM Magazine *‘Powerfully and claustrophobically effective … [Hankinson] generates just enough sympathy and pathos to make sense of the situation, but no more.’ -- Theo Tait * LRB *‘I strongly recommend this book. Brilliantly written.’ -- John Niven, author of Kill Your Friends‘The second-person voice is a notoriously tricky one to maintain and Hankinson uses it to great effect … Another strength is the overwhelming sense that Moat is not in control of his own narrative.’ * The Saturday Paper *‘Hankinson has pulled off a singular journalistic feat, filtering the sequence of events following Moat’s release from prison through his own eyes. What Moat knows, we know. This is fact, with gelignite at its core.’ BOOK OF THE WEEK * Weekend Press *‘[Hankinson] takes us inside the killer’s head without giving the reader the privilege of distance from which to judge him.’ * The Guardian *‘Being in Moat’s angry, paranoid head is an uncomfortable and gut-churning place to be, yet Andrew Hankinson never lets Moat off the hook, challenging his victim mentality and denials of wrong-doing with bald statements of fact. This is a powerful and disquieting book.’ * Crime Review *‘One of the most original true crime books to emerge from Britain in the last decade … A tradition in British crime writing is to begin with the shootout and then whizz back to the perp’s childhood to pore over clues that might explain his behavior. Instead, Hankinson keeps us in the eye of the storm — creating what Hollywood calls a ‘contained drama’ that confines the reader inside the protagonist’s unhinged mind. The result is devastating: we see how Moat justifies his actions and ignores those who try to help, with no pesky analysis to interrupt the events … While the author does deftly fact-check Moat’s unreliable narration with clever parentheses, his immersive second-person approach was a brave storytelling decision that has won the book awards in England … [a] grim, high-definition, virtual-reality portrait.’ -- Jeff Maysh * Los Angeles Review of Books *‘True crime from a radically different perspective.’ * Kirkus *‘Brilliant.’ -- John Naughton * GQ *‘A remarkable journey through the last days of a confused and aggressive mind.’ -- Robin Ince‘Readers see and experience only what Moat saw, which helps to paint a terrifying picture of a man who was suffering from acute mental health problems … The style of writing naturally makes you empathise with the villain in a way that other books would not, but Hankinson manages to tell the story with impressive objectivity.’ * Foul Play Magazine *‘Haunting and deeply unsettling.’ -- Tobias Carroll * Mystery Tribune *

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Book SynopsisFrom a trusted advisor and devoted friend of Mother Teresa comes a “powerful” (The Washington Free Beacon) firsthand account of the miraculous woman behind the saint and a book that is “rich in reflection on contemporary sanctity” (George Weigel).Mother Teresa was one of the most admired women of the 20th century, and her memory continues to inspire charitable work around the world. She believed the greatest need of a human being is to love and be loved. In 1948, she founded the Missionaries of Charity to work directly with the very poorest of Calcutta. From the efforts of one woman entering the slums of Entally, the Missionaries of Charity grew into an organization operating soup kitchens, health clinics, hospices, and shelters in 139 countries, at no cost to any government or to those who served. In 2016, she became Saint Teresa of Calcutta. Author Jim Towey had been a high-flying Congressional staffer and lawyer in the 1980s until a brief meeting with Mother Teresa illuminated the emptiness of his life. He began volunteering at one of her soup kitchens and using his legal skills and political connections to help the Missionaries of Charity. When Mother Teresa suggested he take up shifts at her AIDS hospice, Towey realized he was all in. Soon, he gave up his job and possessions and became a full-time volunteer for Mother Teresa. He traveled with her frequently, arranged her meetings with politicians, and handled many of her legal affairs. To Love and Be Loved is an “inspiring and joyful” (Kirkus Reviews) firsthand account of Mother Teresa’s last years, and the first book ever to detail her dealings with worldly matters. We see her gracefully navigate the opportunities and challenges to leadership, the perils of celebrity, and the humiliations and triumphs of aging. We also catch her indulging in chocolate ice cream, making jokes about mini-skirts, and telling the President of the United States he’s wrong. Above all, we see her extraordinary devotion to God and to the very poorest of His children. Mother Teresa taught Towey to be more prayerful, less selfish, more humble, less worldly, move in love with God, and less in love with himself. Her lessons are here for all to share.

