Biography Books

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA straight-from-the-shoulder writer, writing about the troubled problems of this troubled earth with an illuminating intensity that should influence for the better all who ponder on the things books say -- Langston Hughes * The New York Times *Powerful . . . I wish I could press this book into the hands of every American - actually, every human. -- Celeste Ng * Guardian *Edgy and provocative . . . entertainingly satirical -- Robert McCrum * Guardian *A classic . . . Take the words out of the 1950s, when they were published, and they could apply to the women in pink hats, the scientists, the Black Lives Matter activists, the climate-change believers and the LGBTQ-rights supporters who have flooded the streets of Washington this year * Washington Post *A classic ... In a divided America, James Baldwin's fiery critiques reverberate anew * Washington Post *Cemented his reputation as a cultural seer ... Notes of a Native Son endures as his defining work, and his greatest * Time *

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Book SynopsisDeals with the underworld of society. In this book, the author documents a world of unrelenting drudgery and squalor - sleeping in bug-infested hostels and doss houses of last resort, working as a dishwasher in Paris' vile 'Hotel X', surviving on scraps and cigarette butts, living alongside tramps, a star-gazing pavement artist and more.

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Book SynopsisBetween 1997 and 2014, Tom Kristensen won the world’s toughest motor race, the Le Mans 24 Hours, a record nine times and finished on the podium on five more occasions. Every time his car made it to the finish, in fact, he was in the top three. It is no wonder that this great sports car driver is known as ‘Mr Le Mans’ to motorsport fans around the world. Now retired from racing, Kristensen shares in this book his deepest personal reflections and insights from inside and outside the cockpit. He looks back on more than 30 years spent striving for perfection in racing and tells of the battles and setbacks that sometimes seemed impossible to overcome, including a terrible accident in 2007. Voted ‘Sports Book of the Year’ when originally published in Kristensen’s native Denmark, this thoughtful memoir is now available in English.

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Book SynopsisWhen David Morehouse - a highly decorated army officer - was hit by a stray bullet, he began to be plagued with visions and uncontrolled out-of-body experiences. As a consequence, he was recruited as a psychic spy for STARGATE, a highly classified programme of espionage instigated by the CIA and the US Defence Department. Trained to develop spiritual, clairvoyant capacities, he became one of a select band of 'remote viewers' in pursuit of previously unattainable political and military secrets. When Morehouse discovered that the next step in the top-secret programme was 'remote influencing' - turning 'viewers' like himself into deadly weapons - he rebelled. In his efforts to expose the programme, he and his family endured the full force of the US intelligence community's attempts to silence him. As the multi-million-dollar STARGATE scandal was exposed to the world, Morehouse himself became the enemy of the secret services...In Psychic Warrior one of STARGATE's 'viewers' finally reveals the extraordinary truth of this secret operation. Originally published in 1996, there is a continuing demand for David Morehouse's story in the U.K. Out of print for over a year, this new edition of Psychic Warrior features a new foreword by the author.Trade Review"David Morehouse is a courageous man with an extraordinary story that transcends time and space." - Nexus.

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Book SynopsisTwo modern classics in one volume.Trade Review Animal Farm ‘[Orwell’s] wit is both edged and human. Few writers of any period have been able to use the English language so simply and accurately to say what they mean, and at the same time to mean something’ The New Republic (1946) ‘Animal Farm remains our great satire on the darker face of modern history’ Malcolm Bradbury ‘The book for everyone and Everyman, its brightness undimmed after fifty years’ Daily Telegraph ‘The book it’s writer called “a little squib” is the finest prose satire in English after Gulliver’s Travels’ Julian Symons ‘Orwell … has written in a prose so plain and spare, so admirably proportioned to his purpose, that Animal Farm even seems very creditable if we compare it with Voltaire and Swift’ The New Yorker ‘A prophet who thought the unthinkable and spoke the unspeakable, even when it offended conventional thought’ Daily Express ‘Matchlessly sharp and fresh … The clearest and most compelling English prose style this century’ Sunday Times Nineteen Eighty-Four ‘His final masterpiece … enthralling and indispensable for understanding modern history’ New York Review of Books ‘A profound, terrifying and wholly fascinating book … Orwell’s theory of power is developed brilliantly’ The New Yorker ‘Brilliantly constructed and told’ Guardian ‘There is not a smile or a jest that does not add bitterness to Orwell’s utterly depressing vision of what the world may be in 35 years’ time’ TIME

