Biography Books

Book SynopsisOn March 2nd, 2019, Yousef Makki, a scholarship pupil at Manchester Grammar school, was stabbed in the heart by one of his friends on a quiet, leafy street in the wealthy Manchester suburb of Hale Barns. The two boys who were with him as the 17-year-old lay dying from a 12cm deep knife wound were brought up in the affluent surrounding areas and like Yousef had attended expensive public schools. But unlike them, Yousef was not from a wealthy family. He grew up seven miles and a world away on a council estate in Burnage and won a life changing bursary to a prestigious grammar school. Just four months after Yousef was killed, a jury found his friend not guilty of murder or manslaughter. The outcome has been widely questioned, raising issues of class, wealth, and privilege in the justice system. Yousef died from a single stab wound to the chest. When his sister, Jade, collected his blood-stained clothes and personal possessions, he had a single pound coin in his pocket. This is Jade's personal story of her brother and how the fight for justice has transformed her life.

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Book Synopsis"If you think you're too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito." - Dalai Lama In 2009, one nightshift spent on duty at his emergency vet clinic changed everything for Marc Abraham. Eight very sick puppies came in needing Marc's help. He subsequently discovered they'd all been purchased from a pet shop and had been born in the same cruel puppy farm. Since that fateful night, no one could have ever predicted the impact those poorly pups would have on the world of animal welfare, or indeed the future of grassroots campaigning in the UK, and beyond. Fast forward to June 2019 and over 10 years since Marc treated those eight sick puppies and 'Lucy's Law', named after a rescued puppy farm breeding dog whose pups were also sold through pet shops, passed into law by the UK Government. It bans the selling of puppies (and kittens) by pet shops and dealers, making all breeders accountable. Now, in his new book, #BeMoreMosquito, Marc has put together the ultimate guide for individuals to campaign for what they believe in - no matter what their cause or belief. It shows how YOU have the power to create change - and that YOUR voice matters. He shares in detail his personal campaigning tips, toolkit, and experiences from his own extraordinary journey, which included over 300 visits to Westminster. From meeting MPs and engaging with A-list celebrities, to the role of e-government petitions and developing your own campaign brand, Marc helps guide you through how to raise awareness, dispel myths, change public and even corporate behaviour, and importantly, how to make that all-important progress and influence legislation that can make our world a better place, and all for free.

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Book SynopsisA philosophical memoir about becoming a father in an increasingly terrible world. Can I hope the child growing in my partner’s womb will have a good-enough life? For Kant, philosophy boiled down to three key questions: “What can I know?”, “What ought I do?”, and “What can I hope for?” In philosophy departments, that third question has largely been neglected at the expense of the first two – even though it is crucial for understanding why anyone might ask them in the first place. In Infinitely Full of Hope, as he prepares to become a father for the first time, the philosopher Tom Whyman attempts to answer Kant’s third question, trying to make sense of it in the context of a world that increasingly seems like it is on the verge of collapse. Part memoir, part theory, and part reflection on fatherhood, Infinitely Full of Hope asks how we can cling to hope in a world marked by crisis and disaster.Trade Review"This book is incredibly important for people who want to look to the future with excitement and imagination as opposed to fear and resignation. It is funny, poetic and humane as well as wildly smart.""The abundant intelligence of this book on hope and despair and everything in between only makes its many moments of warmth and intimacy more moving and surprising. A seriously beautiful and timely work.""An intelligent and moving philosophical memoir on fatherhood in an age of crisis and disaster."

