Biography Books

Book SynopsisJurgen Klopp's Liverpool Football Club are champions of England, Europe and the World. 'Robbo: Now You're Gonna Believe Us' is the inside story of their record-breaking season as seen through the eyes of their popular left-back Andrew Robertson, revealing the Anfield dressing room secrets behind their remarkable success.

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Book SynopsisOne of the world’ s most well-known and respected athletes, Roger Federer has had a career that ranks among the most celebrated and successful in all of tennis history. This entertaining and illuminating chronicle of Federer’ s trophy-laden journey is unique for its day-by-day format: every day of the calendar year is presented with a corresponding bit of fact, trivia, or an anniversary, including hallmark victories, statistics, quirky happenings, and quotations. Fans of a player widely considered the greatest of all time as well as sports fans in general will get to know the 17-time major champion better in a uniquely engaging way with this book

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Book Synopsis'Every essay in this book is magnificent... Mesmerizing.' New York Times'How we interact with animals has preoccupied philosophers, poets, and naturalists for ages,' writes Susan Orlean. Since the age of six, when Orlean wrote and illustrated a book called Herbert the Near-Sighted Pigeon, she's been drawn to stories about how we live with animals, and how they abide by us. Now, in On Animals, she examines animal-human relationships through the compelling tales she has written over the course of her celebrated career.These stories consider a range of creatures - the household pets we dote on, the animals we raise to end up as meat on our plates, the creatures who could eat us for dinner, the various tamed and untamed animals we share our planet with who are central to human life. In her own backyard, Orlean discovers the delights of keeping chickens. In a different backyard, in New Jersey, she meets a woman who has twenty-three pet tigers - something none of her neighbours knew about until one of the tigers escapes. In Iceland, the world's most famous whale resists the efforts to set him free; in Morocco, the world's hardest-working donkeys find respite at a special clinic. We meet a show dog and a lost dog and a pigeon who knows exactly how to get home.Equal parts delightful and profound, enriched by Orlean's stylish prose and precise research, these stories celebrate the meaningful cross-species connections that grace our collective existence.Trade ReviewEvery essay in this book is magnificent... Each animal's turn in the warm spotlight of Orlean's gaze gives readers a chance to learn something enthralling about even the most ordinary of creatures... Mesmerizing. * New York Times *Beguiling, observant and howlingly funny. * San Francisco Chronicle *Her rich storytelling is almost soothing... Orlean is committed to investigating the dizzying multiplicity of roles animals serve - employee, best friend, harbinger of climate change - and the places where those functions intersect. * Los Angeles Times *Original, perceptive, and clever... Even though Orlean claims the animals she writes about remain enigmas, she makes us care about their fates. * Boston Globe *A close read of her new book suggests that beneath the surface variety of subjects and locales in her writing, there's an underlying unity: heedless, headlong enthusiasm... She is a moth drawn to moths who are drawn to the flame... Ms. Orlean has a rare knack for finding these people, and an even rarer one for starting them talking... Do not underestimate her curiosity, or the sharpness of her eyes. * Wall Street Journal *Spectacular... Orlean strikes a perfect balance between hilarious and informative. * Star Tribune *In appealing prose, Orlean displays her fascination and love for animals... Her appreciation of the friendship, strangeness, colors, textures and just plain mystery of animals is infectious and nicely documented. * The Columbus Dispatch *A broad meditation on how the connections we make, or fail to make, with animals mark us profoundly along our human journey. . . Orlean's tone is conversational and self-questioning. * USA Today *Entertaining and informative... Orlean's prose dazzles... Animal lovers will find much to savor. * Publishers Weekly *Delightful... Another winner featuring the author's trademark blend of meticulous research and scintillating writing. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *Vibrant. . . A revelry for readers wild for animals. . . Orlean's deep pleasure in learning startling facts, her often wry tales about her personal life, her omnivorous attention to detail, and her juggler's skill with words yield vivid, provocative, amusing, and wondrous stories. * Booklist *Fabulously fun. . . Orlean is such a virtuoso of unexpected joys and delights that she can make even the story of a lost dog read like a thriller. . . Orlean's high-octane enthusiasm never wanes. . . Orlean's readers will find themselves completely diverted by On Animals' irresistible menagerie. * BookPage (starred review) *Table of Contents1: Introduction: Animalish 2: The It Bird 3: Show Dog 4: The Lady and the Tigers 5: Riding High 6: Little Wing 7: Animal Action 8: Where's Willy? 9: Carbonaro and Primavera 10: Lifelike 11: Lion Whisperer 12: The Rabbit Outbreak 13: The Perfect Beast 14: Lost Dog 15: Where Donkeys Deliver 16: Farmville

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Book Synopsis'In this highly readable biography of Nellie Melba...Robert Wainwright tells the story of the girl with the incredible voice who, by sheer force of her personality and power of her decibels, took the operatic world by storm and managed to escape from her violent husband' Ysenda Maxtone Graham, DAILY MAILNellie Melba is remembered as a squarish, late middle-aged woman dressed in furs and large hats, an imperious Dame whose voice ruled the world for three decades and inspired a peach and raspberry dessert. But to succeed, she had to battle social expectations and misogyny that would have preferred she stay a housewife in outback Queensland rather than parade herself on stage. She endured the violence of a bad marriage, was denied by scandal a true love with the would-be King of France, and suffered for more than a decade the loss of her only son - stolen by his angry, vengeful father. Despite these obstacles, she built and maintained a career as an opera singer and businesswoman on three continents which made her one of the first international superstars. Award-winning biographer Robert Wainwright presents a very different portrait of this great diva, one that celebrates both her musical contributions and her rich and colourful personal life.Trade ReviewIn this highly readable biography of Nellie Melba...Robert Wainwright tells the story of the girl with the incredible voice who, by sheer force of her personality and power of her decibels, took the operatic world by storm and managed to escape from her violent husband -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * Daily Mail *Jolly gossipy reading, easily digested * The Telegraph *Wainwright's delightfully revisionist biography of Dame Nellie Melba rescues her from fusty Victorianisms to analyse her struggles and resilience to overcome misogyny and social expectation in becoming one of history's greatest opera singers. * Waterstones.com *[A] rounded portrait...the Melba that emerges is not only a prodigious talent but a trailblazing, fiercely independent and determined woman. * Sydney Morning Herald *Most people know the outlines of the career of the legendary nineteenth-century diva Nellie Melba, but this biography offers new insights. What Melba went through to become the toast of the musical world is almost unbelievable to our twenty-first century eyes and how she handled it makes for remarkablereading -- Judging panel for the 2022 Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award (longlisted title)Wainwright has a reporter's eye for the telling detail, and an ear for good copy...a racy tale, and briskly told. * The Australian, on NELLIE *A gem of a biography. * The Lady, on ENID *My jaw kept dropping as I devoured Robert Wainwright's wonderfully racy biography, full of comedy and tragedy and populated by some of the most dissolute and eccentric aristocrats of the 20th century. -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * Daily Mail, on ENID *Enid's story is dazzling and uplifting, and she certainly lived up to her code: "Never be afraid, never be jealous, and never complain when you are ill." -- Christopher Silvester * Spears, on ENID *As social history Sheila Chisholm's life is fascinating... it's undeniably enjoyable to read of all that glitter and gold. -- Selina Hastings * Spectator, on SHEILA *Table of Contents1: Opposites attract 2: 'I must make some money' 3: 'You wait and see' 4: The audition 5: The house of women 6: The dress 7: Becoming Melba 8: 'You are the star' 9: Covent Garden 10: A doctrine of rivalry 11: 'An Australian girl' takes Paris 12: The devil who leaves 13: The patron 14: Taking a cold house by storm 15: Prince Gamelle 16: A diva meets a duc 17: To Russia with lust 18: Melba nights 19: 'I'll whip him and see what he's worth' 20: Crossing boundaries 21: Armstrong v Armstrong 22: A just dessert 23: Facing the music 24: Murphy's law 25: A resolute intent 26: The first singer in the world 27: A fall from grace 28: Of envious men 29: A Wagnerian tragedy 30: A Star-Spangled Banner 31: Divorce, Texas-style 32: Australia finally 33: The brutal Truth 34: 'I am five feet eleven inches' 35: The long farewell