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Book Synopsis'A compelling, beautifully written story of resilience, friendship and survival.' Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of AuschwitzThe thrilling story of how nine young women, captured by the Nazis for being part of the Resistance, launched a breathtakingly bold escape and found their way home.As the Second World War raged across Europe, and the Nazi regime tightened its reign of horror and oppression, nine women, some still in their teens, joined the French and Dutch Resistance. Caught out in heroic acts against the brutal occupiers, they were each tortured and sent east into Greater Germany to a concentration camp, where they formed a powerful friendship. In 1945, as the war turned against Hitler, they were forced on a Death March, facing starvation and almost certain death. Determined to survive, they made a bid for freedom, and so began one of the most breathtaking tales of escape and resilience of the Second World War. The author is the great-niece of one of the nine, and she interweaves their gripping flight across war-torn Europe with her own detective work, uncovering the heart-stopping escape and survival of these heroes who fought fearlessly against Nazi Germany and lived to tell the tale.---------'A truly extraordinary tale, beautifully written, one that chills and excites, [A] work of rare passion, power and principle' Philippe Sands, author of East-West Street and The Ratline'Utterly gripping' Anna Sebba author of Les Parisiennes'The Nine is poignant, powerful, and shattering, distilling the horror of the Holocaust through the lens of nine unforgettable women...' Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code and The Alice NetworkTrade ReviewA compelling, beautifully written story of resilience, friendship and survival. The story of Women's resistance during World War II needs to be told and The Nine accomplishes this in spades. -- Heather Morris * Author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz *The Nine is a triumph of the imagination... Strauss read memoirs and toured Europe in search of relatives to give the women literary immortality... It is an ingeniously constructed book... -- Christina Hardyment * The Times *This haunting account provides yet more evidence not only of the power of female friendship but that the often unrecorded courage and resilience of ordinary women must be honoured and celebrated. It's a most inspiring read, occasionally the horrific ordeal seems unbearable but then there's a moment of laughter. Utterly gripping. -- Anna Sebba * author of Les Parisiennes *The Nine is poignant, powerful, and shattering, distilling the horror of the Holocaust through the lens of nine unforgettable women. Banding together in the hellscape of Ravensbruck, the nine resistance fighters turned prisoners make a desperate bid for escape in the chaos of the war's end, embarking across battle-ravaged Germany toward home. Gwen Strauss melds a poet's pen and a decade of research into a tale of friendship, courage, and indomitable will. -- Kate Quinn * New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code and The Alice Network *I love this book. It delivers beauty, grace, horror, and suspense-an important work that also happens to be a hell of a read! -- Anthony Swofford * author of Jarhead *At this moment of worldwide chaos and despair, this is a book that reminds us about what is important, and about finding strength and purpose during the worst of times. Highly recommended. -- Goldie Goldbloom * author of Paperbark Shoe and On Division *It's high time we got our Band of Sisters, and there could be no better author to tell their story than the riveting and rigorous Strauss. Equal parts exhilarating, devastating, and inspiring. -- Lauren Sandler * author of This is All I Got *Strauss, niece of one of the nine heroines and third-generation 'Witness of the Witnesses', answers questions and challenges with great finesse. In a writing of rare historical accuracy and deep empathy, a woman of today tells the stories of yesterday. -- Agnès Triebel * Secretary General of the International Buchenwald-Dora Committee *With Gwen Strauss' book and the scope of her research, that whole unknown period came to me as a gift from heaven... The precision of the speech, the delicacy of the style, the joys and misfortunes brought tears that I was happy to shed. -- Marc Spijker * son of Guigui, one of the nine *'A paean to female bravery and live-saving friendship.' * The i *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“No one in the West understands Russia's strategic thinking, Vladimir Putin's strategic ambitions, as well as [Fiona] Hill." — Ezra Klein, The Ezra Klein Show “The rare Trump insider memoir that doesn’t obsess over Trump . . . As it turns out, we should have paid more attention to Hill’s life story. Though her book does feature first-person accounts of Trump and his inner circle, There Is Nothing for You Here is a more ambitious and personal effort.” — Washington Post “Riveting…compelling…Hill deftly combines three books into one to great effect…This is not a kiss-and-tell account, but what she does relate of her interactions with the president is in every case worth telling.” — Foreign Affairs “Hill is a lucid writer, delivering her reminiscences in a vivid and wry style. . . . with immediacy, tenderness and a good bit of gallows humor.” — New York Times "Thoughtful...compelling....While other Trump-era memoirs have focused solely on the carnival, Hill's scope pans out to the wounded country that put him in office, and then wider still, across the Atlantic to Britain and then across Europe to Russia." — The Guardian "Full of startling and unsettling insights into how Trump dealt with foreign leaders and his ‘autocrat envy.’ Hill’s book is also a compelling memoir about her journey from a working-class background in northern England to the corridors of power in Washington. Her background gives her particular insight into the social and economic forces driving the rise of populism in the US, UK and Russia.” — Gideon Rachman, “Best books of 2021,” Financial Times “The alarm [Hill] sounds is urgent . . . She sees striking similarities between the impoverished region of her roots and disadvantaged areas of both America and Russia. . . . Her journey from disadvantaged origins to success has echoes of the bestselling tales of Tara Westover’s Educated and J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy.” — The Economist “This book has a miraculous quality. Fiona Hill has transformed her own predicaments in the Trump administration into a prescription for a better America. Known as an outstanding expert on Russia and an exemplary public servant, she reveals herself here as a wise observer and a beautiful writer. As a memoir this is hard to put down; if you are seeking a better American future you should pick it up.” — Timothy Snyder, Yale University, New York Times best-selling author of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century “[An] ambitious, immensely compelling memoir, Hill interweaves her interesting life story with events and issues she has continued to observe during her career . . . The author persuasively argues that America may be heading in a similar direction to Russia unless we address the crucial challenges facing much of the country, specifically regarding education, health care, and job opportunities. Drawing insightful parallels between Trump and Putin, she unpacks how the threat of populism can quickly undermine democracy . . . A shrewd, absorbing memoir that casts a sharp eye on America's future while offering feasible solutions for change.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Valuable and riveting . . . Hill’s personal, professional and political lives form a coherent whole so that each part illuminates the other . . . a memoir that will give pleasure to readers today — and will be an important document for historians of the future.” — Financial Times "In this captivating chronicle of her improbable life, Fiona Hill takes us from a Northern England of idled coal mines and deindustrialization to Trump’s Oval Office, demonstrating how individual biography can illuminate far broader issues of world affairs. Her book represents a stern and essential warning about the global threats to democracy and their root causes in a worldwide crisis of opportunity." — Drew Gilpin Faust, President Emerita and Arthur Kingsley Porter University Professor, Harvard University “A story told with self-deprecating humor and kindness . . . Unlike other tell-all authors from the Trump administration, [Hill] isn’t obsessed with the scandalous. Much like her measured but riveting testimony in Trump’s first impeachment, the book offers a more sober, and thus perhaps more alarming, portrait of the 45th president. If Hill’s tone is restrained, it is damning by a thousand cuts. It lays out how a career devoted to understanding and managing the Russian threat crashed into her revelation that the greatest threat to America comes from within.” — Associated Press "A sobering analysis of the toxic environment Trump and his aides created and how it continues to threaten democracy’s very existence.” — Booklist (starred review) “Fiona Hill knows all too well the threats posed by Russia and the Trump administration, but this well-written, analytically sophisticated autobiography is focused on an even more dangerous crisis: the vast and growing opportunity gap in the United States and much of the rest of the world. Her personal story of upward mobility from the distressed coal fields of northern England to the White House is, as she knows, ‘a fluke.’ That is precisely what makes this remarkable book must reading for anyone concerned about our country’s future.” — Robert D. Putnam, Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School, and New York Times best-selling author of Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis and The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again "Lucid . . . a forceful argument for investing in education to lower the barriers to opportunity . . . Readers will come for the insider details about Trump, but stay for the keen analysis." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A masterful book with remarkable depth and breadth…There Is Nothing for You Here is a wonderful and compelling read that interweaves its author’s amazing personal journey with deep analysis of some of the most urgent issues facing capitalism, democracy, and international diplomacy today. It is a rare and remarkable combination.” — Carol Graham, Leo Pasvolsky Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution and College Park Professor, University of Maryland School of Public Policy "Fiona Hill’s talents took her from England to Putin’s Russia and to the Trump White House. She has lived through the social and economic disintegration of all three countries, and has the close-up experience to draw new parallels between Putin and Trump. A candid, insightful, and disturbing story.” — Sir Angus Deaton, Nobel Prize winner and co-author of the New York Times best-selling Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism

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Book SynopsisJeremy Wade has caught an unparalleled array of outsize and outlandish fish from challenging locations all over the world - goliath tigerfish from the Congo, arapaima from the Amazon, ''giant devil catfish'' from the Himalayan foothills . . .As his catches attract increasing public attention, many people ask him how they can improve their own fishing results. This book is his reply. Sparse on the details of technique, it''s about the simple, fundamental principles - a mindset for success. Part science, part art, and part elusive something else, this, he says, is within every angler''s ability to develop.How to Think Like a Fish is the distillation of a life spent fishing. Along the way readers will learn when to let instinct override logic. Why less time can bring better results than more. Which details are vital and which may be irrelevant. And how a ''non-result'' can be a result. Thoughtful and funny, brimming with wisdom and adventure, here is the boo