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Book SynopsisClear-eyed, inspiring and incisive, this is the story of a man of consummate ambition, who made a significant andasting mark on India''s judicialandscape. The Supreme Court of India has witnessed a succession ofarger-than-life chief justices in its seven-decade history. But it has never seen theikes of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. Fiery yet charming, and simultaneously principled and pragmatic, Gogoi is a fascinating man of contrasts who has intrigued observers across the political and social spectrum. Now, for the first time, Gogoi tells the dramatic story of hisife in fascinating detail in Justice for the Judge. He traces his journey from Dibrugarh in Assam to the highest court of theand through people,andmark cases and his own judicial ambition, and reveals theessons heearnt along the way about the country''segal system. Never one to shy away from contentious issues, Gogoi provides a no-holds-barred account of the extraordinary events that characterized his tenure in the apex courtthe infamous'' press conference prior to his elevation as the most powerful judge in theand, unsubstantiated allegations of sexual harassment and the impact of tabloid journalism. He also takes readers through the important meetings, intense interactions and private confrontation that preceded theandmark verdicts authored by himRafale and the contempt proceeding initiated against Mr Rahul Gandhi, Sabarimala, NRC and Ayodhya. Justice for the Judge is also a definitive insider''s account that fills aarge gap in our understanding of the drama and majesty of the nation''s highest court.

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Book SynopsisThe car world is full of fascinating characters, but few have a story to tell quite as remarkable and inspirational as Tom Hartley. Walking out of school at the age of 11, unable to read or write, Hartley set up his own business buying and selling cars. From that moment on he defied logic and ripped up the rule book on his way to the top.Today, he heads one of the most successful independent family-run luxury, performance and classic car businesses in the world, and has built an unrivalled reputation as 'The Dealmaker.' Tom has been at the top for over 40 years, survived and thrived through four recessions, and overcome three life-threatening illnesses. In his own brutally honest words Hartley tells his gripping story of a boy from a traditional Romany family who swapped the classroom for the cut-throat world of Glasgow's car auctions, buying and selling his first car at the age of 12. Having decided to illegally drive himself, he was only 15 when he had his first car crash, and they don't come more spectacular than writing off a Ferrari Dino - nothing has ever been mundane in the world of Tom Hartley! Hartley had made his first million by the age of 17, but soon suffered major setbacks as his business went bust, and he found himself at risk of losing his sight without major surgery. Hartley started all over again, living with his wife in a mobile home, and working from the back of a car. He had gone from hero to zero, but his burning desire to be the best saw him climb his way back to the top. His ability to clinch deals in some of the most bizarre places has become legendary, like buying a car in a sauna, while stuck in a traffic jam on a motorway, and even in a swimming pool! Family has played a key part in the Tom Hartley story: his wife, Priscilla, has been at his side all the way, and his two sons have followed closely in their father's footsteps. Indeed, Tom's belief in family is just one of the inspiring messages that comes through in his book. Hartley's inspirational story is about his unshakeable belief in his own abilities, from a precocious schoolboy who had a dream, and then through sheer hard work and a burning desire made the dream come true. This is not just a book for car enthusiasts but for anyone who has dared to dream. It's a story that will inspire and motivate, and proves you can make the wildest dream come true if you want it badly enough ..Table of ContentsContents: Chapter 1 - Swapping the classroom for the auction halls. Covering the early years as Tom walks out of school aged 11 to start his business buying and selling cars in the Glasgow Auction Halls, unable to read or write. Chapter 2 - Making my first million by the age of 17. The fast track years from schoolboy to businessman and how he made his first million by 17. Chapter 3 - From Hero to Zero. - The dramatic crash of his business literally overnight at the same time as risking losing his eyesight. Chapter 4 - Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace. - Tells the story of Tom's totally unorthodox way of doing business and the bizarre places he bought and sold cars. Chapter 5 - The Customer is King - How Tom has strived to give his customers the ultimate experience and how celebrities have played a key role in his business. Chapter 6 - Diversify and Prosper - Tom Hartley is known for his car empire, but he also has another successful business in the Park Home industry and why it is equally important. Chapter 7 - Home is where the heart is. A 40 acre estate in the heart of the English countryside is not only the base for Tom's business but also where his home is. Literally showing business and pleasure can mix. Chapter 8 - It's a Family Affair - Family is everything to Tom Hartley and this chapter describes the key role they play in the business - with comments from his family on what makes Tom tick. Chapter 9 - My Mentor and Inspirations - Tom's only mentor was his father Tom, but the chapter also looks at people who have inspired Tom. Chapter 10 - What the Media Say about Tom Hartley - Covers the unique relationship Tom has enjoyed with the media over his life. Also four pages of headlines from various media. Chapter 11- The Winning Formula - Tom describes his winning formula and finishes with his Top Tips on how to win at business.