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Book Synopsis*SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 SPORTS BOOK AWARDS CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEAR*The gripping and revealing autobiography of one of Britain's most successful international cyclists of the modern era'Getting in a break was my one chance of winning. The hard part was working out, again and again, how to make that chance count'Sharp, resourceful and a permanent outsider; for nearly 20 years Steve Cummings determinedly blazed his own winning trail in international cycling. A maverick who defied the dominant teams, to record a sequence of gloriously improbable victories, he has lived and raced with legends of the sport - Cavendish, Wiggins, Froome, Thomas and others - about whom he has strong views and untold stories.This autobiography of one of Britain's most successful international riders of the modern era takes the reader from Steve's earliest days as a junior, pounding across the flatlands of the Wirral, through his love-hate relationships with the British Cycling track cycling squad, to his series of top-level breakaway victories in the Tour de France, Tour of Britain and Vuelta a España and - rather than standout physical talent - how developing his own strategies and training techniques enabled him to succeed against the odds.The Break will be the first full-length account of the life and times of, in the words of ProCycling magazine, a 'universally popular and respected rider in the cycling world'.Trade ReviewIf you wanted me to pinpoint the main reason why Steve succeeded, it's the way he sees bike racing, his willingness to try something new, to do something differently ... There are so many guys out there who are strong, but Steve didn't just have the legs, he had the brains and the head for it all as well and that was his big advantage. * Geraint Thomas *Table of Contentsi: Foreword: Geraint Thomas ii: Preface: The Landmark That Wasn't 1: Doughnuts 2: Dilemmas 3: Contrasts 4: 2008-09: Road or Track? 5: Man on a Mission 6: The Wrong Kind of Limits: Team Sky 2010-11 7: No Stress Man 8: Roller Coaster 9: A Human Time Bomb 10: Mandela Day 11: Why I Couldn't Train with Mark Cavendish 12: The Right Direction 13: A Race Against Time 14: Back to My Roots 15: Bottles, Britain and a New Beginning iii: Nine Lessons iv: Palmarés v: Acknowledgements vi: Index

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Book SynopsisTo celebrate the centenary of the publication of Ulysses, the most important literary work of the twentieth century, eighteen artists, writers and thinkers respond to an episode each of the great modernist text. Each essayist is an expert in one of the subjects treated in the novel, but what brings them together is a common love of Ulysses. Joseph O'Connor considers the music-saturated Sirens episode and David McWilliams writes about the bigotry and violence of nationalism on display in Cyclops. Irish obstetrician Rhona Mahony responds to Oxen and the Sun, set in a maternity hospital, journalist Lara Marlowe examines the Aeolus episode, which takes place in a newspaper office, and Irish philosopher Richard Kearney reflects on the erudite musings of Stephen Dedalus as he walks along Sandymount strand. The Book About Everything counters the perception of Ulysses as the sole preserve of academics and instead showcases readers' responses to the book. It is a vivid, even eccentric collection, filled with life and Joycean spirit.Trade ReviewCan profitably be read by anyone with an interest in Joyce... Illuminating insights underscore that Ulysses will continue to be a touchstone into its second century * Irish Times *Show[s] Ulysses is not the sole preserve of academics * Big Issue North *

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Book SynopsisWhat was tulipmania? Where would you find a boreal forest? And why are fungi not plants?Exploring everything from algae to the wood-wide web, this brilliantly eclectic and beautifully illustrated book delves into the roots, meaning and compelling stories of 250 botanical words.Guided by the experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Plant Words is a cornucopia of horticultural terms. From plants that have changed the course of history to those that talk to each other, and from trees as old as dinosaurs to gardening in outer space, this intriguing collection will cultivate your curiosity and give you the inside story on plants.Table of ContentsBotany • Growing • History • Documentation • Environment • Science • Index • Credits.

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Book SynopsisFascinating' Margaret AtwoodCan taking the law into your own hands be the right thing to do?In June 2013, three upstanding citizens of a small town in Nova Scotia murdered their neighbour, Phillip Boudreau, while out fishing.Boudreau was an inventive small-time criminal who had terrorised and entertained Petit de Grat for two decades. He had been in prison for nearly half his adult life. He was funny and frightening, loathed, loved and feared. Boudreau seemed invincible, a miscreant who would plague the village forever. As many people said, if those fellows hadn''t killed him, someone else would have.Blood in the Water is a gripping story in a brilliantly drawn setting, about power and law, security and self-respect, and the nature of community. And at its heart is a disturbing question: are there times when taking the law into your own hands is not only understandable but the responsible thing to do?

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Book SynopsisWelcome to an after-dark world of new money, hedonism and excess. A world of luxurious nightclubs where racketeers, gamblers and glamorous women mixed with entrepreneurs, bunny girls, politicians and policemen. Bandit Country is a gripping, atmospheric true-crime noir. It is the story of Britain's 1960's gambling boom, as the country emerged from years of hardship to embrace exotic night-life and entertainment, all supplied by the Mafia. It is an emotional, visceral story of brothers: the Luvaglios, who dreamed of an empire founded among the hard industrial skylines and bridges of Newcastle, built on good times and bright lights - dreams that, for a moment, were lived in technicolour; and the Kray twins, who looked up to this new kingdom from London and saw a slice of action they wanted for themselves. And above all, it is a story of betrayal, murder and a shocking miscarriage of justice, as empires crumble, friends turn on friends, and the good times come screeching to a halt. Sure to be loved by fans of Peaky Blinders, this story - that inspired classic British gangster film Get Carter - isn't quite like anything you've read before. Turn the page and roll the dice. . .Trade ReviewChannels the hard-edged realism of Get Carter into a salutary thriller * Racing Post *

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Book SynopsisLearn how to think like one of history's most iconic cultural figures: Winston Churchill. Follow in his footsteps and discover the essential principles behind his success. Remembered for his leadership during the Second World War, Churchill’s commitment to 'never surrender', along with his stirring speeches and radio broadcasts, helped inspire British resistance to the Nazi threat when Britain stood alone against an occupied Europe. But as well as a hugely successful politician, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a journalist, historian and a writer, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. How to Think Like Churchill reveals the essential principles behind this fascinating leader, exploring the defining moments and enduring speeches that have made him one of the most esteemed figures of the twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE 2020 TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS.''excellent'' Donald McRae, The Guardian''Gatland is the master'' Sir Ian McGeechan''Gatland is a coaching star'' Sir Clive Woodward''Gats is one of the all-time great coaches'' Sam WarburtonWarren Gatland is one of the world''s most renowned and intriguing rugby coaches of the modern era, leading Wales to four Six Nations titles, three Grand Slams and two World Cup semi-finals and masterminding two history-making tours as Head Coach of the British and Irish Lions.As he leaves his post as Head Coach of Wales at the end of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Gatland''s definitive autobiography provides a colourful and vivid chronicle of an extraordinary three decades at rugby''s dynamic coal-face. The personal journey has been rewarding and challenging in equal measure, spanning many Trade ReviewShortlisted for 'Rugby Book of The Year' in the Telegraph Sports Book Awards 2020