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Book SynopsisLiara Roux is accustomed to being mislabelled and misunderstood. As a child, Liara's inquisitive, instinctive, and rebellious nature was frequently problematised in a world designed around the requirements of their neurotypical, cis, heterosexual male colleagues. Coming of age in an oppressively restrictive home, they shuffled tarot and explored self portraiture to rationalise the injustice of chronic pain, toxic lovers, and the cruel silence of divinity. Critiquing capitalism's mechanisms of exploitation, the conservatism of Western medicine, and the politics surrounding sex work, Whore of New York: A Confession is a candid study of artistic awakening, and both spiritual and sexual growth after abuse, seen through the eyes of a proud outsider.Trade Review“While Liara tells her own story, she represents aspects of the stories of so many sex workers who've had overlapping experiences. A gripping and smooth read — each paragraph included for a reason.” "Whore of New York is a vibrant portrait of young life at the intersection of pleasure, politics, and personal growth. With a clear view of political, social and economic realities, Roux is doing important work in her portrayal of sex work not as apart from life in general, but as a part of life as a whole. Complex, raw, intimate."“Liara Roux writes with an intimate, anthropological eye about her experiences as a sex worker … an original reflection on joy, anguish, sex, love and labor.”“An incendiary new memoir … it’s an account of sex work that focuses on the actual experience of the person doing the working rather than employing the same old, one-dimensional tropes.”“Roux aims to portray sex work as work, in all of its chaos and charm.”

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Book SynopsisThis compelling and candid memoir by Mindy Weisel, an internationally acclaimed artist and author, traces her search to find beauty in her life, which began as a child born in the Bergen-Belsen Displaced Person's Camp to parents who had survived the Auschwitz concentration camp. This is not her parents' story, rather, it is a courageous and honest portrait of her struggle to understand the black hole she was born into. Her successful journey in becoming an artist with her own voice, and an unshakable will to live with beauty, is most inspiring. By weaving an eloquent tapestry of her art, narrative, poetry and journals, Ms. Weisel offers moving insights into her life and work, especially her deep-seated conviction that beauty and love can overcome tragedy. AFTER: The Obligation of Beauty immerses the reader in Mindy's astonishing body of paintings and glass works that explore the subtleties of color as a means in expressing emotion. The "second generation," as her generation of survivors' children are referred to, were faced not only with the tragedy their parents had endured but also with their own feelings of guilt and despair. The process of creating art not only became an antidote to the pain and suffering she witnessed and felt, but it also became an "obligation" for finding joy and love in the face of pain. Each chapter of AFTER is accompanied by paintings relating to different periods of Mindy Weisel's life - a life filled with accomplishment, meaning, love and fulfillment, personally and professionally.Trade Review"In the world, as we know it today, one must create beauty and this Mindy Weisel has done - again and again - in her art, her writing, her teaching and her being. Her work is a compelling response to the Shoah, a way to live AFTER. We are the visual and spiritual beneficiaries of Mindy's Obligation of Beauty. In this meaningful volume, we catch a glimpse of the beauty she has created as she shares with her readers why this is the path she has chosen. A path which believes in life." -Michael Berenbaum, Director, Sigi Ziering Holocaust Institute, American Jewish University.

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Book SynopsisBy 1971 no Lions team had ever defeated the All Blacks in a Test series. Since 1904, six Lions sides had travelled to New Zealand and all had returned home bruised, battered and beaten. But the 1971 tour party was different. It was full of young, ambitious and outrageously talented players who would all go on to carve their names into the annals of sporting history during a golden period in British and Irish rugby. And at their centre was Carwyn Jones – an intelligent, sensitive rugby mastermind who would lead his team into the game’s hardest playing arena while facing a ferocious, tragic battle in his personal life, all in pursuit of a seemingly impossible dream. Up against them was an All Blacks team filled with legends in the game in the likes of Colin Meads, Brian Lochore, Ian Kirkpatrick, Sid Going and Bryan Williams. But as the Lions swept through the provinces, lighting up the rugby fields of New Zealand the pressure began to mount on the home players in a manner never seen before. As the Test series loomed, it became clear that a clash that would echo through the ages was about to unfold. And at its conclusion, it was obvious to all that rugby would never be the same again.Trade Review'Brilliantly written – evocative, powerful and utterly gripping' * Rugby World *'Outstanding . . . On all sort of levels, it is a compelling read. The quality of the Lions backs, the coaching intelligence of Carwyn James, the shrewd management of Doug Smith, the growing Kiwi horror at what was unfolding: all of it feels strangely fresh, partly because it is so well told and partly because so much fascinating detail has lain untouched for ages' -- Robert Kitson * Guardian *'Special. Wondrous insights into the Lions' only New Zealand win ... loved it' -- Stephen Jones * The Sunday Times *'enthralling ... brilliantly chronicled through the eyes of those that were there' * Western Mail *'splendid ... not only for those of us well steeped in nostalgia, but of a wider and more immediate interest' * The Scotsman *