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Book SynopsisIn September 1939, housewife and mother Nella Last began a diary whose entries, in their regularity, length and quality, have created a record of the Second World War which is powerful, fascinating and unique. When war broke out, Nella's younger son joined the army while the rest of the family tried to adapt to civilian life. Writing each day for the "Mass Observation" project, Nella, a middle-aged housewife from the bombed town of Barrow, shows what people really felt during this time. This was the period in which she turned 50, saw her children leave home, and reviewed her life and her marriage - which she eventually compares to slavery. Her growing confidence as a result of her war work makes this a moving (though often comic) testimony, which, covering sex, death and fear of invasion, provides a new, unglamorised, female perspective on the war years.'Next to being a mother, I'd have loved to write books.' Oct 8, 1939Trade ReviewA classic of wartime literature...highly engaging, very moving. All Home Front life is here, especially the kitchen sink * Simon Garfield *I relished it...her personality is so powerful...There are so many things to admire about her. * Margaret Forster *A fantastic story...This is not the war of the newsreels - it's about tiny domestic difficulties, lumpy custard... * Victoria Wood *I adored [it.]. An extraordinary glimpse into the heart of an 'ordinary' woman, Nella Last's day-to-day account of her war is spirited, poignant and utterly compelling. * Lucy Moore *

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Book SynopsisThe dramatic life of the revolutionary hero Bolivar, who liberated South America - a sweeping narrative worthy of a Hollywood epic.Simón Bolivar's life makes for one of history's most dramatic canvases, a colossal narrative filled with adventure and disaster, victory and defeat. This is the story not just of an extraordinary man but of the liberation of a continent.A larger-than-life figure from a tumultuous age, Bolívar ignited a revolution, liberated six countries from Spanish rule and is revered as the great hero of South American history. In a sweeping narrative worthy of a Hollywood epic, BOLIVAR colourfully portrays this extraordinarily dramatic life. From his glorious battlefield victories to his legendary love affairs, Bolívar emerges as a man of many facets: fearless and inspiring general, consummate diplomat, passionate abolitionist and gifted writer.Trade ReviewThe case for Bolívar as one of the world's most extraordinary 19th-century leaders is well made by Marie Arana ... Arana's prose is often beautiful. A novelist turned historian, she tells Bolívar's story wonderfully ... Two centuries after his death, Bolívar inflames passions that better-known characters no longer ignite. Arana's biography explains why. -- Giles Tremlett * THE OBSERVER *I suspect that one reason why her biography is so plausible and engagingly told is that the Peruvian-born Arana is herself a writer of fiction. Like Garcia Marquez (who memorably fictionalised Bolivar in The General in his Labyrinth), she has an instinct for the vitalising detail...As well, his sad and contradictory story demands a novelist's empathy. -- Nicholas Shakespeare * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Arana's account of Bolivar leading his rag-bag army across the dizzying heights of the Paramo de Pisba - a virtual wall of ice and scree - is gripping stuff...Equally compelling are Arana's accounts of Bolivar's countless affairs, especially with his principal mistress, Manuela Saenz, whose ambiguous sexuality and scandalous behaviour earned her notoriety across Bolivar's vast fiefdom. -- Giles Milton * MAIL ON SUNDAY *Marie Arana has done a superb job...with a biography that is as enjoyable as a novel, capturing the imagination with its fluid prose and the power of the drama that unfolded as the age of revolution reached Spanish America. -- Eduardo Posada-Carbo * THE TABLET *Thrilling, authoritative and revelatory, here at last is a biography of Bolivar, the maker of South America, that catches the sheer extraordinary unique adventure and titanic scale of his life with accessible narrative and scholarly judgement. * Simon Sebag Montefiore *Arana is an indefatigable researcher, a perceptive historian, and a luminous writer, as shown in herdefining, exhilarating biography of the great South American liberator Simón Bolívar. -- Brad Hooper * BOOKLIST (USA) *The George Washington of South America cuts a dashing though dark-edged and ultimately tragic figure in this rousing biography. Peruvian journalist Arana (American Chica) chronicles Gen. Simón Bolívar's struggle against the Spanish Empire in the 1810s and '20s through several dizzying cycles of battlefield victory, triumphal procession, demoralizing reversal, and squalid exile, before he finally drove imperial forces out of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Her vivid portrait shows us a charismatic man of high ideals, fiery oratory, unflagging energy and resolve, bold strategies, and a romantic aura-"he rode, ragged and shirtless... his wild long hair riding the wind"-that women found irresistible. * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (USA) *Inspired. . . . Arana ably captures the brash brilliance of this revered and vilified leader. * KIRKUS REVIEWS (USA) *In "Bolívar: American Liberator," Bolívar emerges as a complex and confounding human being. He was the essential figure in the revolutionary wars that created five South American countries. Brilliant and erudite, he was an idealist and also a ruthless military leader as well as a deeply charismatic a man of letters -- Hector Tobar * LOS ANGELES TIMES (USA) *"Bolivar" is a monumental achievement destined to win some major literary prizes. Like most recent books on the North American founders, it assumes that all icons are also flawed creatures. All of Bolivar's flaws are on display here - his inveterate womanizing, periodic bouts of arrogance, flirtation with Napoleonic versions of omnipotence. But if Jefferson is eventually proved right, and democracy does come to Latin America in full form, the man so brilliantly recovered in these pages will be shouting hosannas from the heavens. -- Joseph J Ellis * WASHINGTON POST (USA) *Finally, Bolivar gets the sweeping biography he deserves. He was the greatest leader in Latin American history, and his tale is filled with lessons about leadership and passion. This book reads like a wonderful novel but is researched like a masterwork of history. -- Walter Isaacson, author of STEVE JOBSThis is a magnificent story. Deeply researched and written with clarity, honesty, and verve, Marie Arana's book tells the life of one of the greatest heroes and founders in world history. North Americans who know only of George Washington will thrill to read the epic adventures of his South American counterpart. As fantastic as Bolivar's life appears, 'it is not,' as Arana says of Latin America's bloody past in general, 'magical realism. It is history. It is true. -- Gordon S. Wood, author of EMPIRE OF LIBERTY, Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History Emeritus at Brown UniversityWith the eye and ear of a novelist, Marie Arana chants the epic of Bolivar with love, zest, and compelling authority. -- Walter A. McDougall, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Alloy-Ansin Professor of International Relations, University of PennsylvaniaSimon Bolivar has found the perfect biographer in Marie Arana, a literary journalist, brilliant novelist of South America, and wise historian as well. Her portrait of Bolivar is human and moving; she has written a powerful and epic life and times. -- Evan Thomas, author of IKE'S BLUFF: PRESIDENT EISENHOWER'S SECRET STRUGGLE TO SAVE THE WORLDArana's zestful biography is as action-packed as it is authoritative -- Iain Finlayson * THE TIMES *Marie Arana has read all the extant archives and has written an admirable, action-filled life. She follows Bolivar from his rich, aristocratic birth, early losses of mother and then child-bride, to his political awakening and rush into action. Her biography is so close to experience that we are back with Bolivar himself, "exuberant mustache and dazzling smile", almost feeling the wind as he passes. -- Jason Wilson * THE INDEPENDENT *Simon Bolivar, the Liberator, still casts a long shadow in his native Latin America, almost too mythic to have been an actual man. Beautifully written, Bolivar reads like a great work of fiction, yet this book is a well-researched major work of history. * THE LADY *Marie Arana makes a gripping tale from the life story of Simon Bolivar, the dramatic but controversial son of Spanish America. -- Giles Fitzherbert * LITERARY REVIEW *Now we have this splendid new biography by Marie Arana, a Peruvian scholar long established as a literary journalist in the United States. -- Richard Gott * HISTORY TODAY *