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Book Synopsis'The extraordinary writers in this volume articulate the taste, the terror, and the dialect of war; they command their powers of description to face a shameless empire intent on annihilating them' Ellena SavageA selection of Ukraine's leading writers convey the reality of life within Ukraine during the first year of the invasionOn 24 February 2022, the lives of Ukrainians were devastatingly altered. Since that day, many of Ukraine's writers have attempted to fathom what is happening to them and to their country. This anthology brings together writing from inside Ukraine, by Ukrainians, available in English for the first time. Here they document everyday life, ponder the role of culture amid conflict, denounce Russian imperialism and revisit their relations with the world, especially Europe and its ideals, as they try to comprehend the horrors of war.From tearing-downs of Russia's use of culture as justification of the war to moving descriptions of nights spent sheltering in corridors, poignant snatched moments with a husband on his single night away from the army, to descriptions of the eerie weather in the months leading up to the invasion, as if nature was trying to warn Ukraine, these essays reveal the texture, rawness and reality of life in Ukraine under war as never before.Trade ReviewI am extremely grateful this collection found its way to me. I read it compulsively over two sittings while my decidedly war-free calendar called me back to it with its seductions (delusions) of normality. The extraordinary writers in this volume articulate the taste, the terror, and the dialect of war; they command their powers of description to face a shameless empire intent on annihilating them. You won't find patriotic sentimentality here, but an exquisite unity of life and word against a barbaric invasion that is already shaping Europe's future. Ukraine 22 is a remarkable and significant collection which ought to be read widely -- Ellena SavageThis book thrums with the voices of everyday Ukrainians trying to live while the spectre of war looms blackly above them. Filled with heart-wrenching minute details, this book demands its readers consider a baby making air raid siren noises instead of speaking its first words, the quiet defiance in buying cinnamon buns during a war, and how do you choose which books to leave behind? As the country dances its “deadly tango”, Ukrainian writers offer us a slice of insight into what life is like when normal is destroyed -- Hanan Issa

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Book SynopsisOn Thursday 9th October 1986, Michelle Hadaway's worst fears came true. After watching her daughter Karen playing in the neighbour's garden with her best friend Nicola, Michelle returned to cook dinner for her family. Unbeknownst to her, this would be the last time she would ever see Karen alive.In the following days and months, shocking details would come to light about the nature of Karen and Nicola's murders, and the case which had come to be known as 'the Babes in the Wood murders' would lead to one of the most infamous and cruellest miscarriages of justice in British history.For decades, Michelle fought tirelessly to bring justice to her daughter's murder, shining light on countless police failings and media manipulations in the process. Finally, in 2018 after 32 years of suffering, Russell Bishop, the man Michelle had long known to be guilty, was sentenced in court.This is the story of two stolen lives, of the long road to justice, but most of all the story of a mother's love and determination.

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Book SynopsisPart reminiscence, part meditation, Reveries of the Solitary Walker is Rousseau's last great work, the enduring testimony of an alienated person seeking self-knowledge. As he records his walks round Paris, he finds happiness in solitude and nature. The new translation includes an introduction and notes that explore the work and its contexts.

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Book Synopsis''Alas that I ever did sin! It is so merry in Heaven!''The Book of Margery Kempe (c. 1436-8) is the extraordinary account of a medieval wife, mother, and mystic. Known as the earliest autobiography written in the English language, Kempe''s Book describes the dramatic transformation of its heroine from failed businesswoman and lustful young wife to devout and chaste pilgrim. She vividly describes her prayers and visions, as well as the temptations in daily life to which she succumbed before dedicating herself to her spiritual calling. She travelled to the most holy sites of the medieval world, including Rome and Jerusalem.In her life and her boisterous devotion, Kempe antagonized many of those around her; yet she also garnered friends and supporters who helped to record her experiences. Her Book opens a window on to the medieval world, and provides a fascinating portrait of one woman''s life, aspirations, and prayers. This new translation preserves the forceful narrative voice of Kempe'Trade ReviewBale's Book of Margery Kempe offers the best modern version of the text and the most comprehensive and judicious assessment of scholarly and critical environments in which to read this strange and wondrous work... Bale sensitively reviews all the textual, critical and ideological challenges of the work. His modern English is supple and responsive. * Times Literary Supplement, Seth Lerer *This lively new edition preserves the author's forceful individuality, but makes her writing accessible to a new audience, and her book not only flings open a forgotten world but also comes garnished with useful notes and maps of her extensive travels. * Good Book Guide, Fiona Lafferty *whatever view may be taken of Margery's visions, the book is extraordinarily lively and enjoyable, and gives an unparalleled glimpse of everyday life in that distant period of English history. This new translation by Anthony Bale is presented in idiomatic modern English, but aims to stay true to the style of the original, sometimes homely and familiar, sometimes high-flown and Latinate. It's wonderfully readable, and has an excellent introduction and notes. Altogether a great pleasure. * Shiny New Books, Harriet Devine *This new look at one of the most important texts of the Middle Ages will come as an eye-opener to those who believe that to live a religious life you need to be inordinately pious. * Northern Echo, Stephen Craggs *The Book of Margery Kempe is genuinely hard to put down - due to the incredible picture of medieval England it paints, and the fascinating mind of the woman who produced it. Anthony Bale's notes add a huge amount of value too, providing much needed context, and raising interesting questions about the material. * The Book Bag, Sue *Extraordinary * Peter Costello, The Irish Catholic *

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Book SynopsisThere never was a Churchill from John of Marlborough down who had either morals or principles'', so said Gladstone. From the First Duke of Marlborough - soldier of genius, restless empire-builder and cuckolder of Charles II - onwards, the Churchills have been politicians, gamblers and profligates, heroes and womanisers.The Churchills is a richly layered portrait of an extraordinary set of men and women - grandly ambitious, regularly impecunious, impulsive, arrogant and brave. And towering above the Churchill clan is the figure of Winston - his failures and his triumphs shown in a new and revealing context - ultimately our ''greatest Briton''.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A deeply informed, academic work, but highly readable."---Steven Carroll, Sydney Morning Herald"The Man of the Crowd is a thoroughly engaging book about the legendary writer and his complex relationship with the urban environment. Peeples is to be commended for deploying a unique lens for further examining the tortured genius of the great Edgar Allan Poe."---Leonora Cravotta, American Spectator"[A] superb new biograph[y] of Poe. . . . The Man of the Crowd . . . give[s] us a clearer view of Poe as a man and an artist, while at the same time showing how the myth mill about him was busy from the start, forming and deforming his choices, and creating the brand of Poe we know today."---Jonathan Elmer, Public Books"Engaging. . . . [The Man of the Crowd] succeeds admirably in bringing us closer to a man we can now better appreciate as part of the crowd rather than a remote and inexplicable monad."---Ian Finseth, Edgar Allan Poe Review"The Man of the Crowd, by Scott Peeples, has something for everyone. It should be equally attractive to Edgar Allan Poe scholars, aficionados, and those who simply want to read more of Poe’s stories, poems, and essays."---Henry T. Edmonson III, Law & Liberty"What sets Scott Peeples’s ‘compact biography’ apart from other recent work is that it also concerns cities, specifically Richmond, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, where Poe spent much of his life and which stirred his imagination. Peeples’s aim is to re-contextualize the image of Poe as a campy ‘nowhere man,’. . . . In detailing Poe’s moves from city to city, Peeples presents an ambitious young man seeking to support his family and to establish himself as a writer, critic, and editor."---Katherine J. Kim, The Metropole"A welcome, engaging introduction to Poe’s life. . . . This compact biography is an affable ramble, a genial journey, with Poe through the years. It knowledgeably and accessibly recounts Poe’s urban contexts and relates his relevant texts. . . . The whole is interestingly complemented by archival images of contemporary maps and periodicals and by archival photographs, blended photographs, and recent photographs by Michelle Van Parys of various Poe sites and locales. This volume is a useful vade mecum for our armchair Poe peregrinations."---Richard Kopley, Poe Studies"Peeples convincingly demonstrates that Poe remained “in transit” throughout his life, despite his literary successes, and was never in full control of his career. This accessible book will interest casual readers and Poe scholars alike." * Choice *"Well-researched . . . [and] deeply informed. . . . Scott Peeples's streamlined account of Poe's journeys . . . grounds itself determinedly in the arc of his life's movement through various urban social realities. . . . This biography achieves its freshness through framing Poe's life as a series of chapters related to the cities in which he took up primary residence."---Stephen Rachman, Poe Studies"A highly absorbing, important, and superbly crafted study that deserves a place on the top shelf of Poe biographies."---Jason Richards, American Literary History

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Book SynopsisPeacemaker, politician, Nobel laureate: John Hume was a titan of Irish political history and a key architect of the Good Friday Agreement, bringing peace to Northern Ireland after decades of conflict.But who was the real John Hume? What motivated the former history teacher to reach beyond political lines? What sustained him during the bloody years of violence and how did he convince the IRA to end its long-running campaign? How did he persuade presidents and prime ministers to take risks and back his vision for Northern Ireland? How should John Hume be remembered?Stephen Walker combines over 100 interviews with many of Hume's colleagues, critics and family members, with never-before-published interviews with Hume himself to present a comprehensive portrait of one of the most significant political figures in Northern Ireland and around the world.