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Book SynopsisThis is a memoir as wry, funny, moving and vivid as its inimitable subject himself. A joy for both lifelong fans and for a whole new generation.'One of Britain's outstanding poets' – Sir Paul McCartney'Riveting' – Observer'An exuberant account of a remarkable life' – New StatesmanJohn Cooper Clarke is a phenomenon: Poet Laureate of Punk, rock star, fashion icon, TV and radio presenter, social and cultural commentator. At 5 feet 11 inches (32in chest, 27in waist), in trademark dark suit, dark glasses, with dark messed-up hair and a mouth full of gold teeth, he is instantly recognizable. As a writer his voice is equally unmistakable and his own brand of slightly sick humour is never far from the surface.I Wanna Be Yours covers an extraordinary life, filled with remarkable personalities: from Nico to Chuck Berry, from Bernard Manning to Linton Kwesi Johnson, Elvis Costello to Gregory Corso, Gil Scott Heron, Mark E. Smith and Joe Strummer, and on to more recent fans and collaborators Alex Turner, Plan B and Guy Garvey.Interspersed with stories of his rock and roll and performing career, John also reveals his boggling encyclopaedic take on popular culture over the centuries: from Baudelaire and Edgar Allan Poe to Pop Art, pop music, the movies, fashion, football and showbusiness – and much, much more, plus a few laughs along the way.'Nothing short of dazzling' – Alex TurnerTrade ReviewThis is not a ‘ponderous trudge through the turgid facts of an ill-remembered life’ but the kind of autobiography Rimbaud might have written if he had been a Mancunian stand-up comedian. -- Graham Robb * Spectator Best Books of the Year *The bookshop shelves have been clogged up for years by musicians and artists who made their debuts in the sulphurous days of 1976-7, but I Wanna Be Yours, the autobiography of the "punk poet" John Cooper Clarke, aka "the Bard of Salford", knocked most of the competition into a cocked hat. -- Books of the Year * TLS *Any autobiography that features both Bernard Manning and Nico is unlikely to disappoint; even less so when it’s written with such brilliantly Dickensian vigour by the Bard of Salford, John Cooper Clarke . . .this fast, funny book catches his life in its lines -- Music Books of the Year * Sunday Times *Manchester punk poet John Cooper Clarke takes a rather different approach to heroin addiction, treating it as a source of humour in his sharply observed, entertaining memoir . . . “Relentless tragedy is always hilarious,” he notes of his eventual recovery. “At some point the laughter has to stop.” -- Best Music Books of 2020 * Daily Telegraph *[I Wanna Be Yours] might be the funniest book published this year. Few memoirists have had better material to work with: heroin addiction, years living in a squat with Nico, endless love affairs and a TV appearance with the Honey Monster. Talk about getting the most out of life. -- Best Music Books of the Year 2020 * The Times *John Cooper Clarke is one of Britain’s outstanding poets. His anarchic punk poetry has thrilled people for decades and his no nonsense approach to his work and life in general has appealed to many people including myself for many years. Long may his slender frame and spiky top produce words and deeds that keep us on our toes and alive to the wonders of the world. -- Sir Paul McCartneyI say to people, have you heard of John Cooper Clarke and if they say, yes, yeah he's an absolute genius and you just go, 'oh - ok, you've saved me a lot of time' -- Steve Coogan, comedian and actor (I'm Alan Partridge)John Cooper Clarke uses words like Chuck Berry uses guitar riffs melody and anger, humour and disdain in equal measure. He's the real deal, really funny and really caustic, the velvet voice of discontent. -- Kate Moss. . . nothing short of dazzling -- Alex Turner, musician (Arctic Monkeys)There are a legion of new young poets who rightly pay homage to Cooper Clarke -- Julian Hall * Independent *It’s impossible not to hear Clarke’s voice, rhythmic & deadpan, while reading his memoir. Like his poetry,his prose style is wry and dry . . . Mad anecdotes & whimsical gags abound, but wisdom often lurks beneath the wordplay. * Guardian *Riveting * The Observer 'Book of the Week' *An immensely engaging memoir that fizzes with wit . . . Though he needs no such affirmation, it cements Clarke’s status as one of the most distinctive voices in pop cultural history – it’s impossible not to hear him read every word aloud in your head with that unforgettable Manc drawl – and reveals much about a remarkable life and career * NME *An exuberant account of a remarkable life * New Statesman *A naturally splendid tell-all * I newspaper *The most entertaining and certainly the most culturally revealing book I have read this year -- D. J. Taylor * Literary Review *Clarke’s primordial gift for language is everywhere in this book. It is almost impossible not to read passages out loud — a meta reminder of his contribution to the joy of spoken-word performance. As Clarke puts it: 'Wherever people gather for amusement, that’s where I’ll be.' * Financial Times *He became the first big-time performance punk poet – a warm-up act for the Sex Pistols, with famous fans ranging from Sir Paul McCartney to Kate Moss. And his life has been as chaotically unpredictable as his next line . . . Now clean and, to his own surprise, a happily married family man at 71, the bard of Salford has written his memoirs. * Sunday Mirror *One of the most magnificent and hysterically funny memoirs of modern times * Irish Times *Crafted, entertaining and educative * Mojo Magazine *Elegantly sardonic . . . His writing remains spry and sparkly, sweary but sweet, with this book testament to how 'a half-arsed grafter with a rich vocabulary' became a kind of British institution * Uncut Magazine *A poet who writes about darkness and decay but makes people laugh, a human cartoon, a gentleman punk, a man who has stayed exactly the same for thirty years but never grown stale. John Cooper Clarke is an original -- Claire Smith * Scotsman *One of the most entertaining autobiographies of the year. Hilarious and inspirational in equal measure, it’s the perfect panacea to the misery of 2020 * The Quietus *I Wanna Be Yours could not be more entertaining, charming and optimistic . . . Its immense spirit-lifting qualities will do the despairing – and everyone else – the world of good * Strong Words Magazine *I telephoned hardworking entertainer and poet Dr. John Cooper Clarke to tell him how much I’m enjoying his memoir, I Wanna Be Yours . . . a buxom read and a highly entertaining one. -- Martin Newell * East Anglian Times *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAs an explorer Erling Kagge is world class; as a writer he is equally gifted. This breathtaking, inspiring little book teaches us how to find precious moments of silence - whether we are crossing the Antarctic, climbing Everest, or on the train at rush hour -- Sir Ranulph FiennesSilence braces a space within which we can hear ourselves think. Quietly, wisely, it makes a case for dumbing the din of modern life, and learning to listen again. Drawing on the experiences of Kagge's extraordinary life in wild places, this is a book of great concentration -- Robert MacfarlaneErling Kagge is a philosophical adventurer - or perhaps an adventurous philosopher * New York Times *A breathtakingly beautiful, quietly life-changing book by the Norwegian explorer Erling Kagge, that shows us how to find perfect silence in our daily lives - however busy we are * Publisher's description *Silence braces a space within which we can hear ourselves think. Quietly, wisely, it makes a case for dumbing the din of modern life, and learning to listen again. Drawing on the experiences of Kagge's extraordinary life in wild places, this is a book of great concentration -- Robert Macfarlane

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Book SynopsisJEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU was born in Geneva in 1712. His remarkable novel La nouvelle Héloise (1761), met with immediate and enormous success. In this and in Émile, which followed a year later, Rousseau invoked the inviolability of personal ideals against the power of the state and the pressures of society. The crowning achievement of his political philosophy was The Social Contract, published in 1762. That same year he wrote an attack on revealed religion, the Profession de foi du vicaire savoyard. He was driven from Switzerland and fled to England where he only succeeded in making an enemy of Hume and returned to his continental peregrinations. In 1770 Rousseau completed his Confessions. His last years were spent largely in France where he died in 1778.

