Biography: general Books

Book SynopsisWhen Edward of York seized the English throne in 1461, he could have chosen any bride he wanted, but it was the beautiful widow, Elizabeth Wydeville, who captured his heart. A new assessment of the tumultuous life of the real White Queen and her husband.

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Book Synopsis''SUCH AN INCREDIBLE READ'' ZOE BALL''ONE OF THE YEAR''S MOST INSPIRING BOOKS'' HOLLY WILLOUGHBYWith a foreword by 2021 Strictly Come Dancing winner Rose Ayling-Ellis, and including chapters on Rose and her mum, the 3 Dads Walking, Martin Hibbert, Paul and Nick Harvey, the heroes of Fishmongers'' Hall, and Jimi Olubunmi-Adewole.Dan Walker is back, determined to keep shining a light on the kindness, compassion and selflessness which continue to characterise so many people and their actions right across the country.As one of the UK''s leading journalists, Dan has made it his life work to focus on people who often act as the catalysts for change: the unheralded champions who frequently go without getting the recognition they deserve.The new book from the author of the bestselling Remarkable People contains a totally fresh batch of humble heroes whose actions, bravery and determination have helped shape thTrade ReviewExtraordinary -- Julia Kuttner * Sunday Express *On Remarkable People: A compilation of inspirational stories from ordinary - in the best sense of the word - people [Dan Walker] has met over the years living through extraordinary circumstances, both joyous and torturous * Radio Times *

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Book SynopsisAn intimate portrayal of one of the most famous men in music, Sir Paul McCartney.

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Book SynopsisA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Powerful and profound' Esquire 'Unbridled and unapologetic' Vogue When Anthony Bourdain died in 2018, fans around the globe came together to celebrate the life of an inimitable man. Laurie Woolever, Bourdain’s longtime assistant and confidante, has interviewed nearly a hundred of the people who shared Tony’s orbit in order to piece together a remarkably full, vivid, and nuanced vision of Tony’s life and work. From his childhood and teenage days, to his early years in New York, through the genesis of his game-changing memoir Kitchen Confidential to his emergence into fame and notoriety, and in the words of friends and colleagues including Eric Ripert, José Andrés and Nigella Lawson, as well as his family, we see the many sides of Tony - his motivations, his ambivalence, his vulnerability, his blind spots, and his brilliance. Deeply intimate, featuring a treasure trove of photos, Bourdain: In Stories is a testament to the life of a remarkable man in the words of the people who shared his world.Trade ReviewWith pages of personal Bourdain photos, this warm book about an ultimate cool guy — vibrant and vulnerable — is dished up with finesse by Woolever * FORBES *Woolever herself stays at arms length, to powerful effect, giving her cast of characters room to air their Bourdain grievances, both petty and life-altering, and unroots some rather profound conclusions - almost Parts-Unknown-narration-level profound - about the man * ESQUIRE *A fascinating account of Bourdain's childhood through his untimely death, conjuring him as he evolves from curious kid to punky teen to young, heroin-addicted cook ... A roundly true-feeling portrait of a captivating person. Bourdain's fans will find it impossible to put down * BOOKLIST, starred review *A chorus of candid voices creates an engaging biography * KIRKUS *Celebrated chef and author Anthony Bourdain cuts a charismatic yet enigmatic figure in this kaleidoscopic oral history ... This fascinating mosaic ... capture[s] the inimitable legacy he left behind * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *A candid, compelling look at the man and his work * TRAVEL & LEISURE *[Woolever’s] book is the first to begin to reveal [Anthony Bourdain]: It’s the most splintered, fractal, and complex portrait of the star that has yet emerged, an enormous compendium of individual observations gathered from 91 people who knew him, including his mother, his brother, his ex-wives and his daughter, friends from school and college, ex-girlfriends, fellow chefs, writers, editors, and television colleagues * EATER.COM *Laurie Woolever, a writer and editor who was Anthony Bourdain's longtime assistant, uses quotes to bring readers deeper into his world ... Through details shared by his friends and family, we learn more about Bourdain's kind heart, how much he wanted to be a writer, his habit of fidgeting when he was uncomfortable, and the dark world he inhabited, especially when traveling * FOOD & WINE *

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Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR FILM DIRECTED BY GEORGE CLOONEY AND STARRING BEN AFFLECK'Highly entertaining . . . constructed as skilfully as a drink mixed by the author's Uncle Charlie' New York Times'Moehringer writes with a survivor's wisdom . . . The Tender Bar is a memoir, but has the texture of a novel' Sunday TelegraphIn the rich tradition of bestselling memoirs about self-invention, The Tender Bar is by turns riveting, moving, and achingly funny. An evocative portrait of one boy's struggle to become a man, it's also a touching depiction of how some men remain lost boys.JR Moehringer grew up listening for a voice, the voice of his missing father, a DJ who disappeared before JR spoke his first words. As a boy, JR would press his ear to a battered clock radio, straining to hear in that resonant voice the secrets of identity and masculinity. When the voice disappeared, JR found new voices in the bar on the corner. A grand old New York saloon, the bar was a sanctuary for all sorts of men -- cops and poets, actors and lawyers, gamblers and stumblebums. The flamboyant characters along the bar taught JR, tended him, and provided a kind of fatherhood by committee. Torn between his love for his mother and the lure of the bar, JR forged a boyhood somewhere in the middle.When the time came to leave home, the bar became a way station -- from JR's entrance to Yale, where he floundered as a scholarship student; to Lord & Taylor, where he spent a humbling stint peddling housewares; to the New York Times, where he became a faulty cog in a vast machine. The bar offered shelter from failure, from rejection, and eventually from reality, until at last the bar turned JR away.'A wonderful book . . . everyone in it is incredibly alive, everyone shines, and every vice is transformed into something glorious' James SalterJ.R. Moehringer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2000, is a former national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and a former Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. Moehringer is the author of the memoir The Tender Bar and the bestselling novel Sutton, and co-author of Open by Andre Agassi, Shoedog by Phil Knight and Spare by Prince Harry.Trade ReviewSimply a wonderful book about a heaven of a life that had everything going against it except intense love -- James Salter, author of All That IsMoehringer has crafted a yearning, lyrical account of his fatherless youth and the companionship he found . . . among the Dickensian characters at a neighborhood bar * Los Angeles Times Book Review *The Tender Bar will make you thirsty for that life - its camaraderie, its hilarity, its seductive, dangerous wisdom * Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls *A beautiful, gravelly love letter * New York Times Book Review *Supremely great -- Graydon CarterJ R Moehringer has found a new perfect * Esquire *Moehringer writes with a survivor's wisdom . . . The Tender Bar is a memoir, but has the texture of a novel. * Sunday Telegraph *Moehringer writes with a survivor's wisdom . . . The Tender Bar is a memoir, but has the texture of a novel. * Sunday Telegraph *The best memoirist of his kind since Mary Karr wrote The Liars' Club . . . hilarious stumblebum wisdom and a born raconteur's ease. Highly entertaining . . . constructed as skilfully as a drink mixed by the author's Uncle Charlie. * New York Times *Moehringer's depictions of the bar and the culture that thrives there are always vivid, and his affection for his subjects is tangible . . . an engaging delight. * San Francisco Chronicle *In his gimlet-eyed memoir, The Tender Bar, J. R. Moehringer lovingly and affectionately toasts a boyhood spent on a barstool. * Vanity Fair *The genuine tension in the story lies in the distance between who young J. R. Moehringer was and who he wanted to be. As the distance shrinks, you'll want to cheer. But the cheer will die in your throat after you realize that once the gap has narrowed all the way, the story will be over. The only thing wrong with this terrific debut is that there has to be a closing time. * Newsweek *The Tender Bar is a beautiful, gravelly love letter to [an] amorphous father, a melancholy romance between a boy and a corner saloon that's as smoky and heart-crackling as a Sinatra 78. * New York Times Book Review *Tart and uncloying like a good gin fizz, a generous pouring-forth of details and dialogue about social classes and the institutions that prop them up. The Tender Bar is quite simply . . . wunder-bar! * New York Observer *You'd have to go back a ways, maybe all the way to Joseph Mitchell, to find a writer who understands bar life as well as J. R. Moerhinger. The Tender Bar will make you thirsty for that life - its camaraderie, its hilarity, its seductive, dangerous wisdom. -- Richard RussoA memoir about coming of age in, of all unlikely places, a great American bar. Blessedly, Moehringer's story is both joyous and triumphant. -- David HalberstamSimply a wonderful book about a heaven of a life that had everything going against it except intense love worth more than all the money in the world. Everyone in it is incredibly alive, everyone shines, and every vice is transformed into something glorious. If only whiskey, the heady aroma of which floats from certain pages, gave as much pure happiness as reading this book does. -- James Salter