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Book SynopsisAn omnibus of two of Doris Stokes'' extremely successful books, JOYFUL VOICES and VOICES OF LOVE, bestsellers in the early 1980s. Doris Stokes was a celebrated medium who confounded sceptics by the uncanny accuracy of her readings. In Australia she filled the Sydney Opera House and was mobbed in the streets. In America ''Charlie''s Angels'' was moved from its primetime slot to make way for her. In Britain she filled the Albert Hall, and radio phone-ins caused blocked lines and an avalanche of mail. Doris Stokes possessed an amazing gift - exceptional psychic powers that over the years of her extraordinary life brought joy and comfort to thousands of people...Trade Review'I know that not since the days of my childhood, when people in books were more real than the people one saw every day, have I found myself more moved' James Baldwin

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Book SynopsisOne man, two lives. The first informed by a thirst for warfare, the second by a desire for world peace. Two astonishing stories in one book written from a female journalist's viewpoint.

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Book SynopsisTHE ENTHRALLING INSIDE STORY OF THE THAI CAVE RESCUE FROM THE MAN AT THE HEART OF THE MISSION, AS SEEN IN THE SUNDAY TIMES''The British divers are all heroes'' Clive Cussler''A case study in courage'' Ron Howard, Oscar-winning director of Apollo 13________Thailand, July 2018. Twelve boys and their football coach vanish into Tham Luang caves just as the monsoon rains hit. A mile from the surface they are trapped by rising flood waters. All attempts to reach them fail. As hope for their survival fades a retired British firefighter tinkering with homemade cave-diving kit gets a call. Rick Stanton and his dive partner race to the other side of the world. The boys have been missing for days. Each hour, their chance of escape shrinks. Rick must swim, crawl and squeeze through treacherously tight submerged tunnels hunting for them. But that is not the impossible part.Trade ReviewDiver Rick Stanton relives the rescue of the century * Sunday Times *As the world held its breath, the men and their team achieved the impossible. This is their riveting, behind-the-scenes story. Captivating * Sunday Post *You probably won't read a better-written book about diving this year . . . Funny and relentlessly self-deprecating. I read this at two sittings * Diver Magazine *

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Book Synopsis‘Of all the variously talented women SOE sent to France, Nancy Wake was perhaps the most formidable’ —Sebastian Faulks This is the incredible true story of the greatest spy you’ve never heard of—as told to the author by the woman herself. At the outbreak of World War Two, Nancy Wake’s glamorous life in the South of France seemed far removed from the fighting. But when her husband was called up for military service, Nancy felt she had just as much of a duty to fight for freedom. By 1943, her fearless undercover work even in the face of personal tragedy had earned her a place on the Gestapo’s ‘most wanted’ list. Mixing armed combat with a taste for high living, Nancy frustrated the Nazis at every turn’whether she was smuggling food and messages as part of the underground Resistance or being parachuted into the heart of the war to lead a 7,000-strong band of Resistance fighters. The extraordinary courage of this unequalled woman changed the course of the war, and Russell Braddon’s vividly realised biography brings her incredible story to life. Revised edition: This edition of Nancy Wake includes editorial revisions.

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Book SynopsisMost people know that Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) was a Hollywood icon, and at one time the most famous movie star on the planet. What, perhaps, they don't know is that she lived in 42 different homes; that she loved Abraham Lincoln with a passion; that she was the first choice for the role of Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's; and that her absences while filming Let's Make Love added 28 days to the shooting time and $1 million to the budget. Biographic: Marilyn presents an instant impression of her life, work and legacy, with an array of irresistible facts and figures converted into infographics to reveal the actor behind the movies.

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Book SynopsisThe Biographic series presents an entirely new way of looking at the lives of the world's greatest thinkers and creatives. It takes the 50 defining facts, dates, thoughts, habits and achievements of each subject, and uses infographics to convey all of them in vivid snapshots. Each Biographic title is designed to be as entertaining as it is informative. Timelines not only pinpoint significant dates, but set them in the context and culture of their times. Dynamic maps locate biographical events alongside other points of interest. Character traits are illuminated by visual comparisons. Most people know that Ludwig van Beethoven(1770–1827) was a German composer, a musical prodigy whose Symphony No. 5 is recognisable the world over from its opening four notes. What, perhaps, they don't know is that he was almost completely deaf for nearly half his life; that his father would often lie about when Beethoven was born to make his talents seem even more astonishing; that he wrote a sonata to be played with building implements and called it the "Hammer-Klavier Sonata'; and that he dedicated works to Napoleon and a dead poodle. Biographic: Beethoven presents an instant impression of his life, work and legacy, with an array of irresistible facts and figures converted into infographics to reveal the composer behind the compositions. AUTHOR: Marcus Weeks studied Music and Musical Instrument Technology, and worked as a Music teacher, piano technician and composer before becoming a full-time writer. He has written extensively on music, philosophy and psychology.

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Book SynopsisIn Praise of Disobedience draws on works from a single miraculous year in which Oscar Wilde published the larger part of his greatest works in prose - the year he came into maturity as an artist. Before the end of 1891, he had written the first of his phenomenally successful plays and met the young man who would win his heart, beginning the love affair that would lead to imprisonment and public infamy. In a witty introduction, playwright, novelist and Wilde scholar Neil Bartlett explains what made this point in the writer's life central to his genius and why Wilde remains a provocative and radical figure to this day. Included here are the entirety of Wilde's foray into political philosophy, The Soul of Man Under Socialism; the complete essay collection Intentions; selections from The Picture of Dorian Gray as well as its paradoxical and scandalous preface; and some of Wilde's greatest fictions for children. Each selection is accompanied by stimulating and enlightening annotations. A delight for fans of Oscar Wilde, In Praise of Disobedience will revitalize an often misunderstood legacy.Trade ReviewWilde offers us an important reminder of virtues we as a society may have for a time lost: the need to strive for utopias; the inevitability of socialism if our world is to survive; the need to reinvigorate humanity's spirit of rebelliousness and disobedience, and to challenge, not accept, the injustices and inequalities we see all around us. The world needs Oscar Wilde and his daring, beautiful ideas today more than ever. -- Hans Rollman * PopMatters *