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Book SynopsisA must-read biography of one of the greatest football managers of all time. Sir Alex Ferguson CBE, born 31 December 1941, is a former Scottish football player and was manager of Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. During his 26 years in charge of United, he won more trophies than any other manager in the history of football. Packed with nearly 80 entertaining and exclusive interviews from those who know Ferguson best – friends, colleagues, associates and those who worked with him at both Aberdeen and Manchester United share their unique insight into the innermost secrets of Ferguson’s fascinating life and hugely successful career.

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Book SynopsisLike No Other Soldier continues the true story told in Fishers of Men of Rob Lewis’s life after he leaves the Force Research Unit (FRU). Staying on in Northern Ireland as a civilian after years of working on undercover missions against terrorists, Rob eventually gains employment in Bristol, undertaking security work, but things don’t work out and Rob ends up living in a squat. After a job offer from an old colleague, Rob heads to London to work in close-protection security for some of Hollywood’s royalty - Tom Cruise, Liam Neeson, Nicole Kidman and Mel Gibson among them - and later becomes involved in the rescue of some very well-connected people from a dangerous religious cult. Rob’s life seems to be getting back on track. But Rob’s work soon becomes more covert, and he ends up being on the wrong side of a police armed response unit whilst undertaking surveillance tasks, and is later arrested as a suspect when the ‘Stevens Enquiry’ building in Belfast - where detectives investigating the alleged collusion between his old unit and Loyalist paramilitaries are based - is set on fire. As Rob becomes involved in ever more shadowy surveillance and private security operations, he attracts further unwanted police attention, this time from the Serious Organised Crime Agency, and he is charged with fraud, found guilty and sentenced to prison at HMP Wandsworth. Can Rob prove his innocence and reclaim his life?

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Book SynopsisWe live in an age of asymmetric warfare. Huge armies no longer face each other on the battlefield. Instead heads of major powers and lone assassins (or martyrs) target each other to pursue their agendas. President Donald Trump felt it necessary to use drones to blow away the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Qasem Soleimani-a mastermind of terrorism in the Middle East who threatened the lives of US troops-and President Barack Obama felt fully justified in sending in US Navy SEALs to take out Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. This is the nature of modern warfare. And it is only going to get worse. When nineteen-year-old Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, in 1914, he triggered the First World War. Few assassinations have had such devastating consequences, but political assassinations have always changed the world – often in ways that the assassins and their cohorts could not have predicted. The murder of John F. Kennedy left Lyndon B. Johnson free to escalate the war in Vietnam. However, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. while not derailing the demands for African American civil rights in the US, did lead many to abandoning his commitment to nonviolence and adopting more radical means. In a world globalized by social media, more lone-wolf assassins seek their fifteen minutes of fame by taking out a famous figure, while leaders of world powers have everything to gain by decapitating terrorist organizations, employing the latest surveillance technology to obliterate their leaders. There are forty-eight assassinations that changed the world in this book. Rest assured that in the coming years we will see many more.