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Book Synopsis“What did you have? A boy or a girl?” Kyl and Brent imagined it would be years before their child would identify with a gender. Until then… As a first-time parent, Kyl Myers had one aspect dialed in from the start: not being beholden to the boy-girl binary, disparities, or stereotypes from the day a child is born. With no wish to eliminate gender but rather gender discrimination, Kyl and her husband, Brent, ventured off on a parenting path less traveled. Raising a confident, compassionate, and self-aware person was all that mattered. In this illuminating memoir, Kyl delivers a liberating portrait of a family’s choice to dismantle the long-accepted and often-harmful social construct of what it means to be assigned a gender from birth. As a sociologist, Kyl explores the science of gender and sex and the adulthood gender inequities that start in childhood. As a loving parent, Kyl shares the joy of watching an amazing child named Zoomer develop their own agency to grow happily and healthily toward their own gender identity and expression. Candid and surprising, Raising Them is an inspiration to parents and to anyone open to understanding the limitless possibilities of being yourself.Trade Review“Frank and compassionate…An enlightening, much-needed resource for parents hoping to raise their children without limitations.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “This book helps against prejudice…detailed insights…you just have to like the Courtney-Myers family…offers the chance for an informed discussion.” —Tages-Anzeiger (Switzerland)

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Book SynopsisViolet Jessop's life is an inspiring story of survival. Born in 1887 in Argentina, the eldest child of Irish immigrants, at the age of 21 she became the breadwinner for her widowed mother and five siblings when she commenced a career as a stewardess and nurse on some of the most famous ocean going vessels of the day. Throughout her 40 year time at sea she survived an unbelievable series of events including the sinking of the TITANIC. “One awful moment of empty, misty blackness enveloped us in its loneliness, then an unforgettable, agonizing cry went up from 1500 despairing throats, a long wail and then silence and our tiny craft tossing about at the mercy of the ice field.” For most people one sinking would be enough. But four years later Violet, now a nurse with the British Red Cross, was on board the World War I hospital ship BRITANNIC when it struck a mine and sank to the bottom of the Aegean. To her, this disaster was even more horrifying-- “Just as life seeming nothing but a whirling, choking ache, I rose to the light of day, my nose barely above the little lapping waves. I opened my eyes on an indescribable scene of slaughter, which made me shut them again to keep it out." By the end of her story we have a met a woman who could handle whatever life threw at her with determination and good humor. She knew that only by her own strength of character would she survive. But Titanic Survivor is much more. A unique autobiography for those who want to know how it really felt, a story that could be told only by a Titanic Survivor.Trade ReviewAside from the disasters, there is much in her memoirs to enjoy; from her tales of travel, to the ships themselves, and to the many characters she met in a fascinating lifetime at sea. * Sailing *Compelling...a fresh, indispensable chapter to the legend...invaluable. * Publishers Weekly *Table of ContentsNew Preface Preface Introduction Chapter 1: The Early Years Chapter 2: The Railway Interval Chapter 3: Buenos Aires Chapter 4: In the Mountains Chapter 5: Illness and Death Chapter 6: Repatriation Chapter 7: In Charge Chapter 8: Convent Days Chapter 9: Choosing a Career Chapter 10: To Sea at Last Chapter 11: Enter Ned Chapter 12: Insufferable Passengers Chapter 13: Troubled Voyage Chapter 14: The South American Run Chapter 15: The White Star Line Chapter 16: Cabin Drama Chapter 17: Olympic Chapter 18: (This chapter is missing) Chapter 19: Polemic and Lament Chapter 20: Titanic Chapter 21: Into the Lifeboat Chapter 22: Rescue Chapter 23: Australia and Ned Chapter 24: Shipboard Romance Chapter 25: A Nurse in the Great War Chapter 26: Britannic Chapter 27: Aftermath Chapter 28: Peace and Prohibition Chapter 29: Tim Goes Missing Chapter 30: World Cruise Chapter 31: At Sea Chapter 32: The Jinrikisha Man Chapter 33: The Baroness Chapter 34: Tom's Downfall Epilogue Appendix I Appendix II Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA new, unexpected understanding of Frida Kahlo s work and the vibrant Surrealist art scene in the 1930s.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis“You know, I actually think about that an awful lot, like, what is our purpose in life? Why am I here? I always think about some little kid being like, ‘What’d you do with your life?’ And me being like, ‘Well, I sold a bunch of floors.’” These are the words of Bjarki Thor Gunnarsson, the young man who manufactures the widest, purest, most metaphorical pine floorboards on the planet. At least, that’s what Matthew Clark believes. Set mostly in rural Maine, Bjarki, Not Bjarki is an expansive book. It is a standard work of journalism, describing with nuance and humanity the people and processes that transform the forest into your floor. It is also a meditation on what it means to know another person and to connect with them, especially in an increasingly polarized America. And it is a ghost story about marriage. It is an inquiry into the limits of language and certainty, a rumination on North American colonization, masculinity, gift cards, crab rangoon, bald eagles, and wood, all of it told in an exciting, energized, and original prose. Bjarki turns out to be someone quite different from whom the author had hoped. A new pine floor buckles. A coyote is shot. A diamond is lost. How do we make sense of the world and of ourselves, especially when the floor beneath us is so unstable; when nothing is quite what we had hoped it would be?Trade Review“Matthew Clark has refinished the floorboards of America with so gently glimmering a new sheen of myth that the smartest among us will immediately invest in the cushiest of slippers for fear of muffling their stories again. Bjarki, Not Bjarki is a masterfully ecstatic, surprising, and humane debut.”—John D’Agata“In Bjarki, Not Bjarki, Matthew Clark is trying to write about everything all at once: love and heartbreak and loss; wood and work and loneliness; friendship and privilege, masculinity and honesty and the sad limitations of both. This is a story that is overflowing with thought and reflection, abundant in self-examination, excessively self-critical, overburdened by its ownership of the past. The result: a lyrical eruption of bittersweet joy, created by a writer who is totally fine in a rapturous state of being lost. Bjarki, Not Bjarki is a lot like the state (Maine) where Clark’s story takes place: full of contradictions and wilderness, always committed to the impossible question of what it means to be a free and honest person in the world. Matthew Clark is a writer who swings for all the fences.”—Jaed Coffin, author, Roughhouse Friday“At the edges of this finely told tale hangs a fog of dark matter (troubles in love, misinformation, guns, insurrection, a jokey racism) while at the center stands a lumber mill in Maine, where men practice a useful craft (as best they can) and befriend one another (ditto). If the fog surrounding them (and us) is ever to lift it will be thanks to voices as attentive, amusing, and generous as that of Matthew Clark. Bjarki, Not Bjarki is the kind of book we need right now.”—Lewis Hyde“Unlike so many of us, Matthew Clark refuses to concede defeat at the hands of our country’s yawning cultural and political divisions. In Bjarki, Not Bjarki, he shows that empathy must be built on actual understanding, and his writing has the self-awareness, the freshness, and the beauty to help us all understand.”—Jeremy Eichler, author, Time’s Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance