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Book SynopsisOn September 26, 2014, 43 male students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College went missing in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico. On route to a protest, local police intercepted the students and a confrontation ensued. By the morning, they had disappeared without a trace. Hernández reconstructs almost minute-by-minute the events of those nights in late September 2014, giving us what is surely the most complete picture available: her sources are unparalleled, since she has secured access to internal government documents that have not been made public, and to video surveillance footage the government has tried to hide and destroy. Hernández demolishes the Mexican state's official version, which the Peña Nieto government cynically dubbed the "historic truth". As her research shows, state officials at all levels, from police and prosecutors to the upper echelons of the PRI administration, conspired to put together a fake case, concealing or manipulating evidence, and arresting and torturing dozens of "suspects" who then obliged with full "confessions" that matched the official lie. By following the role of the various Mexican state agencies through the events in such remarkable detail, Massacre in Mexico shows with exacting precision who is responsible for which component of this monumental crime.Trade Review[A] detailed coverage of the government's horrifying and often clumsy attempt at a cover-up... her sources are clear and convincing. -- Rachel Nolan * London Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisThe cold-blooded murder of revolutionary icons Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in the pitched political battles of post-WWI Germany marks one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century. No other political assassination inflamed popular passions and transformed Germany's political climate as that killing in the night of 15-16 January 1919 in front of the luxurious Hotel Eden. It not only cut short the lives of two of the country's most brilliant political leaders, but also inaugurated a series of further political assassinations designed to snuff out the revolutionary flame and, ultimately, pave the way for the ultra-reactionary forces that would take power in 1933. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of their untimely deaths, Klaus Gietinger has carefully reconstructed the events on that fateful night, digging deep into the archives to identify who exactly was responsible for the murder, and what forces in high-placed positions had a hand in facilitating it and protecting the culprits.Trade ReviewThe Murder of Rosa Luxemburgis the most painstaking account of the events, drawing on meticulous archival research and interviews with some of the last surviving participants in the events. * rs21 *History repeats itself "first as tragedy and then as farce", as Marx said, and Gietinger is good at bringing out the absurdity of the farce that followed the murder. * The Guardian *[Gietinger] tells a gripping if unsavoury tale of collusion, duplicity and mendacity. * Morning Star *Gietinger's book serves as a powerful historical document; a meta-narrative that seeks to right the wrongs of the past. * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisDecades of violence and chaos have generated a political and intellectual hysteria-ranging from imperial atavism to paranoia about invading or hectically breeding Muslim hordes-that has affected even the most intelligent in Anglo-America. In Bland Fanatics, Pankaj Mishra examines this hysteria and its fantasists, taking on its arguments and the atmosphere in which it has festered and become influential. In essays that grapple with colonialism, human rights, and the doubling down of liberalism against a background of faltering economies and weakening Anglo-American hegemony, Mishra confronts writers from Jordan Peterson and Niall Ferguson to Salman Rushdie and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. With a newly written introduction, these essays provide a vantage point from which to look seriously at the current crisis.Trade Reviewliterary iconoclast [and] maverick political thinker-edgy, sly and idiosyncratic-weaving a kind of witchcraft with the wounded frankness of prose -- (praise for Pankaj Mishra) * Financial Express *Bracing ... The first essential read of the Trump Era -- (Praise for Age of Anger) * Vogue *This important, erudite book proves the deepest roots of our inflamed moment -- (in praise of Age of Anger) * New York Times *An original attempt to explain today's paranoid hatreds ... Insightful ... Iconoclastic ... Mishra shocks on many levels -- (Praise for Age of Anger) * The Economist *A searing attack on the assumption that modernity is synonymous with progress -- (Praise for Age of Anger) * Wall Street Journal *Urgently vigorous ... It is Age of Anger's singular ambition to give the world as we have it a past, a how-we-got-here, a where-the-mistakes-lie ... The book marks an important advance in our most urgent discourse -- (Praise for Age of Anger) * The National *A bowel-churning kick in the guts ... [Pankaj Mishra's] vision is unusually broad, accommodating and resistant to categorisation. It is the kind of vision the world needs right now -- (Praise for Age of Anger) * Financial Times *The ideal writer to diagnose our current moment * Los Angeles Review of Books *Bracing and illuminating ... Mishra writes with ... style, energy and incision ... [He] dwells in the realm of ideas and emotions, which get short shrift in most accounts of global politics ... A decent liberalism would read sharp critics like Mishra and learn. * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisFrom the acclaimed author of How Will Capitalism End? comes an omnibus of long-form critical essays engaging with leading economists and thinkers. Critical Encounters draws on Wolfgang Streeck's inimitable writing for the London Review of Books and New Left Review, among other publications. It opens with treatments of two contrasting historical eras - factory capitalism and financialization - and three of the world's major economies: the United States, France and Germany. Delving into the world of ideas, Streeck discusses the work of Quinn Slobodian, Mark Blyth, Jürgen Habermas and Perry Anderson. Finally, he zooms out to compare his home discipline of sociology to natural history, giving a remarkable and non-deterministic reading of Charles Darwin. In the preface, Streeck reflects on the art (or craft) of book reviewing and the continuing merits of the book form. Critical Encounters also includes a series of 'Letters from Europe', penned as the coronavirus descended upon the Continent.Trade ReviewSynthesises the various strands of left crisis theory into a convincing proposal, as strong psychologically as it is on economics. -- Paul Mason * Guardian, Books of the Year 2016 [on How Will Capitalism End?] *A must-read. * Financial Times, Best Books of 2016 [on How Will Capitalism End?] *Streeck sees a destructive convergence of three fixed trends in late capitalism: a declining rate of economic growth, soaring overall indebtedness, and rising economic inequality in both income and wealth. His work interlocks with recent dark conclusions by Robert J. Gordon, Thomas Piketty, and Wendy Brown, among others. -- Norman Rush * New York Review of Books [on How Will Capitalism End?] *Streeck's sweeping and empirically founded inquiry reminds one of Karl Marx's Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. -- Jürgen Habermas [on Buying Time]A superbly provocative work of political economy. -- Aditya Chakrabortty * Guardian [on Buying Time] *A compelling and distinctive analysis of the current political moment. -- Hans Kundnani * The World Today *

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Book SynopsisNepali women are among the most dispossessed and downtrodden in the world. Thanks to traditional customs and religious rituals, many face ordeals unimaginable to those living in the developed world. Anna Townsend invites you to meet twelve women and discover their astounding stories. Among them is Kopisha, whose infant daughter died due to the neglect of her own family, Suki, the mother of a human trafficking victim, and Maria, forced to marry her rapist. Poignant, shocking, but ultimately inspirational, you will be encouraged to see how God is at work in these women, changing their lives and giving them a more hopeful future. Content Benefits: These poignant stories will open your eyes to the plight of women in Nepal, but also encourage you to see that God is moving around the world and that his church is growing. • Includes 12 personal stories of Nepali women, interviewed by Anna • Offers an understanding of the cultural context of these stories • Includes anecdotes of Anna’s own experience of living in Kathmandu • Will help you see what life is like for women living in Nepal • Has the power to change hearts and minds towards the injustices still facing women in the world today • Vividly evokes the sights and sounds of modern-day Kathmandu • An insight into how God is still at work in the world • Perfect for anyone who loves to hear stories of God at work • Suitable for readers who love testimonies and faith-inspiring stories • An inspirational gift idea for any occasion

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Book SynopsisHaving been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, God promised Kate that she ‘will not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord.’ She survived against all the odds, and dedicates her life to His mission. You can read more about her first journey in her first memoir Sea Changed. But seven years later, the cancer returned with a vengeance. Desperately ill, Kate sank beneath the waves of consciousness to the ocean floor where she experienced a mystical encounter with God that transcended imagination or words. Despite being grateful to be alive, Kate found that she missed that profound connection with God. She sought to understand and recapture that experience, and in doing so discovered a contemplative practice that offered her a deeper way into the presence of God. In To The Ocean Floor Kate’s shares her inspirational story and shows how we too can experience a profound and deep connection with God. To The Ocean Floor will help you: • Recognise that the world is a more mysterious place than you could ever imagine, and that God permeates every aspect of your being and reality. • Find an honest account of dealing with cancer and treatment • See the hope and comfort that faith can bring in adversity • Experience a personal exploration of Christian meditative traditions • Vividly experience the joys and challenges of meditation • To capture a profound experience of God that goes beyond words • Find a list of resources for prayer and Christian meditation • To experience a deeper connection with God To The Ocean Floor is a deeply helpful for anyone suffering from cancer and makes a thoughtful gift for their loved ones. It can be read alone or a sequel to Kate’s first book Sea Changed.

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Book SynopsisThe Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte redefined the way we think about art. Famous for his men in bowler hats, Magritte’s witty and provocative work inspired generations of later artists, from Andy Warhol to Jasper Johns. In this illuminating new biography, Patricia Allmer radically repositions Magritte’s work in relation to its historical and cultural circumstances. Allmer explores the significant influence of events and experiences in Magritte’s early childhood and youth, recorded in his letters and essays: his memories of visiting fairs and circuses; of magical shows and performances; of the cinema; and in particular his first encounter with his future partner, Georgette, on a carousel. Allmer’s analyses of these events and their influence on both well-known and less familiar images give new insights into Magritte’s art. The book will appeal to those who wish to know more about Magritte’s life and work, as well as the wide audience for Surrealism.