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Book SynopsisAt The Stroke of One is the memoir of Ian C Graham, who was born and raised in Berry Brow, Huddersfield and moved to Cornwall with his family in 1996 to take over the running of the Bossiney House Hotel. It is a tale of an ordinary man, a happy life, and the aftermath of dealing with a life changing stroke. Covering his childhood, working life, sporting life as a keen cricketer and footballer as well as his family life (including his marriage and children and divorce), At The Stroke of One evaluates life before, during and after the stroke Ian experienced aged forty-seven. Restricted on use in his right-hand side from his shoulder down to his right foot, Ian suddenly found life very different and simple activities became a challenge. Ten weeks of recuperation in a specialist unit opened his eyes to the reality that life is precious and needs to be lived to the full.

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Book Synopsis‘The Ice-Floe Girl’ is a delightful, beautifully-written and wonderfully observed true story about a nineteen-year-old boy who meets an innocent, angelic Swedish au pair and then hitch-hikes across Europe to join her in Sweden, where she lives at the top of a forbidding villa. She proceeds to take him along with her as an unwitting spectator to her mysterious life in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki. If good writing is about capturing an inexpressible paradox in words - here it is. This account of an ephemeral beauty presents in precise photographic details a remarkable true tale of people and places, retrieves eternall meaningful passing moments that would otherwise have been lost forever and fixes them to the banner of eternal love. The Ice-Floe Girl is an unforgettable, enigmatic quest stretching from a north London suburb to a small wooden town on the shores of the Baltic.

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Book Synopsis‘The Kurd requires a beating one day and a sugar plum the next.’ British Government official 1921 ‘Saddam throws a little gas, everyone goes crazy, “oh, he’s using gas!’’’ former President Donald Trump 2019 Delving into history and mixing eye-witness accounts with compelling anecdotes from his journalistic career, John Cookson examines the Kurds' eternal quest for independence. He tells of his encounters with Kurdish guerillas in their mountain hideouts and of his travels with Kurdish smugglers. He documents survivors' stories from Saddam Hussein's genocidal campaign and reveals for the first time how Iraqi Kurdistan was saved from being overrun by murderous jihadis in the summer of 2014. He also digs through secret archives to discover why Sir Winston Churchill and Middle East titans like T. E. Lawrence and Gertude Bell made a fateful decision to leave the Kurds landlocked and doomed to an eternity of conflict.Table of ContentsForeword 9 1. Magic carpet ride 21 2. Wounded guerrilla on board 28 3. Welcome back Mr John. 32 4. Downtown 38 5. Who are the Kurds? 42 6. Hoshayar 46 7. Iskan Street 53 8. Christians in peril 60 9. ‘Please help me!’ 71 10. Brown envelope anyone? 78 11. Chalabi the Cheshire Cat 87 12. Jalal Talabani 94 13. A matter of ‘honour’? 97 14. Shayan 99 15. Those who die first 103 16. Dara 110 17. The long march 114 18. ‘The Kurd requires a beating.’ 122 19. The Cairo Conference 125 20. Gertrude Bell 128 21. The Kurdish question 132 22. The King of Kurdistan 135 23. The Cairo legacy 141 24. Driving with Mustafa 146 25. Remembering Anfal 153 26. Halabja 157 27. Chemical Ali 163 28. Hypocrisy 165 29. Iran accused 167 30. Inside the clan 170 31. The King’s tomb 177 32. Bring me the manager 182 33. Smugglers’ paradise 188 34. Komola and Iran’s rebellious Kurds 199 35. Khalkhali: the hanging judge 206 36. Four empty graves 208 37. Mahabad 214 38. By the rivers of Babylon 221 39. Betrayal 229 40. The PKK 233 41. The millennials 236 42. They reap what they sow 240 43. Saving the economy 243 44. Not in the news 245 45. Final thoughts 250

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Book SynopsisSeptember 1940. A four-year-old London boy gazes at a night sky lit by burning London. Eighty years later, in another emergency and a hugely changed world, the same lad is persuaded to write about his ordinary life that has occasionally been quite extra-ordinary. Vividly described with much laughter, wit and occasional trenchancy is a rewarding career in education, great pleasure in the arts and in sport and all in a world that has now passed into history. In addition, with often moving directness, the author reveals his home life which over eight decades has provided a joyful safe haven for his forays into the world.