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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 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 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 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 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 SynopsisNow available for the first time in Ireland and the UK - more than half a century after it was written - is the memoir of Michael Dillon/Lobzang Jivaka (1915-62), the Anglo-Irish doctor and Buddhist monastic novice chiefly known to scholars of sex, gender, and sexuality for his pioneering transition from female to male between 1939 and 1949, and for his groundbreaking 1946 book Self: A Study in Ethics and Endocrinology. Here at last is Dillon/Jivaka's extraordinary life story told in his own words. Out of the Ordinary captures Dillon/Jivaka's various journeys - to Oxford, into medicine, across the world by ship - within the major narratives of his gender and religious journeys. Moving chronologically, Dillon/Jivaka was from Lismullin House, County Meath, but spent his childhood in Folkestone, England, where he was raised by spinster aunts, telling of his days at Oxford immersed in theology, classics, and rowing. He recounts his hormonal transition while working as an auto mechanic and fire watcher in Bristol during World War II and describes his surgical transition under Sir Harold Gillies while Dillon himself attended medical school at Trinity College, Dublin (1945-51). He details his travels as a ship's surgeon in the British Merchant Navy with extensive commentary on his engagement with colonial and postcolonial subjects in Asia, followed by his 'outing' by the British press while he served aboard The City of Bath. Out of the Ordinary is not only a unique record of early gender affirmation but also a compelling account of religious conversion in the mid-twentieth century. Dillon/Jivaka chronicles his gradual shift from Anglican Christianity to the esoteric spiritual systems of George Gurdjieff and Peter Ouspensky, to Theravada and finally Mahayana Buddhism. He concludes his memoir with the contested circumstances of his Buddhist monastic ordination in India and Tibet. Ultimately, while Dillon/Jivaka died before becoming a monk, his novice ordination was significant: it made him the first white European man to be ordained in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. This first-person narrative, written in the early 1960s and first published more than a generation later in the US by Fordham University Press, is both ahead of its time and distinctly of its time and class, with Dillon's views being sometimes enlightened, sometimes colonial. A Foreword by Susan Stryker from the Fordham University Press edition describes Dillon as 'a seeker after truth, who traveled wherever his queries led him'. An Afterword, 'A Mapless Journey', by London-based literary agent Andrew Hewson - unique to the Lilliput Press edition - traces the typescript memoir's provenance and preservation prior to its eventual publication. An introductory biographical essay by consultant psychologist Aidan Collins gives an overview of the timeline of this remarkable individual's history. Out of the Ordinary is a landmark publication that sets free a singular voice from within the history of the transgender movement.Trade Review. . . Dillon’s memoir charts his wide-ranging life of education, gender transition, and conversion to Buddhism. . .show(s) continuity of concerns with those of transgender individuals today. Source: Publishers Weekly * Publishers Weekly *The importance of this work to the history of sexuality―and especially to the history of transsexuality―cannot be overstated. Author: Jose Ignacio Cabezon Source: University of California, Santa Barbara -- Jose Ignacio Cabezon * University of California, Santa Barbara *Blocked from publication in the 1960s and then hidden in a warehouse in London, Michael Dillon's autobiography moldered away for decades in the darkness. Now, for the first time ever, it has burst into print. The book illuminates the life of one of the ground-breaking transgender pioneers of the 20th century. Just important, it is a suspenseful and heart-breaking tale that begins at the English seaside and ends with a mysterious death in the Himalayan mountains. In his gripping autobiography, Dillon finds new answers to enduring questions about gender. At the same time, he never manages to solve the puzzle of his own identity and dies in the pursuit of transcendence. Dillon's memoir deserves a place alongside the great spiritual narratives, from Augustine to Merton. This edition is beautifully put together, with an introduction and notes supplied by a trio of scholars who have immersed themselves in Dillon's life history. Author: Pagan Kennedy Source: The First Man-Made Man -- Pagan Kennedy * The First Man-Made Man *While so much of the history of transsexualism has circulated around and through a few highly publicized lives of trans women, Jacob Lau and Cameron Partridge have made an indelible contribution to the modern histories of gender and sexuality by publishing this autobiography. Their introduction carefully situates the history of one of the earliest female to male transitions and gives us a smart and sympathetic account of the political, social and material complexities of Dillon/Jivaka’s life. This is an astonishing story. Author: Jack Halberstam Source: Female Masculinity and In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives -- Jack Halberstam * Female Masculinity and In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives *[A] beautifully produced autobiography. . . [Dillon/Jivaka] weaves a rich narrative illuminating his emotional and educational formation, gender variance and a spiritual pilgrimage from Church of England Christianity, via Gurdjieffianism, to the Buddhism that occasioned another first for a Westerner: ordination as a Buddhist novice-monk (getsul) in a Tibetan monastery in Ladakh. . . a moving story as well as a valuable record. Author: Christina Beardsley Source: Theology & Sexuality -- Christina Beardsley * Theology & Sexuality *

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Book SynopsisThe early writings of renowned poet and critical theorist Jackie Wang, drawn from her early zines, indie-lit crit, and prolific early 2000s blog.Compiled as a field guide, travelogue, essay collection, and weather report, Alien Daughters Walk into the Sun traces Jackie Wang?s trajectory from hard femme to Harvard, from dumpster dives and highway bike rides to dropping out of an MFA program, becoming a National Book Award finalist, and writing her trenchant book Carceral Capitalism. Alien Daughters charts the dream-seeking misadventures of an ?odd girl? from Florida who emerged from punk houses and early Tumblr to become the powerful writer she is today. Anarchic and beautifully personal, Alien Daughters is a strange intellectual autobiography that demonstrates Wang?s singular self-education: an early life lived where every day and every written word began like the Tarot?s Fool, with a leap of faith.