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Book SynopsisMichelle Williams is young and attractive, she has close family ties as well as a busy social life - but she is far from usual. She is a mortuary technician and her job involves dealing with those things in life that many people do not wish to experience directly.Yet life in the mortuary is neither gruesome nor sad. Told with good humour and common sense, we are introduced to a host of characters - the pathologists, many of them eccentric, some downright mad; the undertakers, the hospital porters and the man from the coroner's office who sings to Michelle every morning.The incidents too ensure that no two days are ever the same. From the tragic to the hilarious they include: The fitness fanatic who was run over as he did pressups in the road on a dark night The decapitated motorcyclist The guide dog who led his owner on to the railway tracks - and left him there The forty stone man for whom an entire refrigerated lorry had to be hired because he wouldn't fit in the mortuary coolerOver the course of her first year Michelle has to deal with situations and emotions that few of us will ever experience, and does so while retaining a sense of humour and a sense of perspective.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[An] excellent new book." -- Robert Krulwich, NPR "[A] sumptuously illustrated visual biography...Radioactive is an incisive look at science's greatest partnership." -- Vogue "One of the most beautiful books-as-object that I've ever seen." -- Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love "[Radioactive is] a deeply unusual and forceful thing to have in your hands. Ms. Redniss's text is long, literate and supple...Her drawings are both vivid and ethereal...Radioactive is serious science and brisk storytelling. The word 'luminous' is a critic's cliche, to be avoided at all costs, but it fits." -- New York Times "Radioactive is quite unlike any book I have ever read-part history, part love story, part art work and all parts sheer imaginative genius." -- Malcolm Gladwell "Absolutely dazzling. Lauren Redniss has created a book that is both vibrant history and a work of art. Like radium itself, Radioactive glows with energy." -- Richard Rhodes, author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, winner of the Pulitzer Prize "Radioactive offer innumerable wonders. Colors suddenly bloom into tremendous feeling, history contracts into a pair of elongated figures locked in an embrace, then expands again in an explosive rush of words. In this wholly original book about passion and discovery Lauren Redniss has invented her own unique form." -- Nicole Krauss, author of The History of Love