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Book SynopsisI was written off is an insight into the lives of six talented women: their dreams and aspirations, achievements and constant struggles and the challenges they faced in Pakistan. Through their real-life stories, author Dr Talat Azad presents a snapshot of how these inspirational women, against all odds, overcame their disabilities and today are an example of the resourcefulness of the human spirit and what can be achieved with resolve and determination. “I am passionate that these real-life stories be heard”, says Dr Talat, “for they turn the spotlight on to the rights of the disabled within Pakistan and the world.” “These women are an example to anyone, telling them that despite their circumstances, not to give up but to take hope and push through.”

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Book Synopsis100 Objects of Dr Who is a celebration of everyone''s favourite sci-fi show. Perfect for fans, no matter your mileage. It is ingeniously structured as a choose your own adventure - style tour around a Doctor Who museum floating in outer space. Irreverent yet exhaustive, this is a reference book with a twist!

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Book SynopsisThis edition celebrates the centenary of Williams's birth. RAYMOND WILLIAMS (1921-1998) was the most influential socialist writer and thinker in post-war Britain. Now, for the first time, making full use of Williams's private and unpublished papers and by placing him in a wide social and cultural landscape, Dai Smith, in this highly original and much praised biography, uncovers how Williams's life to 1961 is an explanation of his immense intellectual achievement. "It is Smith's ambition to set out the lonely, almost monastic path Raymond took through childhood, army and adult education towards his deserved eminence. But the biographer's greatest achievement is to find his own discerning route through what often seems to be a jungle of contradiction... This is a worthwhile book and a very good one." - David Hare, The Guardian "It is a remarkable piece of work and will henceforth be essential to the understanding of the making of Raymond Williams." - Eric Hobsbawm "Becomes at once the authoritative account... Smith has done all that we can ask the historian as biographer to do." - Stefan Collini, London Review of Books "Carrying an impressive deal of intensive research lightly... the portraiture throughout is graphic, richly detailed and subtly shaded... in these packed, lucidly written pages..." - Terry Eagleton, New Welsh ReviewTrade Review"It is Smith's ambition to set out the lonely, almost monastic path Raymond took through childhood, army and adult education towards his deserved eminence. But the biographer's greatest achievement is to find his own discerning route through what often seems to be a jungle of contradiction... This is a worthwhile book and a very good one." David Hare, The Guardian; "It is a remarkable piece of work and will henceforth be essential to the understanding of the making of Raymond Williams." Eric Hobsbawm; "Becomes at once the authoritative account... Smith has done all that we can ask the historian as biographer to do." Stefan Collini, London Review of Books; "Carrying an impressive deal of intensive research lightly... the portraiture throughout is graphic, richly detailed and subtly shaded... in these packed, lucidly written pages..." Terry Eagleton, New Welsh Review

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Book SynopsisRiverwise, a volume of slow river prose centred around Afon Teifi, is a book of wanderings and wonderings, witnessings and enchantments, rememberings and endings. Weaving memoir, poetry and keen observation into its meandering course, it shifts across time and space to reflect the beauty of hidden, fluvial places, and to meditate on the strangeness of being human. Above all, though, this book stands as a hymn to those fragments of riparian wilderness which on our maps appear as ever- shrinking horns of green amid a white, gridded landscape of human dominance. Riverwise is a clarion call to learn to love and protect the natural world and its waterways.