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Book SynopsisTHE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER FROM PABLO ESCOBAR’S SONUntil now, we believed that everything had been said about the rise and fall of the most infamous drug lord of all time, Pablo Escobar – from books to film to the cult series ‘Narcos’. But these versions have always been told from the outside, only capturing half the truth, and never from the intimacy of his own home. Now, more than two decades after the full-fledged manhunt finally caught up with Escobar, his son brings us the dramatic truth as never before.Here we find a man of contradictions – generosity and infinite love for his family; yet capable of the most extreme acts of cruelty and violence. In a deeply personal exploration of his father, we see the inner world of a man who was celebrated by some as a benevolent Robin Hood figure and by others, as a dangerous leader of the most ruthless mafia organisation in human history, reaping vengeance and death on anyone that might stand in his way. When Escobar died, his then teenage son vowed revenge. But Escobar Jr. quickly recognised that meant following in his father's footsteps—something neither of them had ever wanted. With his change of heart, he denounced the Pablo Escobar legacy. This is far from the story of a child seeking redemption, but a shocking look at the consequences of violence and his attempt to come to terms with it.

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Book SynopsisNevil Shute was a writer whose books were frequently looked down on by literary critics and yet when he died in 1960 he was one of the best selling novelists of his day. Today, books such as A Town Like Alice and On the Beach continue to attract new generations of fans. However there was more to Shute than his books, a great deal more. Richard Thorn explores Shute’s personal and professional life, drawing from extensive research carried out using archives and sources in the UK, USA and Australia. Nevil Shute Norway began his professional life as an aeronautical engineer working on the outskirts of London for the newly established de Havilland Aircraft Company. He quickly went on to play a key role in Britain’s ill-fated and final airship programme, before co-founding an aircraft manufacturing company at the height of an economic depression. All the while, using the pseudonym Nevil Shute, he spent his time writing for relaxation in the evenings. After the Second World War, he flew a single-engined aeroplane to Australia and back in search for new material for his novels. Fascinated by the new world that he had seen, the novelist sold up and moved his family to Australia, buying a farm in a small town on the outskirts of Melbourne. For the remainder of his life, Australia was his home and the inspiration for many of his best-loved novels. Shute tells the story of the life and times of an extraordinary man who made a significant contribution to twentieth century popular literature. This book will appeal to fans of Shute’s work, those interested in his background and personal life or to readers interested in the early years of the aviation industry in Britain.

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Book SynopsisIn 1980 seven-year-old Sabine Kuegler and her family went to live in a remote jungle area of West Papua among the recently discovered Fayu - a tribe untouched by modern civilisation. Her childhood was spent hunting, shooting poisonous spiders with arrows and chewing on pieces of bat-wing in place of gum. She also learns how brutal nature can be - and sees the effect of war and hatred on tribal peoples. After the death of her Fayu-brother, Ohri, Sabine decides to leave the jungle and, aged seventeen, she goes to a boarding school in Switzerland - a traumatic change for a girl who acts and feels like one of the Fayu. 'Fear is something I learnt here' she says. 'In the Lost Valley, with a lost tribe, I was happy. In the rest of the world it was I who was lost.'Here is Sabine Kuegler's remarkable true story of a childhood lived out in the Indonesian jungle, and the struggle to conform to European society that followed.

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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 SynopsisWhen Denis O'Connor rescues a three-week-old kitten from certain death during a snowstorm, little does he know how this tiny creature will change his life forever. Against all odds the kitten - who he names Toby Jug - survives and forms an unusually strong bond with his rescuer.Set against the rural splendour of Northumberland, Paw Tracks in the Moonlight charmingly chronicles the adventures of one man and his Maine Coone cat. From an invasion of bees at Owl Cottage to the case of the disappearing tomatoes, life with Toby Jug - who believes himself to be human - is never dull. Nevertheless, it is only when Denis and Toby Jug embark on a summer camping trip on horseback in the Cheviot Hills that a new world opens up for them both.Trade ReviewBeautifully told. * The Crack *This genuinely endearing cat's life story is going to warm the cockles of hearts all over the world. * Lancashire Evening Post *A charming book that will appeal to all ages. * The Pulse *A lyrical glimpse into a long-vanished rural world. * MyShelf.com *

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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 SynopsisFor decades, Gloria Steinem has led a social revolution against injustice. In Revolution from Within -- called the ultimate self-help book by the Los Angeles Times -- she sets out to restore the self-authority that such injustice has undermined.A fine triumph...Succeeds in holding the feminist course while expanding its horizons to include everyone. --TimeRevolution from Within has a special sweetness -- that of triumph. Gloria Steinem dared to look behind the bravely smiling face she presented to the world for many years to encounter a not-so-bravely-smiling inner self. This meeting will strike sparks of recognition and encouragement. --Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple