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Book SynopsisIn his own words is the candid, witty, and unvarnished story of the songs and shows, the hits and pans, the marriages and divorces, the ascents to the top of the charts and into the tabloid headlines.As one of only three musicians to sell over 100 million records both in a group and as a solo artist, Collins breathes rare air, but he has never lost his talent for crafting songs that touch listeners around the globe. This is the story of his epic career, from child actor to one of the most successful songwriters of the pop music era. A drummer since almost before he could walk, Collins received on-the-job training in the seedy, thrilling bars and clubs of 1960s swinging London before finally landing the drum seat in Genesis. Later he would step into the spotlight on vocals after the departure of Peter Gabriel, and compose the songs that would rocket him to international solo fame with the release of Face Value and 'In the Air Tonight'. Whether he's recalling jamming with Eric Clapton and Robert Plant, pulling together a big band fronted by Tony Bennett, playing twice at Live Aid, or writing the Oscar-winning music for Disney's smash-hit animated film Tarzan, Collins keeps it intimate and his storytelling gift never wavers.Trade ReviewA no-holds-barred autobiography which is a well written and emotive read * i *Honest, engaging * The Sun *Collins book is candid, amusing and revealing * Telegraph *Jaw-droppingly honest * Daily Mirror *Stunning… Not Dead Yet is far more than just a witty aside about being a surviving sixty something music legend. It’s a celebration. 9/10 * On Magazine *

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Book SynopsisThis fascinating autobiography of the country music legend recounts the highs and lows, the struggles and hard-won triumphs of his remarkable life.The story takes us from Johnny Cash's childhood on an Arkansas cotton farm to his early years at Sun Records. We read of his life on the road and meetings with, and performances for, world leaders. There is also the darker side of his life: the years of addiction to amphetamines and pain killers, a suicide attempt and the spiritual awakening that pulled him through.He looks unsparingly at his turbulent past, but remains a man of honesty, humility and humour. His memoir reveals his friendships with Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan and Billy Graham.Trade Review‘I’ve never met a man who combined spiritual depth, musical ability and international fame with such grace, charm and humility as Johnny.’Dr Billy Graham

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Book SynopsisBenedictine nun, poet and musician, Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was one of the most remarkable figures of the Middle Ages. She undertook preaching tours throughout the German empire at the age of sixty, and was consulted not only by her religious contemporaries but also by kings and emperors, yet it is largely for her apocalyptic and mystical writings that she is remembered. This volume includes selections from her three visionary works, her treatises on medicine and the natural world, her devotional songs, and fascinating letters to prominent figures of her time. Dealing with such eternal subjects as the relationship between humans and nature, and men and women, Hildegard''s works show her to be a wide-ranging thinker who created such fresh, startling images and ideas that her writings have been compared to Dante and Blake.Table of ContentsSelected Writings - Hildegard of Bingen - Translated by Mark Atherton Introduction:I. Life and CareerII. Hildegard in Her TimeIII. Hildegard's WritingsFurther ReadingSelect DiscographyChronologyTranslator's NoteKnow the Ways1. Letter to Bernard of Clairvaux2. The Action of the Will (from Scivias)3. Redemption (from Scivias)4. Letter to Odo of Soissons5. The Trinity (from Scivias)6. Letter to Pope Eugenius IIIStruggles for Independence7. Songs for Saint Disibod8. Letter to Hartwig of Bremen9. Song for Saint Ursula10. The Trials of the Soul (from Scivias)11. Songs for Saint Rupert12. The Departure of Richardis of Strade13. The First Version of The Play of the Virtues (from Scivias)The Sibyl of the Rhine14. Three Political Letters15. Songs for the Dedication of a Church16. Teachings on the Church (from Scivias)17. Letter to Elisabeth of Schönau18. Gertrud of Stahleck19. Letter to the Abbess of BambergIn Praise of Creation20. The Cosmic Egg (from Scivias)21. The Cosmos (from Causes and Cures)22. Gemstones (from Physica)23. Songs from Symphonia24. Two Christmas HomiliesAllegories of Justice and Love25. The Iron Mountain (from Scivias)26. The Man Looking East and South (from The Book of Life's Merits)27. The Seven Vices and Virtues (from The Book of Life's Merits)28. The Voice from Heaven (from The Book of Life's Merits)29. The Unknown Language30. Allegorical Letters31. A Vision of Love (from The Book of Divine Works)Hildegard's Life and Influence32. Queries and Requests: Selected Letters to Hildegard33. From The Life of Hildegard, Book 2, by Theoderich of Echternach34. Gebeno of Eberbach: The Pentachronon35. From the Canonization ProtocolNotesGlossary

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Book SynopsisA spellbinding selection of short stories in the original Italian alongside their English translationsThis new dual-language edition of ten stories selected from The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories celebrates some of the very best twentieth-century literature from Italy. Each story appears in the original Italian alongside an expert English translation, providing unique cultural insight and literary inspiration for language learners. Ranging from a spellbinding tale of the supernatural to a powerful portrait of post-war Italy, this revelatory collection includes works from beloved authors, Italo Calvino, Fausta Cialente, Alba de Céspedes, Grazia Deledda, Natalia Ginzburg, Elsa Morante, Lalla Romano, Umberto Saba, Alberto Savinio, and Elio Vittorini.

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Book Synopsis'Deepa is the epitome of a woman living in her power. Ask Me How It Works provides a stunningly vulnerable and poetic glimpse into her most intimate spaces and through her journey to sexual liberation. If this book doesn't change your perspective on relationships, nothing will' GILLIAN ANDERSON'A memoir that offers a candid and insightful perspective on love in all its forms' STYLIST'Raw, vulnerable, and unexpectedly relatable' EASTERN EYE----Here is my husband. Here is my boyfriend. Here I am. In the early hours of dawn in Amsterdam, Deepa Paul rises from her boyfriend's bed. She gets dressed, slips away with a kiss and cycles home, where she is welcomed into the arms of her husband, whose contentment is mellow alongside her own. There isn't a glimmer of shame, deception or guilt, only the honesty and compassion needed to make this kind of life possible even if it wasn't always this easy. You might have questions. Whose idea was it? What are the rules? Are you ever jealous? In this memoir, Deepa offers her answers openly and tenderly, as she explores the truth to questions of her own. Can I ask for what I want, and still honour the life I have chosen? Do I deserve it? Is it worth it?Unexpectedly relatable and joyfully vibrant, this is one woman's story of discovering her own desires and how to liberate them, of shifting identities from mother to lover and back again, and of finding the courage to ask for the marriage she wanted, beyond the marriage she had. One question at a time. --'A spectacular memoir written with verve and style' NANA DARKOA SEKYIAMAH'An honest look at how to navigate multiple partners and motherhood. Expect to have your preconceptions rattled' STYLE'A fascinating and big-hearted portrait of sex, intimacy and non-monogamy' CLOVER STROUD'Reads like a long-overdue conversation with an old friend, will leave you thrilled and humming with possibility' YAEL VAN DER WOUDEN'A brave and elegantly executed memoir about the power of writing your own rules, shaking off shame and fighting for a marriage to work' THE SUNDAY TIMES IRELAND'A generous-spirited, imaginative exploration of how to live life differently' REBECCA WAIT