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Book SynopsisWhen he arrived in Moscow in 1851, a young Leo Tolstoy set himself three immediate aims: to gamble, to marry and to obtain a post. At that time he managed only the first. The writer’s momentous life would be full of forced breaks and abrupt departures, from the death of his beloved parents to an abandonment of the social class into which he had been born. Andrei Zorin skilfully pieces together Tolstoy’s life, offering an account of the novelist’s deepest feelings and motives, and a brilliant interpretation of his major works, including the celebrated novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

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Book SynopsisOrnette Coleman’s career encompassed the glory years of jazz and the American avant-garde. Born in segregated Fort Worth, Texas, during the Great Depression, the African American composer and musician was the zeitgeist incarnate. Steeped in the Texas blues tradition, Ornette and jazz grew up together, as the brassy blare of big band swing gave way to bebop, a faster music for a faster, post-war world. At the dawn of the Space Age and New York’s 1960s counterculture, his music gave voice to the moment. Lauded by some, maligned by many, he forged a breakaway art sometimes called `the new thing’ or `free jazz’. Featuring previously unpublished photographs of Ornette and his contemporaries, this is the compelling story of one of America’s most adventurous musicians and the sound of a changing world.Table of ContentsIntroduction Part One: Coming Up Part Two: Ignition Part Three: Atmospherics Part Four: Transmissions Epilogue

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Book SynopsisBorn in Poland in 1857, Joseph Conrad is one of the great writers of the twentieth century. This book traces Conrad's life from his childhood in a Russian penal colony, through his early manhood in Marseille and his years in the British Merchant Navy, to a career as a novelist. It describes how these experiences inspired Conrad's work, from his early Malay novels to his best-known work, Heart of Darkness. Robert Hampson discusses Conrad's important relations with other writers, including Henry James and Ford Madox Ford, as well as his late-life political engagements and his relationships with women. Featuring new interpretations of all of Conrad's major works, this is an original interpretation of Conrad's life of writing.Trade Review"Concise, lucid, balanced, precise, and reliable, the book interweaves skillfully the analyses of the literary works and the unfolding of Conrad's life. What results is a clear, proficient, and moving account of a complex and exemplary genius."--Cedric Watts, emeritus professor of English at the University of Sussex, author of Joseph Conrad: A Literary Life "Insightful, judicious, and elegant, Joseph Conrad marvelously distills a lifetime of learning by one of the world's leading Conrad scholars. Hampson guides us sure-footedly through Conrad's fascinating life--as a Polish immigrant, a professional sailor, and a belatedly successful writer--while deftly examining the critical themes of all his works. Conrad remains a complicated and controversial figure, and Hampson's Conrad--as an introduction for students, a reference for scholars, or a meditation for general readers--delivers the best short guide to his life available."--Maya Jasanoff, Coolidge Professor of History at Harvard University, author of The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World

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Book SynopsisAs an economist and political theorist Rosa Luxemburg’s work still resonates powerfully today. Born in Poland in 1871 she became a revolutionary leader in Berlin, co-founding the anti-war Spartacus League and publishing works including Reform or Revolution and The Accumulation of Capital. In this account of her extraordinary life, Dana Mills examines Luxemburg’s key and lesser-known works, and quotes from her letters to reveal a woman who was loving in personal relationships and fierce in professional battles. Luxemburg, who lived in grossly unequal times, fought for emancipation for all. What is her legacy today, a hundred years after her assassination in Berlin in 1919 at the age of 47? Luxemburg’s emphasis on humanity and insistence on revolution gave coherence, as this compelling biography illustrates, to a fraught life story and a colossal economic and political legacy.Trade Review“From today’s perspective, it is not unreasonable to suggest—as Mills does in Rosa Luxemburg, a compact and admiring biography—that she is a potential role model to the woke generation, an icon to the feminist, environmental, equality, and anticolonialist rebellions. Luxemburg is alive and well and speaking at a street meeting near you. . . . [Mills] sees 'the energy, resilience, and humanism of Rosa Luxemburg reemerging as a counter-force' in our times. . . . Luxemburg deserves better than past categorizations. She was a unique revolutionary, self-made and self-critical, seductive and humane. You will meet the real Rosa here, and it’s a pleasure.” -- Norman Lebrecht * Wall Street Journal *"Can there be anything new to say about Rosa Luxemburg? In this passionate, fast-moving, and yet scholarly account Mills shows us that there is." * Jewish Socialist *"In these days when NGO politics so looms over the left, the recall to the spirit and approach of an activist from the heroic days of the Marxist movement is refreshing. . . . [A] warm and sprightly book." * Workers' Liberty *"[Mills presents] us right from the first pages with a Rosa Luxemburg that the reader wants to sit down and talk with." -- Katherine Connelly * Monthly Review *"This remarkable life is the subject of Mills’s new biography, a study of Luxemburg’s personal, political, and academic writings. . . . Mills, an activist, theorist, and member of the Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg editorial board, tells a brisk and more or less chronological story of her subject’s life and works, placing particular emphasis on the aspects of Luxemburg’s theory and praxis which made her a highly divisive figure even among her socialist contemporaries: her strident internationalism and anti-militarism, her refusal to compartmentalize various forms of oppression, and her striking combination of brazenness and empathy. Concise analyses of Luxemburg’s major works are placed in historical and biographical context, and intimate details about her rich, contradictory, and sometimes volatile personal life are occasionally extracted from extensive correspondence to give us a fuller picture of this iconoclastic soul." * Women's Review of Books *"The book is about both Luxemburg’s personal life and her political and economic ideas. . . . An interesting and informative read." * Socialist Standard *"Mills brings Rosa Luxemburg to life, exploring her revolutionary thinking and writing, all while helping the reader get to know Red Rosa, who always took brisk walks, loved reading Goethe’s Faust, regularly corresponded with V. I. Lenin, and continually worked towards an open and just future." * New Books Network *"Vibrant, meticulous, and well-reasoned—at last we have, with Mills’s new book, an English-language biography of Rosa Luxemburg which does credit to the life and work of its subject, one of the greatest economic and political minds of the twentieth century." -- Kate Evans, author of "Red Rosa""Mills’s Rosa Luxemburg provides an impressive overview of Luxemburg’s life and work from a feminist standpoint—a task made newly relevant by the emergence of a new generation of activists and theorists in today’s movements for social justice and against racism, sexism, and imperialism." -- Peter Hudis, professor of philosophy and humanities, Oakland Community College, general editor of "The Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg"

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Book SynopsisOne should either wear a work or art, or be a work of art', Wilde once declared. In The Invention of Oscar Wilde, Nicholas Frankel explores Wilde's self-creation as a 'work of art' and a carefully constructed cultural icon. Frankel takes readers on a journey through Wilde's inventive, provocative life, from his Irish origins - and their public erasure - through his challenges to traditional concepts of masculinity and male sexuality, to his criminal conviction and final years of exile in France. Along the way, Frankel takes a deep look at Wilde's writings, paradoxical wit and intellectual convictions, as well as his marriage and affairs with a series of attractive young men, including his great love Lord Alfred Douglas.Trade Review‘Oscar the man, Oscar the life, Oscar the tragedy, Oscar the standard bearer for art, Irishness, queerness, intellect and wit we all know. But there is Oscar the idea too: the symbol, the representative, the totem, the global icon which looms above the other identities. It is an identity whose construction Wilde himself began, but on which subsequent generations build. There is no one better to unwrap the mystery and challenge of this Oscar than Nicholas Frankel, whose previous work has already established him as one of the world’s foremost Wildeans. This book is such an invaluable and permanent addition to the literature.’ – Stephen Fry