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Book SynopsisA New Statesman Book of the Year for 2017His father conceived of the Brooklyn Bridge, but it was Washington Roebling who built this iconic feat of human engineering after his father''s tragic death. It has stood for more than 130 years and is now as much a part of New York as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building. Yet, as recognisable as the bridge is, its builder is too often forgotten. The Chief Engineer is a brilliant examination of the life of one of America''s most distinguished engineers. Roebling''s experience as an engineer building bridges in the Union Army during the civil War has never before been documented, and played a central role in the bridge that links Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Brooklyn Bridge took fourteen dramatic years to complete, and the personal story that lay behind that construction is told here for the first time. The Chief Engineer is an engaging portrait of a brilliant and driven man, and of the era in which he lived.Trade ReviewA classic, as lovingly and meticulously constructed as the bridge itself. It is a triumph of a book -- Simon WinchesterA masterful work of research, revelation and gripping narrative. It brings to pulsating life 19th-century New York and New Jersey and manages to be moving, too -- Neel Mukherjee * New Statesman Books of the Year *A masterful psychological study about duty and drive -- Books of the Year * Economist *The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the greatest engineering marvels of all time, as well as a great work of public art. Its chief engineer is equally compelling and Erica Wagner brings him and his complicated world to life -- Ken Burns, director of 'Brooklyn Bridge'Elegant ... Yet Wagner's cool approach does not reduce the urgency of HUghes's own voice ... She is particularly good at unpacking the poems where Hughes's awareness of Plath's inner world ...plays back into his memory of events -- Elaine Feinstein * Times Literary Supplement on Ariel's Gift *Wagner is especially sensitive to the movement and shape of the collection as a whole ... this is a generous, respectful study -- Lisa Allardice * New Statesman on 'Ariel's Gift' *Enthralling and beautifully illustrated … Wagner tells the personal story behind its construction for the first time, drawing on meticulous research and newly uncovered archive material -- Editor's Choice * Bookseller *Engrossing… Wagner writes detailed, lucid descriptions of the technological advances that made the bridge possible, and the bewilderingly complex planning and calculations Roebling undertook to combine them into a feasible structure… Roebling and his father could be Eugene O’Neill characters … Wagner grounds her fine study of the human side of industrial progress in patient devotion to science and craft * Publishers Weekly *A sturdy, illuminating biography * Kirkus *Gripping -- Books of the Year * Herald *Highly original … Where she unquestionably succeeds is in bringing to life, and very probably bringing to the public’s attention for the first time in generations, the name – and rather peculiar life – of a man who deserves his place on the top tier of the pantheon of engineers **** -- Simon Heffer * Sunday Telegraph *Magnificent -- Philip Hoare * The New Statesmen *Chief Engineer was made possible by the discovery of an unpublished memoir at Rutgers University and Wagner has mined it well. She tells the story with the thoroughness of Roebling’s calculations: the book is as robust in structure and fine in detail as the bridge itself and, like its subject, unlikely to be bettered. It is immaculately researched, meticulously written but exciting and evocative too -- Stephen Bayley * Spectator *“Chief Engineer” is Ms Wagner’s solidly constructed biography of Washington Roebling … It is a book about connection, but also about disconnection – the lifelong divide between Roebling and his father, John Roebling, also a celebrated engineer, and the son’s struggle to detach himself from the elder man’s influence * Economist *Erica Wagner honours Washington with a fine, sympathetic biography -- Gavin Weightman * Literary Review *Warm, meticulous … Chief Engineer makes a solid case for Washington as a great American hero -- Ada Calhoun * Times Literary Supplement *It’s clear that Wagner’s book has been a labour of love for its author as much as the bridge was for its engineer: this is a painstakingly researched, and highly engrossing read * Geographical *

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Book SynopsisThe authoritative biography of the 60s countercultural icon who wrote SCUM Manifesto, shot Andy Warhol, and made an unforgettable mark on feminist history.Too drastic, too crazy, too "out there," too early, too late, too damaged, too much—Valerie Solanas has been dismissed but never forgotten. She has become, unwittingly, a figurehead for women''s unexpressed rage, and stands at the center of many worlds. She inhabited Andy Warhol''s Factory scene, circulated among feminists and the countercultural underground, charged men money for conversation, despised "daddy''s girls," and outlined a vision for radical gender dystopia.Known for shooting Andy Warhol in 1968 and for writing the polemical diatribe SCUM Manifesto, Solanas is one of the most famous women of her era. SCUM Manifesto—which predicted ATMs, test-tube babies, the Internet, and artificial insemination long before they existed—has sold more copies, and has been translated into more languages, than nearly all other feminist texts of its time.Shockingly little work has interrogated Solanas''s life. This book is the first biography about Solanas, including original interviews with family, friends (and enemies), and numerous living Warhol associates. It reveals surprising details about her life: the children nearly no one knew she had, her drive for control over her own writing and copyright, and her elusive personal and professional relationships.Valerie Solanas reveals the tragic, remarkable life of an iconic figure. It is “not only a remarkable biographical feat but also a delicate navigation of an unwieldy, demanding, and complex life story” (BOMB Magazine).

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Book SynopsisIn December 1774, Benjamin Franklin met Caroline Howe, the sister of British Admiral Richard and General William Howe, in a London drawing room for “half a dozen Games of Chess”. As Julie Flavell reveals, the games concealed a matter of the utmost diplomatic urgency, a last-ditch attempt to forestall the outbreak of war. Aware that the Howes, both the men and the women, have seemed impenetrable to historians, Flavell investigated the letters of Caroline Howe, which have been overlooked for centuries. Using these revelatory documents, Flavell provides a compelling reinterpretation of England’s famous family across four wars, centring on their enigmatic roles in the American Revolution. The Howe Dynasty interweaves action-packed stories of North American military campaigns—including the Battles of Bunker Hill and Long Island—with parlour-room intrigues back in England, creating a riveting narrative that brings alive the influence of these extraordinary women in both peacetime and war.Trade Review"Spanning almost a century of the Georgian era, The Howe Dynasty presents a richly detailed and lively saga of one of its most distinguished families. Challenging and insightful, it reflects impressive scholarship, grounded in exhaustive archival research on both sides of the Atlantic... The Howe Dynasty shows how women whose supreme function in life was to produce male heirs could nonetheless find a voice through informal ‘networking,’ establishing crucial contacts in the drawing room or on the hunting field that could be mobilized to secure favors and control opinion." -- Stephen Brumwell, What to Read this Week - The Wall Street Journal"[A] vibrant biography of the accomplished, beguiling family… Flavell’s scholarship and deft storytelling add nuance, sympathy and granularity to the family portrait." -- Rick Atkinson - The New York Times Book Review"Flavell, an independent scholar, meticulously combs manuscripts held in numerous archives on both sides of the Atlantic… Melding family, political and military history, Flavell’s sympathetic account… shows the historical value of Caroline’s intriguing vantage point on the American Revolution." -- Mark G. Spencer - Times Literary Supplement

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Book SynopsisAs an African American cultural anthropologist and CEO of an urban research institute, D.B. Maroon is intimately involved with the nation’s struggle to realize its promises equally for all people. Her work is to put those stories into the big picture of American culture—past, present, and future. Intersectional, personal, and hard-hitting in places, while ultimately centering on truth, love and perseverance, Black Lives, American Love weaves the stories of America’s pursuits with Maroon’s own experiences. The result is a personal biography of America offered from the thoughtful viewpoint of a Black anthropologist. The essays take on some of the country’s fiercest debates and most profound challenges with an unflinching style: from the invention of race and debates about the 1619 project, to the rippling impacts of resurgent White Nationalism, the birth of Black Lives Matter Movement, and the ongoing traumas of police brutality. Yet within its pages is the hopeful continuance of the Black community, the striving for better, the grappling with the hurt in order to soothe it with love, and to heal it with peace.Black Lives, American Love is arelentless truth-telling about America’s failures to its Black population—yet itis also a discussion on how we might all do more to secure America’s still vastlybeautiful possibilities of liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all rather than afew.

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Book SynopsisPopular YouTubers Cole and Savannah LaBrant share their inspiring love story, highlighting the redemptive, surprising nature of God at work in our lives, and how He graciously steps in and turns our messes into something beautiful.