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Book SynopsisThe first biography of pioneering female Pop Artist Pauline Boty.Trade Review“The Pop artist Pauline Boty was a mysterious beauty glimpsed in glossy British magazines, her work obscured by that beauty, her output cut short by her early death. Marc Kristal’s exceptional biography brings back to life one of the most compelling figures of sixties London. With exceptional research, intelligent empathy, a talent for contextualizing those times of change and a felicitous style, he brings the many tragedies of her story and the delicious inventions of her oeuvre into full and rewarding focus. One of the best books of its kind I have ever read.” -- Joan Juliet Buck (author)“How wonderful that one of those exciting and innovative women artists of the 60s should be recovered and celebrated in this way.” -- Julie Christie (actress)"All the years of [Marc’s] work…have made a book that captures the meaning of Pauline’s life and work as exactly as is possible." -- Caroline Coon (painter)"An astonishing, rich examination of a personality, a character completely thorough and balanced…The descriptions are vivid and faultless in tone and detail…Right in so many ways about [Boty’s] feminism and its ambiguities. A brilliant job." -- Richard Hollis (graphic designer)“I so enjoyed this… Manages to balance the artist, time period and personal life in a very engaging and original way.” -- Lynn Horsford (film producer) “The book brings Pauline back. I feel I know her now – her secrets, her excitements, her fears, the guys, the painting, the running away, the going forward. Marc Kristal is a magician, who remakes a time, and gives the people in it life again. I thought it was terrific.” -- Michael Lindsay-Hogg (director)“Moving, tenderly handled and illuminating… What has clearly been a labour of love.” -- Poppy Luard (production designer & art director)“I thoroughly enjoyed the book… Most of Pauline’s life and the development of Pop Art was new to me and I found it completely absorbing… The book is very nostalgic and brought the Cromwell Road scene back with a bang.” -- Margaret Matheson (film producer)“I am mightily impressed with [the] storytelling, the ease and forward-motion of [the] lively prose, and of course the tales of all three protagonists.” -- Gordon Rogoff (theatre director & critic)“In this absorbing biography, a vivid collage of voices, and a masterfully written narrative, combine to restore to prominence the life and work of an entirely remarkable woman.” -- Gay Talese (author)"Wonderfully evocative…This book brings Boty to life: brave, flirty and fizzing with promise." -- Laura Freeman, The Times of London“..a rich retelling of the short but intense career of this once-overlooked British Pop artist… an excellent portrait of a vital moment in culture. Kristal has devoted extensive research to the artist’s life and work, interviewing many contemporaries and sifting through copious archives. He has vividly reimaged the artistic milieu of the time, interspersing Boty’s biographical details with voices from the past, including the artist’s own writings.” -- Jonathan Bell, Wallpaper“A valuable and unusual addition to the literature on British Pop Art – and a necessary counterweight to the male domination of the movement.” -- Marco Livingstone (art historian)“Kristal’s book is a study of the fascinating, now distant ambiance of 1960s London, as well as of a unique figure from that time.” -- Martin Gayford, The Spectator * The Spectator *"A fascinating, informative, and illustrated biography... exceptionally well written and presented." * Midwest Book Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 SUBURBAN GIRL 2 WIMBLEDON BARDOT 3 AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART: PART 1 ‘The Place’ 4 AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART: PART 2 ‘Technicolor’ 5 AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART: PART 3 ‘La Boty’ 6 AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART: PART 4 ‘Capital-P Pop’ 7 AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART: PART 5 ‘To think I’ve got someone like that for a daughter!’ 8 HELLO, CRUEL WORLD 9 THE ART OF ACTING 10 BREAKTHROUGH 11 BREAKOUT 12 ‘A VERY CONFIDENT MAN’ 13 PERSONALITY ON TRIAL 14 PAULINE’S CHOICE 15 JOURNEY’S END 16 GONE Epilogue: Nothing Left in the World Index Acknowledgements Picture credits

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Book SynopsisBefore Fridtjof Nansen's Greenland expedition of 1888, the vast impenetrable arctic regions exasperated nineteenth-century scientists. The twenty-six-year-old thought he knew better. Convinced that he would succeed by skiing, a sport practically unknown at the time, he put together a group of only six members to cross the arctic interior of Greenland for the first time. They would pull their own sledges and, on a shoe-string, arrange transport to Greenland on two steam liners to drop them off in the icy Arctic sea. They could only afford a basic camera to document their trip. Astonishingly, this audacious but much criticised plan succeeded! Nansen's riveting expedition classic including his diary entries are here republished for the first time in full. His words and captivating expedition photographs caught with a student camera set in motion a golden age of exploration.Trade Review'Nansen was the last of the Nordic gods... Tall, blond, and ridiculously handsome... The First Crossing Of Greenland is a... thrilling account of his earliest adventure... It was a hideous journey... Hair froze fast to headgear, beards solidified so that the lips could not be opened to speak... Polar exploration tends to attract more testosterone than talent... One man towers over the other ice-encrusted sledgers: Fridtjof Nansen, colossus of the glaciers... Of all the frozen beards... only Nansen communicated a sense of the true subjugation of the ego that endeavour can bring. Failure, he acknowledged, would mean "only disappointed human hopes, nothing more".' Sara Wheeler, Guardian; 'Seminal... demythologised the polar environment and revolutionised modern polar travel with the introduction of skis.' Roland Huntford, The Times; 'Nansen defied that conventional wisdom, which dictated explorers proceed from the known to the unknown to maintain a line of retreat, by sailing first to the largely uncharted eastern coast of Greenland.' Times Higher Education; 'The visionary Norse explorer.' Jon KrakauerTable of ContentsMap of Greenland 12 Introduction 13 1. The Equipment 26 2. Skis and Skiing 46 3. Voyage to Iceland 54 4. Cruising the Ice 60 5. Point of No Return 70 6. Danger 76 7. Adrift 87 8. Land in Sight, at Last 101 9. Cape Bille 116 10 An Icy Greenland Idyll 134 11. Rapid Progress 148 12. Glaciers and “Nunataks” 163 13. The Conquest of the Inland Ice 174 14. 7930 Feet above Sea Level 190 15. Snowstorms of the Interior 205 16. Shipwreck on the Icy Plains 216 17. Water, but no Land 226 18. Rocks and Land 236 19. Splitting Up 247 20. A Change in Fortune 253 21. Ny Herrnhut 261 22. Civilisation 270 23. Winter Quarters 275 24. The Hvidbjörnen 282