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES NO 1. BESTSELLER''Astonishing . . . Sheds riveting new light on this breathtaking plan'' Daily Mail''A rollicking read'' Max Hastings, Sunday Times''Brilliant and almost absurdly entertaining'' Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker____________________April, 1943: a sardine fisherman spots the corpse of a British soldier floating in the sea off the coast of Spain and sets off a train of events that would change the course of the Second World War.Operation Mincemeat was the most successful wartime deception ever attempted. It hoodwinked the Nazi espionage chiefs and saved thousands of lives by deploying a secret agent who was different from any spy before or since: he was dead. His mission: to convince the Germans that instead of attacking Sicily, the Allied armies planned to invade Greece.The brainchild of an eccentric RAF officer and a brilliant Jewish barrister, the great hoax involved an extraordinary cast of characters including a famous forensic pathologist, a gold-prospector, an inventor, a beautiful secret service secretary, a submarine captain, three novelists, an irascible admiral who loved fly-fishing, and a dead Welsh tramp.This is the true story of the most extraordinary deception ever planned by Churchill''s spies: an outrageous lie that travelled from a Whitehall basement all the way to Hitler''s desk.

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Book SynopsisThe real story that inspired the BBC drama, The GoldOn Saturday, 26 November 1983, an armed gang stole gold bullion worth almost 26 million from the Brink''s-Mat security depot near London''s Heathrow Airport. It was the largest robbery in world history, and only the start of an extraordinary story. For forty years, myths and legends have grown around the Brink''s-Mat heist and the events that followed.The heist led to a wave of international money laundering, provided dirty money that helped fuel the London Docklands property boom, caused seismic changes in both British crime and policing, and has been linked to a series of deaths that continued until 2015.The Gold is the conclusion of extensive research and includes exclusive testimony from one of the original robbers who gives his version of events for the first time. The result is the astonishing true story of the robbery of the century.

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Book SynopsisA footballing road trip through the 2024/25 FA Cup season with bestselling author Felix White, travelling across the vast and varied landscape of English football - from Leamington to Liverpool, from Maidenhead United to Manchester City.Each chapter chronicles a new match as Felix faithfully follows the winning team to the next round, carrying him across the country through the changing seasons and the breadth of England, until the pinnacle of the FA Cup final. From the stricken, chaotic local pitches to the game''s extremely lucrative, globally renowned elite, Felix delves into the enduring myths and elusive magic of the game, while confronting its deeper imbalances.From the burger stalls to the stands, to the dug-out, the changing rooms, and even the referee''s office, this book opens up the psyche of a nation that has more football teams than any other - where each one is a source of pride, despair and obsession. Through intimate conversations with fans, players, and staff, and poetic reflections, Felix uncovers the chaos, beauty, and raw passion that define the sport, offering an unprecedented and exhaustive view of modern English football.

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Book SynopsisA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER''HANDS DOWN THE GREATEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN ABOUT F1.'' -Sam Walker, author of The Captain Class''MODERN F1 IS THE SPORTS STORY OF THIS ERA AND NO ONE COULD TELL IT BETTER'' -Kevin Clark, ESPN''THE FASTEST READ YOU WILL EVER PICK UP'' -A.J. Baime, author of Go Like HellF1 is now the fastest growing sport in the world; the full story of its unbelievable rise is a riveting saga only hinted at by the likes of Drive to Survive. In this book - the first, definitive account of how F1 came to achieve total global fandom - Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg take us inside a world full of racing obsessives, glamorous settings, petrolheads, engineering geniuses, dashing racers and bitter rivalries.The story of F1''s world dominance is one of near-constant transformation and experimentation. This is a sport where the only way to win championships is to land a series of technical moon shots - and then do it all over again. With fast cars, big money, beautiful people, and glamorous locations from Monaco to Melbourne, The Formula tells the full, epic story of the sport. Starting in 1950s Britain, where six years of wartime engineering laid the foundations for a new type of motorcar racing; to the first global star partnership of Senna and Ecclestone; Spygate; Crashgate and its transition into an entertainment juggernaut. Bringing unique insight and access to F1''s most storied teams and personalities - from Ferrari to Lewis Hamilton to Christian Horner and Daniel Ricciardo -The Formula offers a riveting portrait of the drivers, corporations, cars, rivalries, and audacious gambles that have shaped the sport for half a century.The end result is a high-octane history of how modern F1 racing came to be - the first book to tell the story of the outrageous successes and spectacular crashes that led F1 to this extraordinary yet precarious moment. More than just a sports story, it is the tale of a commercial empire, one built in the 20th century, rendered almost obsolete in the early 21st, and re-emerged world-dominant today; a disrupter that claimed its place in the crowded sports marketplace through cash, personality, and a new understanding of what a sport needs to be in the age of wall-to-wall entertainment.

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Book SynopsisTHE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER''Wise, funny and generous'' The Times''Warm and perceptive'' New York Times''So honest and funny and smart'' Observer''Griffin Dunne knows how to tell a story'' Washington Post''Dunne is a prospector for the incandescent detail'' Los Angeles Times''Full of light, life and colour...a startling tale of precarious American privilege, spotlighting a family that is blessed and cursed'' GuardianAt eight, Sean Connery saved him from drowning. At thirteen, desperate to hook up with Janis Joplin, he attended his aunt Joan Didion''s legendary LA launch party for Tom Wolfe''s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. In his early twenties, he shared a Manhattan apartment with his best friend and soulmate Carrie Fisher while she was filming some sci-fi movie called Star Wars and he was a struggling actor selling popcorn at Radio City Music Hall. A few years later, he produced and starred in the now-iconic film After Hours, directed by Martin Scorsese.In the midst of it all, Griffin''s twenty-two-year-old sister, Dominique, a rising star in Hollywood, was brutally strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend, leading to one of the most infamous public trials of the 1980s. The outcome was a travesty of justice that marked the beginning of their father Dominick Dunne''s career as a bestselling author of true crime narratives.And yet, for all its boldface cast of characters and jaw-dropping scenes, The Friday Afternoon Club is no mere celebrity memoir. It is, down to its bones, a family story that embraces the poignant absurdities and best and worst efforts of its loveable, infuriating, funny and moving characters - its author most of all.

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Book SynopsisAn Unlikely Photographer is an autobiographical account of David Wilson''s journey from near death and a life-changing disability to a vision which has uniquely captured the character of Wales''s landscapes in his lens.

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Book SynopsisThis compelling work of truecrime explores the aftershocks of Killer Clown John Wayne Gacy's crimes with auniquely intimate slant, as the daughter of a key witness probes her mother's personalexperiences and the legacy of murder within a family, a community, and the Americanpsyche.