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Book SynopsisWhen composer and Bard College music professor, Margaret De Wys, learned she had breast cancer, the diagnosis shattered her comfortable life. Seized by fear, crushed by existential loneliness, she couldn't respond when her loved ones reached out to her. To everyone's concern, the illness propelled her away from her family and deep into the Amazon to work with Carlos, a charismatic Shuar shaman and master of medicina milenaria, an ancient mystical tradition with a highly sophisticated and precise technology of healing. In BLACK SMOKE, De Wys writes of her amazing encounter with Carlos as he guided her into a world of potent visionary plants, harrowing initiations, ritual purification and miraculous healings, including the complete disappearance of her cancer. It was, as Carlos called it, "the path of the warrior." Sharing a journey not only through cancer, but, also, through self-transformation, De Wys provides an intimate inside look at the shamanic ceremonies of ayahuasca and the ways this spiritual medicine can heal the emotional origins of disease now plaguing our modern technological culture. Capturing her physical, emotional and "holy voyage" through a world that differs vastly from our own, she offers a revealing chronicle of spiritual insight and a trenchant exploration of the limits of idealism. She not only provides a probing look at how our society can learn and benefit from indigenous wisdom, but, also, weaves a cautionary tale about how potentially dangerous it is-on both sides-to try to cross those frontiers. · Explains in vivid detail De Wys's experience of being healed from cancer through visionary ayahuasca rituals in Ecuador · Describes her apprenticeship and relationship with the shaman who cured her · Explores the ways this spiritual medicine can heal the emotional origins of disease now plaguing our modern technological cultureTrade Review“Black Smoke is a wonderful, beautifully written story . . . a true adventure told in a style that rivals the best of novels. This first-person account by an extraordinary woman of her inner and outer journey through darkness into light is a must read for anyone interested in healing.” * John Perkins, New York Times bestselling author of Shapeshifting, Spirit of the Shuar, and Confessio *“This is unlike other books on ayahuasca in that it is not just a Westerner’s romanticized memory of a ‘wild time once had.’ The author offers us an honest appraisal of the impact on her, on her shaman/mentor, and on Western participants of the clash of cultures and ideologies that is usually also a part of the ‘ayahuasca experience’ for non-natives who drink the brew. Are the visions ‘real’? Can ayahuasca really heal a Westerner who is so ‘in his head’ that he wants to psychologize (and so disempower) every spiritual encounter he has? How does immersion in a rational, mind-and-money-orientated Western culture begin to affect the medicine man himself? And what happens when the American legal system becomes the judge of an age-old practice of rainforest healing? Margaret De Wys has written an interesting book that explores these questions, making it an adventure story that is more grown-up and real than other books on a similar subject.” * Ross Heaven, therapist, workshop leader, and author of Cactus of Mystery and Shamanic Quest for the *“De Wys has written an extraordinarily informative book about Carlos, a Shuar Ecuadorian shaman, who uses not only ayahuasca and tobacco but many other plants and practices for healing. His ways of teaching her illuminate the real complexity and rigor as well as the amazing successes of his own tradition’s training. In addition, De Wys’s personal story of healing, learning, and transformation is unsentimental, engrossing, and explores the confusions that arise when one mixes indigenous cultural values with Western materialism and medicine.” * James Fadiman, Ph.D., microdose researcher and author of The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Saf *“This book will thrill and support all readers traveling--or wishing to travel themselves--into the unknown and the mystery of the human spirit.” * Josie Ravenwing, author of The Book of Miracles: The Healing Work of Joao de Deus *“Black Smoke is a profound, vibrant personal story of healing and transformation, both medical and spiritual. A clear, objective account of how immersion in ayahuasca shamanism cured De Wys’s breast cancer and transformed her into a healer. As we follow her path, we come to understand her calling and grow with her as she comes into her truest self--the most valuable gift an author can offer. I highly recommend you receive this gift, in De Wys’s beautiful, healing memoir.” * Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D., author of Psychedelic Healing: The Promise of Entheogens for Psychotherapy *“In the end, Black Smoke’s greatest strength is the theme of liberation, which de Wys examines quite consistently through a number of devices.” * Psychedelic Press UK, June 2014 *Table of ContentsInitiationGum BootsPurging Burial Vine of the Maestros The Holy Terror The Jungle Lives in Us Spirit of the Waters The Ghost Child Petroleros The Boiling Waterfall Woman from the North ApprenticeshipDangerous Nonsense Threats of Drought and Famine Bare Arms Touching Madre A Billowing Light I Want to Be Alone Rosita The Women of Gualaquiza God of the Black Jaguars A Crystal Palace Union Bird Bones and Plastic Bags Possession PartnershipFlechas The Dueño of New York A Poultice of Tar A Different Kind of Power The Bay of Beavers Medicine of the Stars The Quill The Bust Running Naked in Toronto Epilogue Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisRuPaul?s Drag Race superstar Ginger Minj shares her favorite recipes, best advice, and wildest stories in this hilarious book that?s part memoir, part cookbook. Perfect for fans of Trixie and Katya?s Guide to Modern Womanhood.Drag icon Ginger Minj brings her signature humor and sass to this tongue-in-cheek memoir-cum-life manual-cum-cookbook. Featuring Ginger?s favorite Southern-inspired recipes, Southern Fried Sass showcases some of her most vulnerable and celebratory moments, revealing the most valuable lessons she?s learned after years in drag and the pearls of wisdom she?s gleaned from her grandmother?s personal brand of Southern resilience. You?ll cheer for Ginger as she spills the tea with exclusive behind-the-scenes details from three seasons of RuPaul?s Drag Race and offers her best advice on everything from contouring to cooking and setting the table for a full-on Southern-style Thanksgiving dinner. Did we say dinner? Here, you?ll find more than fifty recipes, including The Minx?s Sick?ning Scalloped Pineapple Paradise, Red Barn BBQ Ribs platter, Better Than Sex cake, and countless other decadent desserts. From fighting for what you?re worth to looking good on a motorcycle as a big girl to finding love while also making damn good cupcakes, this is the perfect gift for anyone who wants to live their best life.