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Book SynopsisAldous Huxley was one of the twentieth century's most prescient thinkers. This new biography charts the phases of Huxley's life and writing: from the early satirist who depicted the glamorous despair of the postwar generation, to the committed pacifist of the 1930s, the spiritual seeker of the 1940s, the psychedelic sage of the 1950s who affirmed the spiritual potential of mescaline and LSD, to the New Age prophet. While Huxley is best-known as the author of Brave New World, Poller argues that it is The Perennial Philosophy, The Doors of Perceptionand Island- Huxley's blueprint for a utopian society- that have had the most impact on culture at large. A rich and lucid account of Huxley's life and work.Trade ReviewJake Poller, in his new biography of Aldous Huxley, does the impossible. He covers the ground revealed previously by other scholars, but also manages to add fresh details, knowledgeable insights and astute critiques-and in far fewer pages than in any earlier treatments. This book is not only a marvel of concise and readable scholarship but a welcome and necessary update of the life of one of the 20th century's most provocative intellectuals.-Dana Sawyer, professor of religion and philosophy, Maine College of Art and author of Aldous Huxley: A Biography (2015)

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Book SynopsisFew composers have enjoyed such critical acclaim – or longevity – as Jean Sibelius, who died in 1957 aged 91. Always more than simply a Finnish national figure, an ‘apparition from the woods’ as he ironically described himself, Sibelius’s life spanned turbulent and tumultuous events, and his work is central to the story of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century music. This book situates Sibelius within a rich interdisciplinary environment, paying attention to his relationship with architecture, literature, politics and the visual arts. Drawing on the latest developments in Sibelius research, it is intended as an accessible and rewarding introduction for the general reader, and also offers a fresh and provocative interpretation for those more familiar with his music.Trade Review"With a new spring in his step across already familiar ground, Grimley reinvigorates the life-and-works format by vividly placing Sibelius within the ever-shifting artistic and geopolitical landscape of his time, and that of existing scholarship. Grimley’s elegant fusion of 'audible' musicological detail and warm human insight will enrich the academic and general reader alike." -- Hilary Finch, former music critic,Times (UK)"Grimley’s Jean Sibelius: Life, Music, Silence is a concise, balanced, and reader-friendly volume that combines successful biographical study with cultural-historical cross-section and discussion about up-to-date topics in the literature, such as the debate on Sibelius’s political orientation. Extending the examination beyond the standard Sibelius repertoire, the author’s perspective on the composer’s music is fresh and inventive." -- Timo Virtanen, lecturer at Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, editor-in-chief of the Jean Sibelius Works

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Book SynopsisOne of the most brilliant and original authors and architects of the entire Renaissance, Leon Battista Alberti's output encompassed engineering, surveying, cryptography, poetry, humour, political commentary and more. He employed irony, satire and playful allusion in his written works, and developed a sophisticated approach to architecture that combined the ancient and modern. Born into the Florentine elite, Alberti was nonetheless disadvantaged due to exile and illegitimacy. As a result, he became an acute analyst of the social institutions of his time, as well as a profoundly existential writer who was intensely preoccupied with the human condition. This new account explores Alberti's life and works, examining how his personal and intellectual preoccupations continually pushed him to engage with an ever-broader spectrum of Renaissance culture.

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Book SynopsisChildren of Mercury is a bold new account of the lives of pre-modern painters, viewed through the lens of The Seven Ages of Man, a widespread belief made famous in the ‘All the world’s a stage’ speech in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Spike Bucklow follows artists’ lives from infancy, through childhood, adolescence and adulthood, to maturity, old age and death. He tracks how lives unfolded for both male and female painters, from the famous, like Michelangelo, through Artemisia Gentileschi and Mary Beale to those who are now forgotten, like Jehan Gillemer. The book draws on historic biographies, artists’ own writings and, uniquely, the physical evidence offered by their paintings.Trade Review'Bucklow offers a deeply humane poetics of the life-cycle and artistic creativity that is enchanting and original. This beautifully written book is an enormously rewarding read for anyone interested in art history.' – Ulinka Rublack, FBA, Professor of Early Modern European History, University of Cambridge 'While there have been studies of prodigies and of aging artists, Spike Bucklow's book is distinctive in looking systematically at the periods in between. It also stands out within this literature for devoting real attention to women as well as men.' – Michael Cole, Howard McP. Davis Professor and Chair of the Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University