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Book SynopsisReaders of Princess Sultana's extraordinary biography Princess were gripped by her powerful indictment of women's lives behind the veil within the royal family of Saudi Arabia.Trade ReviewWomen with everything but freedom... gripping revelations * Daily Mail *Brutality hidden behind the veil... more horrific stories * Sunday Express *If it didn't come from within palace walls, no one would believe it... Sad, funny, and gripping * Daily Mail *Sasson's sequel is yet another page-turner... An eye-opening account * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisA collection of immediate relevance and timeless value, ranging from lyrical autobiography to criticism of literature and culture, from humour to political analysis, from delicate evocations of Pamuk's friendship with his daughter Ruya to provocative discussions of Eastern and Western art.

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Book SynopsisThis is the story of a deep and close relationship between two sisters - Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. The influence they exerted over each others lives, their competitiveness, the fierce love they had for each other and also their intense rivalry is explored here with subtlety and compassion. The thoughts, motives and actions of these two remarkably artistic women who jointly created the Bloomsbury Group is revealed with all its intricacies in this moving biography.Trade ReviewAn outstanding work, and reading it is a source of real pleasure... one of the best books on Virginia Woolf to date * Literary Review *Her unlayering of this complex relationship is subtle and far-reaching... The wealth of the material makes possible some of the brilliant equations to be found in this book * Sunday Times *Dunn plunges deep beneath the surface to the complicated emotions and personalities of these two women, illuminating them with great clarity and understanding * Observer *Jane Dunn's astute account of their relationship is a revealing pleasure * Independent *By presenting us with a double portrait, its two subjects seen in relation to each other rather than in isolation, we come so much nearer the living reality, in all its complexity, its double-sidedness, its light and shadow. This is one of the few books which allows me to believe that the author actually knew both my mother and my aunt, and I welcome it as deepening my understanding both of them and their relation to Bloomsbury * Angelica Garnett *Dunn is excellent on the many rivalries and hostilities between the sisters, and on Virginia's betrayal of Vanessa through her affair with Vanessa's husband, Clive Bell, while Vanessa was struggling to cope with their first baby. Virginia threatens to take over the book as she at times took over her sister's life: always cleverer, more talkative, wittier and with a greater gift for intimacy. But in the end Vanessa's impassivity, her enigmatic silence, hold their own against Virginia's flirtatiousness. Dunn rightly emphasises the obsessive depth of each sister's commitment to work -- Suzanne Raitt * Times Literary Review *[An] intriguing study of the relationship between the two sisters... an investigation into the dynamics of friendship and sibling rivalry, maternal solicitude and mutual need * New York Times *Dunn takes advantage of the voluminous letters, diaries, family papers and published writings of the Stephen/Woolf/Bell milieu in reconstructing a passionate and competitive sisterhood... [a] detailed portrait of their intimacy * Publishers Weekly *With sensitivity and imagination, Dunn recreates the fascination, dependencies, competition, complicity, jealousies, the whole range of dynamics expressed in the pathologically close sibling relationship between two beautiful, talented, brilliant, intense, and creative women * Kirkus *A sensitive and deeply interesting description of a relationship between two remarkable sisters who jointly created the Bloomsbury Group. I found Jane Dunn's account of their distinct but intertwined lives and personalities utterly absorbing * Nigel Nicolson *An outstanding work, and reading it is a source of real pleasure ... one of the best books on Virginia Woolf to date * LITERARY REVIEW *Her unlayering of this complex relationship is subtle and far-reaching ...The wealth of the material makes possible some of the brilliant equations to be found in this book * SUNDAY TIMES *Dunn plunges deep beneath the surface to the complicated emotions and personalities of these two women, illuminating them with great clarity and understanding. * OBSERVER *Jane Dunn's astute account of their relationship is a revealing pleasure. * INDEPENDENT *