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Book SynopsisRaymond Williams came from Wales, and was brought up in a working-class family. This fact of place and class has to be considered as the start point for a thread which runs through his life and his work. In Raymond Williams: From Wales to the World this reality is considered as his life and work are traced out across borders, to people and places he could yet bring understanding and engagement. Throughout the book, Williams’ writing, whether theoretical, historical, critical or as fiction has been treated as a single whole, recognising that his ideas were interwoven as a literary and intellectual re-engagement with Wales over several decades. In this collection of essays edited by Stephen Woodhams, Raymond Williams: From Wales to the World serves to further engage and extend his ideas of class and society.Trade Review“...explores the cultural, political and intellectual implications of Williams’s own self-description as a ‘Welsh European’ ... (these) stimulating essays break valuable new ground in discussing the range of constituencies and contexts with which Williams engaged, and the particular formations out of which his writings emerged.” Professor Daniel G. Williams, Swansea University; “Raymond Williams: From Wales to the World offers significant insights into Williams as a ‘Welsh European’, who taking his ground in the border country, engaged the world beyond." Yasuo Kawabata, Chair of Raymond Williams Kenkyukai (Society), Tokyo

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Book SynopsisMuch has been written by and about Satish Kumar - peace pilgrim, co-founder of Schumacher College, and longtime editor of Resurgence magazine. A monk at the age of nine, and now a world-renowned environmental activist with Honorary Doctorates from five UK universities, Satish Kumar has been working to realise Mahatma Gandhi's vision of a peaceful, sustainable world for much of his life. This new volume gives readers the chance to listen in on a 30-hour 'longform conversation' with Satish - a conversation where his interviewers draw out his experiences, reflections and insights. They question his political and philosophical thinking, invite him to revisit strongly held positions and, through the conversation, seek to cast new light on the man and his multiple perspectives on the world. Forewords by Charles Eisenstein and Arun Maira place his life and work in context and the conversation challenges him on many aspects of: * the purpose of our life * reverential ecology * soil, soul and society * the spiritual path and daily life * education, sustainability and economic growth * implementing Gandhian ideals * selfishness and acceptance * caste-politics * centralisation and the economy of tomorrow * Sarvodaya (living in harmony with all existence) * health and technology * capitalism * aesthetics and beautyTable of ContentsForeword 1: Reverential Ecology Foreword 2: Satish Kumar's Experiments with Truth Cover 1: 'Oh, those people who want to change the world!' Cover 2: A Long Walk: From being to becoming Cover 3: Earth is a Community Chapter 1: Around the Globe, Footloose, Penniless Chapter 2: Monk at Nine Chapter 3: Back in the World Chapter 4: Editor in London ~ The Story of Resurgence Chapter 5: Who am I? Chapter 6: Schumacher College Chapter 7: How We Lost True Confidence Chapter 8: Centralised Systems Cannot be the Answer for India Chapter 9: Caste-politics, Justice, Health and Technology Chapter 10: Sarvodaya Chapter 11: Money Making Money: The destructive business model Chapter 12: On Beauty, Speed and iPhones Afterword: A Road Open to All Glossary Acknowledgements Index About the Authors

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Book SynopsisLessons Life Has Taught Me is a collection of stories and experiences from different parts of the globe exploring life’s complexities – its highs and lows. Each of the eighteen contributors shares their golden thread stories as they head down a path of deep reflection, to inspire others and start conversations on taking control of the present and looking forward to a brighter future. The contributors are: Adesola Orimalade, Fatima Alimohamed, Kevin Tong, Aysha Iqbal, Lara Rogers, Idowu Adebayo Thompson, Adaeze Oreh, Junjuan He, Nina Bressler, Amelia Samai-Nicome, Shervonne Johnson, Susana Ecclestone, Natasha Preville, Minal Srivastava, Natalie Heilling, Geri Maroney, Christopher Weguelin, and Gabrielle Botelho.Trade Review“Fascinating stories of adaptation and resilience. A window into our complex, rich world. ... Rewarding reading.” - Ian Gregory Strachan, Associate Professor of English at The College of The Bahamas; Playwright; Poet; Novelist

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Book SynopsisIsabel Adonis was born in London in 1951, to Welshwoman Catherine Alice Hughes, and renowned Guyanese artist Denis Williams, whose work has been exhibited in the Tate Gallery. Growing up in London, Sudan and Wales, with a cold and distant father and an isolated mother, Adonis explores the nature of identity, culture and desire as shaped by her childhood impressions of her parents.