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Book SynopsisOrnette Coleman’s career encompassed the glory years of jazz and the American avant-garde. Born in segregated Fort Worth, Texas, during the Great Depression, the African American composer and musician was zeitgeist incarnate. Steeped in the Texas blues tradition, Ornette and jazz grew up together, as the brassy blare of big band swing gave way to bebop, a faster music for a faster, post-war world. At the dawn of the Space Age and New York’s 1960s counterculture, his music gave voice to the moment. Lauded by some, maligned by many, he forged a breakaway art sometimes called ‘the new thing’ or ‘free jazz’. Featuring previously unpublished photographs of Ornette and his contemporaries, this is the compelling story of one of America’s most adventurous musicians and the sound of a changing world.Trade ReviewFittingly unconventional . . . Ornette Coleman: The Territory and the Adventure is an atlas in prose, a guide to the territories of varied sorts – social, racial, aesthetic, economic and even geographic – that Coleman came out of, traveled through, lived near, occupied, left behind or transformed . . . Golia covers a lot of territory in tight, direct language that illuminates Ornette Coleman’s life and work . . . Most impressively, perhaps, she devotes a sizable section to Coleman’s cryptic and elliptical philosophy of music, which he called Harmolodics, without straining to defend it with academic triple-talk or dismissing it.', David Hajdu, New York Times Book Review 'Ms. Golia aptly outlines the aesthetic dilemma, when “jazz had become aware of itself and its strengths” . . . [and] writes with demystifying clarity about the manifestations of compassion and rigor behind Coleman’s search for “unison” and the musical system he called “harmolodics.” . . . She notably grounds Coleman’s identity in his hometown, reconstructing an“idiosyncratic collage of radio broadcasts from Harlem, Western Swing fiddlers, Tejano two-steps, high-school marching bands, and the rhythm and blues that issued from storefront churches” . . . [Ornette Coleman: The Territory and the Adventure] opens ears yet further to the transformative power of Coleman’s music.', Larry Blumenfeld, Wall Street Journal 'Maria Golia's well-researched volume paints a portrait of a man who looked different, ate differently (being a vegetarian in Texas was no joke), and, of course, played differently . . . we learn a great deal about Coleman's musical beginnings, his subsequent motivations, and the broader landscape of which he was a part.', Record Collector 'The freedom that Golia describes is the freedom and openness to form friendships with artists from other areas of the arts. It is the freedom of someone who would go off to Morocco to seek out the musicians of JouJouka. These musicians had a profound effect on the way that Coleman developed multiple unisons and the harmolodic melding of the blues to create the Prime Time band . . . The research that Golia has done is impressive and her book will be essential.', Jazz Views 'Following Ornette's departure from the planet, his presence in the world only seems to increase and his music’s influence will no doubt continue far into the future. The poetic conception of music, sound, and life in the broadest sense that Ornette embodied is addressed here through the terrific writing of Ms. Golia. This volume is an excellent addition to the ongoing study of one of the greatest improvising musicians of all time.', Pat Metheny, musician, composer, educator 'It’s always good to learn more about one of America’s greatest musicians, and Golia’s work has much that is new, especially (at last) a proper overview of Ornette’s experience in his hometown of Fort Worth, both in his youth and the 1980s. Ornette Coleman: The Territory and the Adventure is the best book on Ornette Coleman yet.', Ethan Iverson, musician and music critic 'The history of jazz is often told as a geographical adventure in which a great art enlightens and assimilates a chain of territories in the course of world conquest. Maria Golia revitalizes that narrative in exploring the life and genius of Ornette Coleman. This is the most incisive portrait we have of him – a joyous addition to the literature of music.', Gary Giddins, music critic, author and biographer 'A giant step in the right direction and the first significant book on Ornette Coleman since John Litweiler's Ornette Coleman: The Harmolodic Life was published in 1992…. Golia is very good at contextualising and explaining… and succeeds in exploring in a non-systemically musicological way the mysteries of harmolodics by shedding light on the more arcane side of Ornette's vast artistic curiosity. Ornette Coleman: The Territory and the Adventure also is excellent in enhancing our biographical knowledge of Ornette's early life in a very considered way.', Stephen Graham, Marlbank.net 'There are lots of fascinating anecdotes, stories and previously unpublished photographs in Golia’s book . . . She has compiled a detailed, interesting story of his career.', Martin Chilton, udiscovermusic.com 'One of the finest books on the power of place and influence in a musician's life.', Andrew Male, Mojo 'Golia offers a wide-ranging biography of the great saxophonist, writing less about the man himself than about the people, places, and musical tendencies that converged to make him the "patron saint of all things dissonant and defiant." The approach suits Coleman, who was soft-spoken despite his stubborn nonconformity, and unaffected by the larger-than-life egotism of contemporaries such as Charles Mingus or Miles Davis.', Julian Lucas, Harper's Magazine 'Maria Golia eloquently describes the Ornette phenomenon in a book laden with musical and social insights.', Chris Searle, The Morning Star 'The book is much more than a conventional biography — you learn a lot about his childhood and artistic development, particularly the early years when he was wrestling with the blues and conventional R&B forms, and you learn about the whole Texas milieu he emerged from. But there’s also a great deal of discussion of his music and life philosophy, including extensive quotes from people in his bands, so if you’re at all a fan of his work and want to gain some real perspective on it, it’s pretty much a must-read. Highly recommended.', Stereogum.com 'Ornette Coleman was the shock of the new . . . Golia writes scenically about Coleman’s birthplace, Fort Worth, Texas, where Jim Crow and music were everywhere . . . With a pointillist’s talent for detail, [she] shows how Coleman’s origins in Texas blues gave way to abstraction on landmark records . . . ultimately leading him to create the musical paradigm he called “harmolodics.” . . . The “free” in [Coleman’s] “free jazz” is an ambivalent word. It doesn’t refer to the absence of oppression or musical rules, but instead the struggle to imagine a place beyond them both. In that sense, Coleman’s definition of freedom was radically inclusive, both politically and musically.', Josephine Livingstone, The New Republic 'Golia takes a broader approach, situating the great saxophonist and composer in his cultural, social and geographical contexts. Each of the four sections pivots on a particular time and place, establishing the territory then striking out on an adventure in a manner akin to a Coleman solo . . . By deftly tracing these connections and transformations, Golia has created a valuable and highly engaging survey of Coleman’s harmolodic life.', The Wire '[A] compelling and rewarding new book.', Jerry Jazz Musician 'A marvelous and unique biography of an equally unique artist. Maria covers his entire life in vivid detail with emphasis on the man, his associations and his artistic methods. It is the perfect companion to John Litweiler’s Ornette Coleman: A Harmolodic Life written in 1994.', Mosaic Records’ Daily Jazz Gazette 'Maria Golia’s forensic, scholarly, original Ornette Coleman: The Territory and the Adventure is a very welcome book . . . Golia – perfectly placed to write this book as one-time manager of the Caravan Of Dreams – expertly outlines Ornette’s place in a distinctly Texan musical heritage . . . a fascinating, formidable study of Ornette, with all the seriousness and rigour his life and music deserve.', Sounds of Surprise 'Golia takes us on a guided tour, not just of Coleman’s mind and music but of the country and state that birthed him and made him into a permanent outlaw and outlier. She clearly designates the framework of the biography of this titanic figure, demonstrating that the individuals who may be said to define an era have generally distilled its characteristic forces and possibilities into a consistent body of work that has in turn transformed the times in which they lived and worked. In other words, Ornette is a mirror of the very America which often found it so hard to incorporate him into its artistic, musical and cultural fabric.', Donald Brackett, Critics at Large 'Author Maria Golia’s depiction of the mise en scene of Ornette Coleman’s life, and her insights into his persona, provide ample material to understand the saxophonist’s initial disruption and his long-term influence.', The Arts Fuse 'A professional account of a heady dude, without cosmic junk and jargon.', Colin Fleming, Jazz Times 'A spectacular new biography . . . Golia has penned a labor of love and a thoroughly researched, righteous homage. Best of all, in my view, Golia gets Coleman’s ravenous intellectual curiosity. Her prose is sometimes dense with context, sometimes poetic and exalted, sometimes punchy ("Jim Crow could not dictate what kind of music a person listened to.") She gets that Ornette was never only a jazz musician. He was a thinker, a futurist, a cultural revolutionary . . . Refreshingly, Golia describes references that informed Ornette’s voracious curiosity, like Derrida, Buckminster Fuller, Maya Angelou, the later Krishnamurti, and Guy Debord.', Los Angeles Review of Books 'Golia contends that Coleman's particular vision of music, what he called Harmolodics, affected not only the shape of jazz but also that of other musical genres as well as poetry, visual art, film-making, and even architecture. It's a compelling argument, and Golia's book offers much interesting information concerning Coleman's upbringing and early music apprenticeship in his hometown of Fort Worth, TX, not generally considered a jazz capital but in these pages comes across as much more than a backwater.', Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 'Lauded by some, maligned by many, Ornette Coleman forged a breakaway art sometimes called "the new thing" or "free jazz." At the dawn of the Space Age and New York's 1960s counterculture, his music gave voice to the moment. Featuring previously unpublished photographs of Ornette and his contemporaries, this is the compelling story of one of America's most adventurous musicians and the sound of a changing world.', Rough Trade, Books of the Year 2020 'In this book Maria Golia has succeeded in celebrating Coleman’s life of musical ‘adventure’ and arguing his status as a modern master.', Centrepiece 'a book with superbly reproduced photographs . . . Ornette Coleman did his own thing with graceful ease. This comes across strongly in the story of his life as told by Maria Golia and she is good at contextualising the different phases of his musical career.', The Prisma 'Coleman’s status as a larger-than-life icon has tended to eclipse the soft-spoken, often enigmatic artist himself. Opposing this tendency is Maria Golia’s wide-ranging new biography . . . One of the book’s virtues lies in its foregrounding of Coleman’s own voice and the voices of his con-temporaries, with ample quotations throughout, many drawn from the author’s own interviews . . . Golia’s book is scholarly and well researched, but it is not written exclusively or even primarily for academics and should be welcomed by fans and general reader-ship.', Jazz and Culture 'Fascinating . . . There is a great deal of new information in her book about Coleman, particularly about his later nonmusical artistic activities, his general philosophy, and the way that that he influenced other artists including from very different fields. Even those who consider themselves experts on the altoist will find much to learn from this well-written and scholarly book . . . The Territory And The Adventure has many bright moments, fresh stories, and fascinating information about the life and times of Ornette Coleman.', LA Jazz Scene 'An invaluable contribution not only to Coleman scholarship but also to the history of African-American music, culture, and commerce of mid-twentieth-century Fort Worth.', Alan Schaefer, Journal of Texas Music History

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Book SynopsisHowever much his work has been reviled or contested, Sigmund Freud remains one of the most significant thinkers of the last 150 years. He founded psychoanalysis, and his vision of human behaviour and the unconscious mind has provided a compelling paradigm for understanding society for much of the twentieth century. In this gripping new account, Matt ffytche draws on the latest research into Freud’s impact and historical context, making the case for his continuing relevance in analysing the vagaries, resistances and desires of the human mind. Engaging and accessible, Sigmund Freud appeals to both students and the general reader, as well as anyone engaged with mental health, dreams and the hidden depths of human experience.Trade Review'I am an admirer of Matt fyttche’s work – he is an excellent historian who has contributed a great deal to the understanding of the origins and development of psychoanalysis. This book is characteristically accurate and reliable and so will be useful for readers wanting to get a broad understanding of Freud’s ideas and some sense of what they might continue to offer to contemporary thought.' – Stephen Frosh, Professor of Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London

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