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Book SynopsisFrom the age of 14, Caitlin was completely controlled, repeatedly raped, provided with alcohol, given drugs, sold and passed on to new gangs over and over again. The majority of her abusers were Pakistani men, who were blatant in their attacks upon her, often collecting her from school or home, to be taken to flats they owned, family homes, or hotels booked for the day, to be horrifically and systematically abused. At a time when the abuse ring realities of young white women in Rotherham and other major English cities are coming to light, Caitlin's story will appal readers - not just because of the degree of horrific attacks which were perpetrated upon her, but also because of the ways in which the authorities refused to act. Caitlin speaks openly about what she has suffered, and also shows just how unwilling many people are to face up to what is happening in our midst, for fear of being called racist. By bravely speaking out, she will, hopefully prove just how deep these problems are and just how the abusers get away with it in plain sight of the authorities.

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Book SynopsisThe Times Art Book of the Year 2021FINALIST FOR THE PLUTARCH AWARD 2022Must surely be the definitive life of Francis Bacon A biography that no Bacon fan or indeed foe can afford to overlook Mesmerising' THE TIMESA magnificent triumph I was captivated by every line' OBSERVERA decade in the making, based upon hundreds of interviews and extensive new material, Pulitzer Prize winners Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan have written a startlingly original portrait rich, complex, and subtle of a commanding modern figure.Bacon concealed many important aspects of his life. He described himself as an asthmatic child in Ireland with foxhunting parents and a tyrannical father, but he was also rescued by a series of formidable women women who in this biography emerge in their own right. He was never just a dissolute young man but was also a passionate reader, largely self-taught. Early on, influenced by Eileen Gray, he became a hard-working and ambitious designer, a brief career explored here inTrade Review Picked as a book to look out for in 2021 by THE GUARDIAN, THE TIMES, THE SUNDAY TIMES, THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE OBSERVER The Times’ Art Book of the Year 2021 A WATERSTONES BEST BIOGRAPHY OF 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 APOLLO BOOK OF THE YEAR FINALIST FOR THE PLUTARCH AWARD 2022 ‘A spectacularly good biography which I adored’Max Porter, R4 Front Row ‘Meticulously researched and compelling’Guardian ‘Must surely be the definitive life of Francis Bacon … A biography that no Bacon fan – or indeed foe – can afford to overlook … Presents a mesmerising portrait of a performer commanding the stage of the 20th century’The Times ‘A captivating triumph … [A] magnificent new life of the artist … It rings as clearly as a bell … It’s fascinating (and startling)’Rachel Cooke, Observer ‘The definitive biography … an incomparable resource for art historians, dealers, curators and collectors’Financial Times ‘There are not many biographical masterpieces, but … Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan have producedone … it is an utterly thrilling read’Irish Times, John Banville ‘A weighty, thorough and compelling biography of the artist that records nine decades of intense moments … This authorised life brings the carousing, the paintings and the public and private lives together to form a convincing and often touching whole … Resonant’Sunday Times ‘Compelling … From his early failures to the untimely death of two of his lovers, the life of the Dublin-born artist is laid bare in this absorbing read … Stylish and well-researched biography … A cracking read from start to finish’Irish Independent ‘Authoritative and fascinating … full of human interest and fascinating detail … [The] seamlessly written double act is a magnificent, monumental achievement’Sunday Independent

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Book SynopsisLOST1972. A plane has crashed in the Andes mountains. The passengers are hopelessly lost in one of the most isolated places on earth.ABANDONEDAlmost three months later, two of the survivors, emaciated and frozen, reach the authorities and lead a rescue team to the remaining fourteen passengers.ALIVEThe rescue team are shocked when they reach the crash-site. Food supplies have long gone, and the remains of the dead lie scattered among the fuselage. It is only too clear how these passengers have managed to stay alive ...Trade Review'One of the classic survival stories of all time - a story of the will to survive against impossible odds' * Daily Mail *Read's powerful account of the crash and its aftermath...what lingers are the moments of ingenuity, and the resilience of the human spirit. * Guardian *'It is inconceivable to me that this story could have been better told... a masterpiece of narrative' -- Graham GreeneRead handles the story so well * Evening Standard *An adventure story with a rare depth. * Seven *

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Book SynopsisRichard Feynman was the most brilliant and influential physicist of our time. Architect of quantum theories, enfant terrible of the atomic bomb project, caustic inquisitor on the space shuttle commission, ebulent bongo-player and storyteller - Feynman played a bewildering assortment of roles in the science of the post-war era.A brilliant interweaving of Richard Feynman''s colourful life and a detailed and accessible account of his theories and experiments.Trade Reviewthe book is a moving, beautifully written literate and perceptive account of Feynman's life. NATURE I came away from Genius feeling that I knew a lot more about Feynman and his play in 20th century science. SUNDAY TIMES Gleick's narrative, consistently measured and elegant is a formidable work of scientific biography. NEW STATESMEN thoughtful and fascinating. THE LITERARY REVIEW