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Book SynopsisVet Hugh Cran's daily life is non-stop as he copes with rabied dogs, entire herds of sick cattle, a surgery fire, near-death on a fishing trip and he even finds time to fall in love and start a family. Hugh's witty observations and professional approach makes this a lively and engaging read about what it is to be a vet at the sharp end in Kenya.

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Book SynopsisD.N. Dunlop (1868-1935) combined remarkable practical and organizational abilities in industry and commerce with gifted spiritual and esoteric capacities. A personal friend of W.B. Yeats and Rudolf Steiner, Dunlop was responsible for founding the World Power Conference (today the World Energy Council), and played leading roles in the Theosophical Society and later the Anthroposophical Society. In his business life he pioneered a cooperative approach towards the emerging global economy. Meyer's compelling narrative of Dunlop's life begins on the Isle of Arran, where the motherless boy is brought up by his grandfather. In a landscape rich with prehistoric standing stones, the young Dunlop has formative spiritual experiences. When his grandfather dies, he struggles for material survival, but devotedly studies occult literature. The scene moves to Dublin, where Dunlop becomes a friend of W.B. Yeats and the poet-seer A.E., and develops an active interest in Madame Blavatsky's Theosophy. Arriving in London via New York, Dunlop is now a lecturer, writer and the editor of a monthly journal - but alongside his esoteric interests he rises to a foremost position in the British electrical industry, masterminding the first World Power Conference. Dunlop's life is to change forever through his meeting with Rudolf Steiner, which '...brought instant recognition'. He was immediately convinced that Steiner was '...the Knower, the Initiate, the bearer of the Spirit to his age'. Dunlop's close involvement with anthroposophy, leading to his eventual position as Chair of the British Society, is described in detail: from the momentous conferences in Penmaenmawr and Torquay to his transformative relationships with Eleanor Merry, W.J. Stein, Ita Wegman and Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz. Meyer features important material on the Anthroposophical Society's tragic split, that allows for a true evaluation of this difficult period in the organization's history. This second, enlarged edition features substantial additions of new material as well as an Afterword by Owen Barfield.

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Book SynopsisWhat happens when cataracts rob an art critic of his sight? John Berger, whose classic book Ways of Seeing has been in print for fifty years, joins forces with Turkish illustrator Selcuk Demirel to reflect on his own experience of loss of vision. 'John Berger writes about what is important, not just interesting. In contemporary English letters he seems to me peerless; not since Lawrence has there been a writer who offers such attentiveness to the sensual world.' Susan Sontag.Trade Review"First published in 2011, when Berger was 84, this book is a kind of late-life accompaniment to Berger’s Ways of Seeing, which remains for many the definitive guide to how to look at a work of art. In Cataract, Berger puts words to the simplest of human actions in a manner so, well, eye-opening that you’ll never, uh, see seeing the same way again." —Dan Kois, Slate

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Book SynopsisOsip Mandelstam visited Armenia in 1930, and during the eight months of his stay he rediscovered his poetic voice and was inspired to write an experimental meditation on the country and its ancient culture. 'Armenia brought him back to his true self, a self depending on the "inner ear" which could never play a poet false. There was everything congenial to him in this country of red and ochre landscape, ancient churches, and resonant pottery.' (Henry Gifford). Conversation about Dante, Mandelstam's incomparable apologia for poetic freedom and challenge to the Bolshevik establishment, was dictated by the poet to his wife, Nadezhda Mandelstam, in 1934-35, during the last phase of his itinerant life. It has close ties to the Journey.Trade Review“At once a travel narrative, an allegorical journey, a withering comment on State-Building, a humanist philosophy of life, a preparation for death and a prophecy of resurrection...Journey was the last piece Mandelstam saw published, and it takes its place among the outstanding masterpieces of twentieth-century literature.” —Bruce Chatwin