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Book Synopsis“This is a loving, sophisticated, illuminating, outstanding depiction of a brilliant intellectual/spiritual/moral leader who deserves just such a treatment. This book will serve as testimony and inspiration for the new generation… a tour de force articulation of a truly great life.” – Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg A comprehensive biography about the life and work of Rabbi Harold Shulweis who was essential in the renewal of Jewish life in post-war America. Harold Schulweis was a dominant figure in the renewal of Jewish life in the post-war generation of American Jewry. Widely regarded as the most successful and influential pulpit rabbi of his generation, he shaped an extraordinary career as pulpit rabbi, theologian, public intellectual, and communal leader. His innovations in synagogue practice reshaped congregations across the continent introducing synagogue-based havurot, “para-rabbinics” and para-professional counseling programs, outreach to alienated Jews and “unchurched” Christians, opening the traditional synagogue to gay and lesbian Jews and their families, and welcoming families of children with special needs. With Leonard Fein, Schulweis founded Mazon, the Jewish communal response to hunger. He launched The Foundation for the Righteous – recognizing Christians who rescued Jews during the Holocaust – an effort chronicled on the CBS news program “60 Minutes.” In the closing years of his career, he initiated the Jewish World Watch – a communal response to the incidence of genocide worldwide. Trade Review“A must-read, extraordinarily important book for any Jewish leader looking for practical strategies for communal growth and engagement from the remarkable Harold M. Schulweis, the most innovative rabbi of our time. His devoted disciple, Rabbi Ed Feinstein, has written a highly readable account of Rabbi Schulweis’s thought and action that will inspire, inform, and uplift you.” —Dr. Ron Wolfson, Fingerhut Professor of Education, American Jewish University, author of Relational Judaism.“This is a loving, sophisticated, illuminating, outstanding depiction of a brilliant intellectual/spiritual/moral leader who deserves just such a treatment. This book will serve as testimony and inspiration for the new generation… a tour de force articulation of a truly great life.” – Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg“Feinstein puts Schulweis into an intellectual and philosophical context that draws deeply on Jewish values and wisdom and, at the same time, challenges the reader to consider new ways of understanding what has gone before… intellectually commanding and yet so deeply heartfelt.” –The Jewish JournalTable of ContentsContents Acknowledgements Introduction Part One: The American Jewish Experience Chapter 1 The American Rabbi, a Brief History 1.1 The First American Rabbis 1.2 The Golden Age of the American Rabbinate, 1918–1950 1.3 The New Rabbinate, the New Synagogue, the New Judaism 1.4 Zionism and Power 1.5 Political Power 1.6 The Dynamic Rabbinate Chapter 2 Three Languages, Three Voices 2.1 Identity: Speaking Three Languages 2.2 Formation 2.3 Family 2.4 Oakland, California, 1952–1970 The Theological Voice The Prophetic Voice The Voice of Community Building New Narratives 2.5 Transition Chapter 3 Encino, 1970 3.1 The Resurgence of Los Angeles Jewry 3.2 A Congregation of Newcomers 3.3 The Suburban Paradise 3.4 Hear Me Roar 3.5 Is That All There Is? 3.6 Encino Jews Part Two: Three Rabbinic Voices Chapter 4 The Theological Voice 4.1 The Rabbi as Theologian 4.2 The Theologian as Rabbi 4.3 The Failure of Theodicy Classical Metaphysical Theologies: Aquinas and Maimonides Hartshorne’s Process Theology Personalist Theologies: Buber and Barth The Eternal Question—Why Me? 4.4 Predicate Theology Sources Answering Evil Revelation Oneness Prayer Godliness or Goodness? I Seek a God I Can’t Believe In 4.5 Two Names for God 4.6 God and the Holocaust Chapter 5 The Prophetic Voice 5.1 The Rabbi as Prophet 5.2 The 1970s: The Holocaust Dybbuk 5.3 The 1980s: Out of the Cave 5.4 The 1990s: The Stenosis of Halachah 5.5 2000: The Duty to Obey, the Duty to Disobey Chapter 6 The Voice of Community Building 6.1 The Psychological Jew 6.2 Mediating Structures: The Synagogue Havurah 6.3 Mediating Structures: Para-Rabbinics 6.4 Poetry 6.5 Reinventing the Rabbinate 6.6 Shaping New Narratives Epilogue A Note on Sources Works Cited

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Book SynopsisDoctors hold a pretty special place in our lives. They’re often there when we’re born, and they’re usually there when we die. They’re there for a lot of the scary or weird stuff that happens in between, too.In That’s Why I’m a Doctor, award-winning journalist Mark Bulgutch brings together forty-six stories from a diverse group of physicians, including pediatricians, interventional radiologists, general surgeons, psychiatrists, family doctors, gastroenterologists, ophthalmologists, gynecologists, neurologists and more. Each doctor’s story describes the moment that left them thinking, “That’s why I became a doctor.”This volume includes stories of innovation (developing a treatment for cholera); rare and fascinating medical cases (the separation of conjoined twins); the less dramatic but still quietly satisfying times when the doctor was able to have a lasting positive impact on the life of a patient or their family; and, of course, those unexpected moments when the patient taught the doctor an important life lesson that would inform their practice for years to come.These stories, big and small, are tied together by a sense of caring. It’s impossible to read what these doctors have to say and not come away with a new understanding of what goes through the mind of the person on the other end of the stethoscope and how dedicated doctors must be to do what they do.

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Book Synopsis“[Daniel Pauly] is an iconoclastic fisheries scientist ... who is so decidedly global in his life and outlook that he is nearly a man without a country.”—NEW YORK TIMES “Daniel Pauly is a friend whose work has inspired me for years.”—TED DANSON Daniel Pauly is a living legend in the world of marine biology. He coined the influential term “shifting baselines,” in which knowledge of environmental disaster fades over time, leading to a misguided understanding of our world. He blew the whistle on the global fishing industry, alerting the public to the devastation of overfishing. And he developed data-driven research methods that led to groundbreaking discoveries. Daniel Pauly is also a man whose life was shaped by struggle. Born after the Second World War to a white French woman and Black American GI in Paris, Pauly’s childhood has been described as Dickensian. His father left before he was born and his mother, whose family did not accept her and her mixed-race son, fell prey to a manipulative Swiss couple who abducted Pauly under murky circumstances. He was taken to Switzerland, where he was treated cruelly as the couple’s servant. Pauly escaped to Germany to attend university and, as a young man, travelled to the United States during the 1969 civil rights movement, where he met his father’s family and experienced a political and racial reawakening. From there, he went on to have one of the most decorated careers in the field of marine biology. The Ocean’s Whistleblower “weaves together the challenges of marine research with an astonishing coming-of-age story” (Andrew Sharpless, Oceana) and is told through interviews with colleagues, friends, and Pauly himself. A brilliant book about a brilliant man, The Ocean’s Whistleblower finally profiles one of the most influential scientists of our time.Trade Review“Daniel Pauly may be the most prominent ocean advocate you’ve never heard of... The Ocean’s Whistleblower introduces a visionary scientist to a wider audience, showing that science-based decision making must lead action on climate change, environmental health, and food security.” —Foreword Reviews “An extraordinary life story full of drama, globetrotting, perseverance, brilliance, and global influence. A page-turner.” —Enric Sala, author of The Nature of Nature and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence “Daniel [Pauly] is an intellectual and human hero. [His] insights on ocean conservation have changed the world. His life story will change you.” —Ted Danson, actor, ocean activist, and co-author of Oceana “An amazing story, wonderfully told, part Dickens, part Darwin, part detective thriller. With all its ups and downs and scrapes with death, it would be fascinating as fiction. Astonishingly, it’s fact.” —Sam Waterston, actor and activist “Splendid… As if Oliver Twist fell into the sea and saved himself from drowning by swimming straight for science. By meticulously detailing Pauly’s milieu and travails, Grémillet shows how Pauly's mission to end the over-exploitation of the seas is inherently linked to this great thinker's struggles with injustice wherever it may arise.” —Paul Greenberg, New York Times bestselling author of Four Fish Praise for Daniel Pauly: “[Daniel Pauly] is an iconoclastic fisheries scientist ... who is so decidedly global in his life and outlook that he is nearly a man without a country.” —New York Times

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Book SynopsisIn Unravelled the author unpicks the threads of her comically nuclear family with its deep silences to find what lay hidden, never to be spoken of. Beneath the carefully woven fabric of her family life, she finds clash of cultures – on one side Jews fleeing the pogroms of Eastern Europe, and on the other the highest levels of the British aristocracy, from the Earl of Erroll of White Mischief fame to the Twenties socialite Mimi Wimborne. The writer and thinker John Berger mysteriously links both worlds. She finds two grandmothers whose bids to find freedom and fulfilment ended in utter disaster. Her parents, shiny young communists of the 1950s airbrushed both women out of history. But what happens when you deny the past? How do you negotiate your sense of identity?