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Book SynopsisA multi-layered exploration of trauma, grief and addiction that will captivate readers of Notes to Self and Small Things Like TheseTrade Review‘Mc Mahon’s personal story is the unifying strand in a bigger, constantly shifting narrative that explores complex cultural and historical terrain’ Sean O’Hagan, Observer‘Absolutely gripping… in lucid prose that is both direct and lyrical, she burrows through layers of family history and Irish history’ Irish Times'A vivid, evocative and resonant counterpoint of time, memory and meaning' Joseph O'Connor, award-winning author of Shadowplay‘A beautiful memoir’ Ryan Tubridy, RTÉ Radio 1‘A raw, urgent book, its narrative stretched across the year, from Imbolc (the Feast of St Brigid) to Samhain, as it traces love, loss and all else. An extraordinary debut already being likened to Doireann Ni Ghríofa’s A Ghost in the Throat but this is shaped by its own hauntings’ RTÉ'Stunning. A work of great emotional and intellectual heft… Truth and honesty shine out of every line’ Mary Costello, author of Academy Street'Provocative yet dazzling... A mesmerising work threaded with rich veins of history and heart' Sophie White, Irish Independent‘Beautiful, compelling, thought-provoking… An uncompromising reflection on what it means to be of Irish heritage today, whether at home or abroad’ Tara Flynn‘Painfully familiar in its account of family loss and trauma in the urban working class, and personal enough never to feel like a survey or aerial view of Irish women’s history. Sensitively written and quietly devastating, it’s the book I had been waiting for’ Niamh Campbell, award-winning author of This Happy'In Ordinary Time is the best kind of memoir, a braid of the personal and political, the spiritual and global' Cameron Dezen Hammon, award-winning author of This is My Body'Magnificent... Spare, pristine, bracing – a marvellous book' Carlo Gébler, author of Confessions of a Catastrophist'Quietly addictive, deeply moving and enlightening' Priscilla Morris, author of Black Butterflies‘A beautifully-written memoir. It’s a deeply personal, largely confessional work, in which McMahon ties together strands of her life in New York and Ireland with elements from mythology and history, particularly the often horrific history of Irish women. Anyone who has ever emigrated from Ireland will recognise her compelling descriptions of separation from family and land, the freedom that emigration offers – and the enormous loss’ Jaki McCarrick, author of Belfast Girls‘We can move consciously towards healing. And we can begin by talking. In Ordinary Time is that conviction in action... a must read’ Olivia Cole‘The peace I discovered reading In Ordinary Time came from the reminder that the cycles we’re all in can be broken, and they can also be repaired’ Maeve Higgins, Irish Examiner‘The fragments of her New York life seem carefree alongside the shocking events endured by her family in this beautifully crafted memoir which left me wanting more’ The Gloss Magazine'Carmel's book is so intelligent, yet so accessible' Grace Bailey, host of San Clemente podcast

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Book SynopsisThe classic story of one of the twentieth century''s most extraordinary families.Among the six daughters and one son born to David, second Lord Redesdale, and his wife Sydney were Nancy, the novelist and historian; Diana, who married fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley; Unity, friend of Hitler; Jessica, who became a communist and then an investigative journalist; and Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire and mistress of Chatsworth. ''The Mitford Girls,'' as John Betjeman called them, were one of the twentieth century''s most controversial families; said to be always either in shrieks of laughter or floods of tears, they were glamorous, romantic and - especially in politics - extreme. Yet the teasing, often bordering on cruelty, the flamboyant contrasts and the violent disagreements, hid a powerful affection, subtle likenesses in character, and a powerful underlying unity.Trade ReviewBigger, better and back on the shelves. Lord Moyne's lively account of the swishest society sextet has been updated. It's an oldie but it's a goodie * TATLER *This entertaining book continues to promote the Mitfords' historical interest * THE TIMES *A fine group portrait of a truly remarkable tribe * THE ATLANTIC *Readers are afforded a rare glimpse of the tangled undergrowth of English snobbery, prejudice and reactionary politics - not just of 50 years ago but of today * NEW YORK TIMES *The book is delightfully readable, filled with fascinating peeps into personal letters and secret diaries. The earlier generations, wonderful Victorian eccentrics of wealth and privilege, are as amusing to read about as the later ones * KIRKUS *A most lively and readable portrait of the Mitford girls' and their forebears. Written with detachment and good-humoured affection * ECONOMIST *'Bigger, better and back on the shelves. Lord Moyne's lively account of the swishest society sextet has been updated. It's an oldie but it's a goodie'. -- Camilla Long * Tatler *'This entertaining book continues to promote the Mitfords' historical interest' * The Times *

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