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Book Synopsis** PRE-ORDER THE SEQUEL I WANT TO DIE BUT I STILL WANT TO EAT TTEOKBOKKI NOW **THE PHENOMENAL INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER TRANSLATED BY INTERNATIONAL BOOKER SHORTLISTEE ANTON HUR''Will strike a chord with anyone who feels that their public life is at odds with how they really feel inside.'' RedPSYCHIATRIST: So how can I help you? ME: I don't know, I'm what's the word depressed? Do I have to go into detail? Baek Sehee is a successful young social media director at a publishing house when she begins seeing a psychiatrist about her what to call it? depression? She feels persistently low, anxious, endlessly self-doubting, but also highly judgemental of others. She hides her feelings well at work and with friends; adept at performing the calmness, even ease, her lifestyle demands. The effort is exhausting, overwhelming, and keeps her from forming deep relationships. This can''t be normal. But if she''s so hopeless, why can she always summon a desire for her favourite street food, the hot, spicy rice cake, tteokbokki? Is this just what life is like? Recording her conversations with her psychiatrist over 12 weeks, Baek begins to disentangle the feedback loops, knee-jerk reactions and harmful behaviours that keep her locked in a cycle of self-abuse. Part memoir, part self-help book, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki is a book to keep close and to reach for in times of darkness.I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki comes in three different colours; the colour you receive will be chosen at random

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Book SynopsisFrom bestselling author Bill Bryson comes this compelling short biography of William Shakespeare, our greatest dramatist and poet.Examining centuries of myths, half-truths and downright lies, Bill Bryson makes sense of the man behind the masterpieces. As he leads us through the crowded streets of Elizabethan England, he brings to life the places and characters that inspired Shakespeare's work. Along the way he delights in the inventiveness of Shakespeare's language, which has given us so many of the indispensable words and phrases we use today, and celebrates the Bard's legacy to our literature, culture and history.Drawing together information from a vast array of sources, this is a masterful account of the life and works of William Shakespeare, one of the most famous and most enigmatic people ever to have lived not to mention a classic piece of Bill Bryson.Trade Review‘A delight…A gem of a book.’ Mail on Sunday ‘Witty and infectiously enthusiastic.’ Spectator 'A brilliantly funny and gently insightful travel guide to 16th century England. Bryson is great at picking out of the morass of Elizabethan fact the small details that illuminate and amuse…he also uncovers from the world that surrounded the theatre some fascinating examples of Elizabethan eccentricity…As an abbreviated tour around the world of Shakespeare, this could hardly be bettered.' Sunday Times ‘Bryson uses an inimitably light touch and squeezes a vast subject down to manageable proportions…he is a warm and funny guide through the whole complicated morass of Shakespearean scholarship.’ Financial Times

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Book Synopsis''Better mad with the crowd than sane all alone''In these witty, Machiavellian aphorisms, unlikely Spanish priest Baltasar Gracián shows us how to exploit friends and enemies alike to thrive in a world of deception and illusion.Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin''s 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.Baltasar Gracián (1601-1658). Gracián''s work is available in Penguin Classics in The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence.

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Book SynopsisA feast for the senses, this sumptuously illustrated book will introduce you to some of the most infamous women throughout world history, united by their shared taste for poison. Welcome to the League of Lady Poisoners. This riveting and well-researched volume by Lisa Perrin weaves together the stories of more than 25 accused women poisoners, exploring the circumstances and skill sets that led them to lives of crime. You might find yourself rooting for some of them - like Sally Bassett, who helped poison her granddaughter's enslavers in Bermuda, or Giulia Tofana, who sold her name-brand concoction to women wanting to be rid of their abusive (or otherwise undesirable) husbands. Other stories, though - including that of Yiya Murano, one of Argentina's most notorious swindlers and serial killers, or the terrifying Nurse Jane Toppan - may prove less palatable. Organized into thematic chapters based on the women's motives, the book also includes an illustrated primer that delves into the origins and effects of common poisons throughout history, as well as a foreword by Holly Frey and Maria Trimarchi, creators and hosts of the podcast Criminalia. It is a treat for true crime fans, feminist history buffs, and any curious readers fascinated by the more macabre side of human nature.

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Book SynopsisTHE NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERHead back down to Clarkson Farm with the bestseller from our favourite welly-wearing wannabe farmer, Jeremy Clarkson___________Enthusiastic trainee farmer Jeremy Clarkson made just 144 in his first year at Diddly Squat Farm. This year he''s determined to do better. Not because he now knows what he''s doing. But because he''s fed up of getting stick from Kaleb.Yet farming continues to be a challenge.For instance . . . Loading a grain trailer was more demanding than flying an Apache gunship? Cows were more dangerous than motor-racing? It''s easier to get planning permission to build a nuclear plant than to turn a barn into a restaurant?Jeremy''s always got a plan. Loads of them. Often cunning.Not always greeted with wild enthusiasm by Kaleb and Cheerful Charlie, however . . .___________PRAISE FOR DIDDLY SQUAT<Trade ReviewIf you want a laugh, it's Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat: 'Til the Cows Come Home . . . The book will keep us going until the next TV series appears. * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisIn On Reflection Richard Holloway thinks back on some of the questions that have shaped his life, sharing the wisdom of poets, writers, musicians and artists he has encountered along the way.How can we forgive? Where does creativity come from? How can we face loss and death? How can we live a good life? How do we find beauty in the world and heal divisions? How does a society move forward? In beautiful prose, and with care and joy, Richard Holloway offers his reflections on how a good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

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

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Book Synopsis''This marvel of a book is a profound meditation on the precariousness of the planet ... these pieces kept bringing tears to my eyes, catching me offguard ... it is what art or, in this case, wonderful writing can do'' Kate Kellaway, ObserverCairn: A marker on open land, a memorial, a viewpoint shared by strangers.For the last five years poet and author Kathleen Jamie has been turning her attention to a new form of writing: micro-essays, prose poems, notes and fragments. Placed together, like the stones of a wayside cairn, they mark a changing psychic and physical landscape. The virtuosity of these short pieces is both subtle and deceptive. Jamie''s intent ''noticing'' of the natural world is suffused with a clear-eyed awareness of all we endanger. She considers the future her children face, while recalling her own childhood and notes the lost innocence in the way we respond to the dramas of nature. With meticulous care she marks the point she has reached, in life and within the cascad

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Book SynopsisOliver Sacks died in August 2015 at his home in Greenwich Village, surrounded by his close friends and family. He was 82. He spent his final days doing what he loved: playing the piano, swimming, enjoying smoked salmon – and writing . . . As Dr Sacks looked back over his long, adventurous life his final thoughts were of gratitude. In a series of remarkable, beautifully written and uplifting meditations, in Gratitude Dr Sacks reflects on and gives thanks for a life well lived, and expresses his thoughts on growing old, facing terminal cancer and reaching the end. I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and travelled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.Trade ReviewEssays that capture the essence of what it means to have lived and to face death well -- Katie LawFour short beautiful essays by the celebrated late neurologist on his feelings as he came toward the end of his life – a slight but poignant read -- Sally Magnusson * Herald *