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Book SynopsisA first-generation US citizen of Venezuelan descent, Peter Camejo traversed the liberal American political landscape, from the Socialist Workers to the Green Party, running for Governor of California on numerous occasions as well as being selected as Ralph Nader?s vice-presidential running mate in 2004. His life story, eloquently captured in this inspiring autobiography, is an important history of environmental activism, social justice liberalism and immigration.

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Book SynopsisHow much do we really know about the lives of our parents and the secrets lodged in their past? Judy Bolton-Fasman’s fascinating saga, "Asylum: A Memoir of Family Secrets," recounts the search for answers to the mysteries embedded in the lives of her Cuban-born mother, Matilde Alboukrek Bolton and her elusive, Yale-educated father, K. Harold Bolton. In the prefatory chapter, “Burn This,” Judy receives a thick letter from her father and conjectures that the contents will reveal the long hidden explanations, confessions, and secrets that will unlock her father’s cryptic past. Just as she is about to open the portal to her father’s “transtiendas,” his dark hidden secrets, Harold Bolton phones Judy and instructs her to burn the still unopened letter. With the flick of a match, Judy ignites her father’s unread documents, effectively destroying the answers to long held questions that surround her parents’ improbable marriage and their even more secretive lives. Judy Bolton, girl detective, embarks on the life-long exploration of her bifurcated ancestry; Judy inherits a Sephardic, Spanish/Ladino-speaking culture from her mother and an Ashkenazi, English-only, old-fashioned American patriotism from her father. Amid the Bolton household’s cultural, political, and psychological confusion, Judy is mystified by her father’s impenetrable silence; and, similarly confounded by her mother’s fabrications, not the least of which involve rumors of a dowry pay-off and multiple wedding ceremonies for the oddly mismatched 40-year-old groom and the 24-year-old bride. Contacting former associates, relatives, and friends; accessing records through the Freedom of Information Act; traveling to Cuba to search for clues, and even reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish for a year to gain spiritual insight into her father; these decades-long endeavors do not always yield the answers Judy wanted and sometimes the answers themselves lead her to ask new questions. Among Asylum’s most astonishing, unsolved mysteries is Ana Hernandez’s appearance at the family home on Asylum Avenue in West Hartford, Connecticut. Ana is an exchange student from Guatemala whom Judy comes to presume to be her paternal half-sister. In seeking information about Ana, Judy’s investigations prove to be much like her entire enterprise--both enticing and frustrating. Was Ana just a misconstrued memory, or is she a still living piece of the puzzle that Judy has spent her adult life trying to solve? Readers will relish every step and stage of Judy’s investigations and will begin to share in her obsession to obtain answers to the mysteries that have haunted her life. The suspense, the clairvoyant prophecies, the discoveries, the new leads, the dead-ends, the paths not taken—all capture our attention in this absorbing and fascinating memoir.Trade ReviewThe Times of Israel, October 10, 2021 by Renee Ghert-Zand Author boldly goes against her dead father’s wishes to uncover his true identity!In her new memoir, Judy Bolton-Fasman investigates lifelong questions on the strange union between her assimilated American dad and her much-younger mom, a volatile Cuban refugee When Judy Bolton-Fasman was in graduate school in the mid-1980s, her father sent her a thick letter. But just as she was about to open the envelope, he called and told her to burn it immediately. The eldest of three children stemming from the improbable union of a stoic, highly-assimilated Yale University graduate and World War II US Navy officer and an emotionally volatile Jewish refugee from Revolutionary Cuba 17 years his junior, Bolton-Fasman had found confusing peculiarities about her parents’ marriage since she had been a child.Torn between her curiosity to know the secrets her ill father might have revealed, and her loyalty and fear, Bolton-Fasman chose to follow instructions. She dropped the envelope into a metal wastepaper basket and set it alight.Three-and-a-half decades later, Bolton-Fasman, 60, has collected evidence revealing what may have been written in that unread missive. Although she can only speculate as to what her father might have wanted to tell her, she is certain that she has a better grasp on the mysteries of her father’s life, and of her parents’ unlikely marriage.Bolton-Fasman shares her memories and conjectures in a new memoir, “Asylum: A Memoir of Family Secrets,” published in August. The book is her way of coming to terms with the transtiendas (the Spanish word her mother used for secrets, but literally meaning a “backroom”) that permeated her childhood home and accompanied her into adulthood. “I call this a ‘speculative memoir,'” said the author. “Facts and speculation come together and yield the truth.”“I believe the mystery of my parents’ marriage was related at least in part to the things my father never told us. He wanted the secrets to die with him, and he took them to his grave,” Bolton-Fasman said in an interview with The Times of Israel from her home in Newton, Massachusetts.Bolton-Fasman’s memoir takes its title from the street on which she grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut: Asylum Avenue. The “name had connotations of refuge and madness. In those matters, the address did not disappoint,” she wrote.Table of ContentsCONTENTS Prologue: Burn This…………………………… ix PART I Chapter 1. Judy Bolton, Girl Detective ……… 3 Chapter 2. Shark-Finned Chrysler………………13 Chapter 3. Between Home and Asylum?............ 20 Chapter 4. English Only………………………...29 Chapter 5. The Summer of Ana ………………..39 PART II Chapter 6. Mourning Harold……………………49 Chapter 7. The Kaddish Project…………………58 Chapter 8. The Ninety-Day Wonder…………….67 Chapter 9. The Somnambulists………………… 75 Chapter 10. Driving Lessons…………………… 82 Chapter 11. Batidos de Mamey………………….91 Chapter 12. The Clairvoyant Trifecta…………. 103 Chapter 13. Silent Symphony…………………. 112 Chapter 14. Mazal………………………………120 Chapter 15. The Ford Taurus………………….. 128 Chapter 16. The Wall………………………….. 134 PART III Chapter 17 The Lacerated Wedding Gown……. 145 Chapter 18. Freedom of Information……………156 Chapter 19. The Duchess………………………. 170 Chapter 20. Seeking Ana……………………… 177 Chapter 21. Beharismo………………………… 191 Chapter 22. 1735 Asylum Avenue……………. 197 Chapter 23. La Callé Mercéd……………………207 Chapter 24. Prayers and Trastiendas…………… 215

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