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Book SynopsisFair or Foul considers different aspects of ambition and its place in our lives. It asks: what does success mean? When is enough enough? And is Lady Macbeth right to suggest that only those with the ''illness'' of ambition achieve the highest goals?Stefan Stern draws on the major themes of Macbeth and discusses how they can be applied to ambition in modern life. From the success of the first US woman vice president, Kamala Harris, the obstacles she faced and the possibilities that still lie ahead, to Boris Johnson''s young aspirations to be ''world king'' and the pathological intensity of his ambition, Stern considers the careers and personal lives of politicians, sports stars and business people, to name a few, to illuminate this strange and powerful driver. Expect to discover how ambition and success work together, how attitudes have shifted over time, and how gender roles have an impact on our goals.Incisive, contemporary and

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Book SynopsisEvery inch of Grayson''s childhood bedroom was covered with pictures of aeroplanes, and every surface with models. Fantasy took over his life, in a world of battles ruled by his teddy bear, Alan Measles. He grew up. And in 2003, an acclaimed ceramic artist, he accepted the Turner Prize as his alter-ego Clare, wearing his best dress, with a bow in his hair. Now he tells his own story, his voice beautifully caught by his friend, the writer Wendy Jones. Early childhood in Chelmsford, Essex is a rural Eden that ends abruptly with the arrival of his stepfather, leading to constant swerving between his parents'' houses, and between boys'' and women''s clothes. But as Grayson enters art college and discovers the world of London squats and New Romanticism, he starts to find himself. At last he steps out as a potter and transvestite.Trade ReviewThe most remarkable aspect of Grayson Perry's biography is the resilience of the human spirit to which it testifies... There are lovely moments in this book and what really comes across is what a lovely man Grayson Perry is * Literary Review *Gripping and splinter-sharp account of the Turner prize-winning potter's early life and artistic growth * Sunday Times *[A] delightful autobiography... this short charming book ought to be required reading for anyone with artistic ambitions. For everyone else, it can be enjoyed simply as one of those heartwarming tales of happiness and success wrested from the jaws of potential disaster * Mail on Sunday *One of the most gripping and intelligent accounts of an artist's growth I have ever read -- John Carey * Sunday Times *Charming... oddly reminiscent of Nigel Slater's recent book, Toast * Saturday Herald *

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Book SynopsisStephen Grosz is a practicing psychoanalyst - he has worked with patients for more than twenty-five years. Born in America, he was educated at the University of California, Berkeley, and at Oxford University, and now lives in London. The Examined Life has been translated into more than twenty languages and was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award.www.stephengrosz.comTrade ReviewI was enthralled… profound and moving, packed large ideas into a slim volume -- Lucy Lethbridge * Observer Books of the Year *With deceptive simplicity and gentle wisdom, Grosz teases out a lesson or chases down a fugitive insight. I have distrusted psychoanalysis for years, but I would leap onto Grosz’s couch -- James McConnachie * The Sunday Times Books of the Year *This moving book of patient portraits by the psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz will make the reader think of Freud’s keenly observed and literary-minded case studies. Writing with sympathy and insight, Mr Grosz distils 25 years of work into a series of slim, piercing chapters that read like a combination of Chekhov and Oliver Sacks -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *The success of The Examined Life by the psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz has, I think, relatively little to do with his clinical know-how; it rests, as Freud's did, on his story-telling abilities -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *Grosz is a superb storyteller and tells lots of his patients' stories with sensitivity, but also with great acuity. You might keep thinking you recognise things about people you know -- William Leith * Evening Standard *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the British Book Awards History Book of the YearLonglisted for the Samuel Johnson PrizeThis thrilling biography of Stalin and his entourage during the terrifying decades of his supreme power transforms our understanding of Stalin as Soviet dictator, Marxist leader and Russian tsar. Based on groundbreaking research, Simon Sebag Montefiore reveals in captivating detail the fear and betrayal, privilege and debauchery, family life and murderous cruelty of this secret world. Written with extraordinary narrative verve, this magnificent feat of scholarly research has become a classic of modern history writing. Showing how Stalin''s triumphs and crimes were the product of his fanatical Marxism and his gifted but flawed character, this is an intimate portrait of a man as complicated and human as he was brutal and chilling.Trade ReviewOne of the two outstanding books of the year ... the most civilised and elegant chronicle of brutality and ruthlessness I have ever read, its prose cool and clear but never indifferent * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Horrific, revelatory and sobering ... triumph of research and should be required reading in Russia. Book of the Year -- John Le Carre * OBSERVER *This grim masterpiece, shot through with lashes of black humour ... The personal details are riveting -- Antonia Fraser * MAIL ON SUNDAY *Fascinating ... [Montefiore] concentrates, as any good historian should, on pushing forward the boundaries of our knowledge of the subject ... [He] provides rich detail of daily life and family relationships in a world of human values turned inside out ... scrupulously fair in the way he describes Stalin's qualities - including his ability to charm, his uncanny grasp of geopolitical issues, his brilliant handling of foreign statesmen and his genuine passion for literature -- Antony Beevor * SUNDAY TIMES *Masterful and terrifying account of Stalin ... seldom has the picture been put in finer focus than by Sebag Montefiore. It is partly through his diligent interviews with the children of survivors and his admirable combination of history and gossip that one sees the awful banality, the brutal crudity of the men who carelessly sent so many millions to their senseless deaths * THE TIMES *This magnificent portrait ... Montefiore has mined the rich veins of recent Russian writing on the Stalin age and of newly opened archives to give us an intimate history ... The stifling, contiguous life of the Soviet elite in and around the Kremlin is wonderfully conveyed, in some of the most striking and literary passages in the book ... A wonderfully rich and vibrant portrait of the Stalinist elite who lived in the shadow of a remarkable and dangerous colossus * LITERARY REVIEW *Read it or face social Siberia ... a cross-over success. Academically and intellectually rigorous, it's also a riveting read ... it takes a great writer to make it seem fresh. And Sebag Montefiore certainly does that ... his greatest achievement has been to "humanise" Stalin. Uncle Joe was a mass murderer and a paranoid sociopath. But he was also charming, friendly and flirtatious -- 100 Best Things in the World Right Now * GQ *Grimly brilliant -- Andrew Marr * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Excellent ... This book is like a vast Russian novel full of characters, colour, terror, passion and treachery ... love affairs, marriages, divorces, imprisonments and killings -- Susannah Tarbush * AL-HAYAT *Montefiore has managed to get inside the mind of the 20th century's worst mass murderer. What he has found there will affect your view of human nature ... a thoughtful book of first-class scholarship as well as a transfixing narrative ... vividly recreated by Montefiore's caustically witty prose -- Andrew Roberts * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Its extraordinary revelation of the evil - the complete amorality - at the heart of the dictator's court will change the way historians approach the great historical questions about the Stalinist regime -- Orlando Figes * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *Montefiore drives his story forward with breathless enthusiasm ... in a work of great importance. Scholars will read it for the valuable new evidence it assembles. Others will enjoy it as a fascinating page-turner and an everyday saga of extraordinary Kremlin folk * FINANCIAL TIMES *Gripping and timely ... [Montefiore] had the bright idea of examining the letters, telegrams and diaries of [Stalin's] intimate associates. As a result, this is a book based on extraordinary primary research ... one of the few recent books on Stalinism that will be read in years to come. The devil is in the detail * GUARDIAN *An extraordinary book... he has managed to persuade a whole generation of little old ladies and elderly men - the wives, granddaughters, servants, nieces and nephews of Stalin's henchmen - to give him a series of extraordinary interviews and, in some cases, lend him their hand-written memoirs... For anyone fascinated by the nature of evil - and by the effects of absolute power on human relationships - this book will provide new insights on every page -- Anne Applebaum * EVENING STANDARD *Montefiore's STALIN, I should imagine, will be the standard work on this twentieth-century monster for years to come -- Jeremy Paxman * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *The most revealing account of the inner circles of tyranny since Albert Speer's inside story of Hitler's bunker. Book of the Year * EVENING STANDARD *Enlivened by sharp pen portraits and grisly anecdotes, Montefiore's study ... was admired for its elegant prose as well as its grotesque cavalcade of monsters -- Books of the Year * THE WEEK *Brings alive that many-sided monster ... the first book that has given me grounds for thinking it might be possible to understand how Stalin got away with his enormities * SPECTATOR *Montefiore's masterful study of Stalin and his entourage provides the best personal portrait to date of the man and his group * JEWISH CHRONICLE *Enormously readable and even grimly amusing ... the details of the cruelty and depravity ... are incredible -- Miriam Gross * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *One of the two outstanding books of the year ... the most civilised and elegant chronicle of brutality and ruthlessness I have ever read, its prose cool and clear but never indifferent -- Ruth Rendell * Daily Telegraph *Horrific, revelatory and sobering ... triumph of research and should be required reading in Russia. Book of the Year -- John Le Carré * Observer *This grim masterpiece, shot through with lashes of black humour ... The personal details are riveting -- Antonia Fraser * Mail on Sunday *Fascinating ... [Montefiore] concentrates, as any good historian should, on pushing forward the boundaries of our knowledge of the subject ... [He] provides rich detail of daily life and family relationships in a world of human values turned inside out ... scrupulously fair in the way he describes Stalin's qualities - including his ability to charm, his uncanny grasp of geopolitical issues, his brilliant handling of foreign statesmen and his genuine passion for literature -- Antony Beevor * Sunday Times *Masterful and terrifying account of Stalin ... seldom has the picture been put in finer focus than by Sebag Montefiore. It is partly through his diligent interviews with the children of survivors and his admirable combination of history and gossip that one sees the awful banality, the brutal crudity of the men who carelessly sent so many millions to their senseless deaths -- Alistair Horne * The Times *This magnificent portrait ... Montefiore has mined the rich veins of recent Russian writing on the Stalin age and of newly opened archives to give us an intimate history ... The stifling, contiguous life of the Soviet elite in and around the Kremlin is wonderfully conveyed, in some of the most striking and literary passages in the book ... A wonderfully rich and vibrant portrait of the Stalinist elite who lived in the shadow of a remarkable and dangerous colossus -- Richard Overy * Literary Review *Read it or face social Siberia ... a cross-over success. Academically and intellectually rigorous, it's also a riveting read ... it takes a great writer to make it seem fresh. And Sebag Montefiore certainly does that ... his greatest achievement has been to "humanise" Stalin. Uncle Joe was a mass murderer and a paranoid sociopath. But he was also charming, friendly and flirtatious -- 100 Best Things in the World Right Now * GQ Magazine *Grimly brilliant -- Andrew Marr * Daily Telegraph *Excellent ... This book is like a vast Russian novel full of characters, colour, terror, passion and treachery ... love affairs, marriages, divorces, imprisonments and killings -- Susannah Tarbush * Al-Hayat *Montefiore has managed to get inside the mind of the 20th century's worst mass murderer. What he has found there will affect your view of human nature ... a thoughtful book of first-class scholarship as well as a transfixing narrative ... vividly recreated by Montefiore's caustically witty prose -- Andrew Roberts * Daily Telegraph *Its extraordinary revelation of the evil - the complete amorality - at the heart of the dictator's court will change the way historians approach the great historical questions about the Stalinist regime -- Orlando Figes * Sunday Telegraph *Montefiore drives his story forward with breathless enthusiasm ... in a work of great importance. Scholars will read it for the valuable new evidence it assembles. Others will enjoy it as a fascinating page-turner and an everyday saga of extraordinary Kremlin folk -- Rodric Braithwaite * Financial Times *Gripping and timely ... [Montefiore] had the bright idea of examining the letters, telegrams and diaries of [Stalin's] intimate associates. As a result, this is a book based on extraordinary primary research ... one of the few recent books on Stalinism that will be read in years to come. The devil is in the detail -- Robert Service * Guardian *An extraordinary book... he has managed to persuade a whole generation of little old ladies and elderly men - the wives, granddaughters, servants, nieces and nephews of Stalin's henchmen - to give him a series of extraordinary interviews and, in some cases, lend him their hand-written memoirs... For anyone fascinated by the nature of evil - and by the effects of absolute power on human relationships - this book will provide new insights on every page -- Anne Applebaum * Evening Standard *Montefiore's STALIN, I should imagine, will be the standard work on this twentieth-century monster for years to come -- Jeremy Paxman * Sunday Telegraph *The most revealing account of the inner circles of tyranny since Albert Speer's inside story of Hitler's bunker. Book of the Year -- Norman Lebrecht * Evening Standard *Enlivened by sharp pen portraits and grisly anecdotes, Montefiore's study ... was admired for its elegant prose as well as its grotesque cavalcade of monsters -- Books of the Year * The Week *Brings alive that many-sided monster ... the first book that has given me grounds for thinking it might be possible to understand how Stalin got away with his enormities -- David Pryce-Jones * Spectator *Montefiore's masterful study of Stalin and his entourage provides the best personal portrait to date of the man and his group -- Daniel Beer * Jewish Chronicle *Enormously readable and even grimly amusing ... the details of the cruelty and depravity ... are incredible -- Miriam Gross * Sunday Telegraph *I'm currently reading Simon Sebag-Montefiore's excellent biography of the Soviet monster [Stalin] 'the Court of the Red Czar' which I heartily recommend -- Matthew Gwyther * MANAGEMENT TODAY *

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Book SynopsisArnold Schwarzenegger is a global icon: a titan of public life, sports, and entertainment. An immigrant with few resources, except those that really mattered: a vision, a fire in the belly, and an undeniable charisma, his story is one of classic inspiration and the power of the American dream. He is known all over the globe for his many accomplishments: world-champion bodybuilder, Hollywood action hero, successful businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, best-selling author, and California's 38th Governor.This world-famous athlete and actor was born in Thal, Austria in 1947, and by the age of 20 was dominating the sport of competitive bodybuilding, becoming the youngest person ever to win the Mr. Universe title. With his sights set on Hollywood, he emigrated to America in 1968, and went on to win five Mr. Universe titles and seven Mr. Olympia titles before retiring to dedicate himself to acting. His big break came in 1982 when the sword and sorcery epic Conan the B

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