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Book SynopsisBallon d'Or winner. Champions League winner. Serie A winner. Captain of Ukraine at their first-ever World Cup. Andriy Shevchenko conquered the football world. His career featured some of the sport's greatest characters - from Valerij Lobanovsky, who shaped his early years at Dynamo Kyiv, to Carlo Ancelotti, Paolo Maldini, Andrea Pirlo and Kaka as part of a world-class Milan team. But Shevchenko's story transcends football. Growing up 150km from the Chernobyl disaster, witnessing the decline of the Soviet Union and its descent into lawlessness, the struggles of his beloved Ukraine to gain independence in 1991 - and then the agony of the Russian invasion of his homeland in 2022. This is a football and human story like no other.Trade Review"Highly recommended. Very entertaining, very interesting." - Gary Lineker "Shevchenko's book covers far more than football and is well worth a read." - Michael Cox, The Athletic

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Book SynopsisContrary to popular belief, ‘Fluxie’ did not enter the world on full opposite-lock, nor did he have a cigarette in one hand and a pint in the other. Destined to race, he never got the biggest breaks but he did become one of motorsport’s most colourful and best-loved characters, someone who has always lived life to the full. His autobiography tells it how it was, covering not only the highs — including five championship titles — but also the many setbacks. Along the way we laugh with him about much of it, particularly the pranks, but also learn about some dark times that he has never previously divulged. This is a very different kind of racing driver’s memoir. Key content • Early days: growing up on a farm, first kart aged 6, muddling through in the classroom, lots of laughs — but also sexual abuse from a schoolmaster and an early racing mentor. • The spark ignites: starting to race in 1970 with a Formula 6 kart, then onwards to Formula Vee; brushing shoulders with Formula 1 working for the Token and Graham Hill teams. • Grabbing the chances: a Formula Vee title in 1975 leads to Formula 3 and Formula Atlantic, but still with various jobs to make ends meet, including as mechanic to motorcycle racing legend Giacomo Agostini for his four-wheel efforts. • Diversifying into sports cars: successful adventures in Sports 2000 and Thundersports, winning championships in both, plus Thundersaloons. • A true all-rounder: going into the British Touring Car Championship from 1988 in a wide range of tin-tops; racing a Jaguar XJR-15 in the big-money 1991 series held at Grand Prix races, including Monaco. • Championship double in 1996: the ‘golden year’ in the TVR Tuscan Challenge and the British GT Championship, the latter with a McLaren F1 GTR. • So much else: racing on into recent times, notching up nearly 50 years on track; testing competition cars for Motorsport News; driver tuition and track-day demonstrations

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Book SynopsisIn a short life full of quiet endeavour, Will Purdom rose to become a key figure in China's struggle to repair the ecology and sustainability of it forests after decades of ruinous logging.

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Book Synopsis'Dan is a national treasure and one of America s great songwriters. Elvis Costello. 'Dan s songs were funny, serious, and entertaining, and the combo of old-timey folk, country, and jazz knocked me out. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons. 'Dan Hicks is like lightning in a bottle. Bette Midler. Dan Hicks didn t have his heart set on a career in music. It all just sort of happened to him. It didn t hurt, of course, that he was in the right place at the right time San Francisco, 1966 and had a front-row seat for the birth and death of the counterculture. Among other things, this is a classic story of the 60s. More importantly, it s a story of musical genius. By the time the Summer of Love limped to a close in the fall of 67, Hicks had quit the Charlatans the pioneering psych-rock band with whom he played the drums and turned to jazz, the music he d secretly loved all along, as he began building his own band, the Hot Licks. 'I just started taking ingredients I liked and putting them together to see what came out, Hicks writes. What came out was an amazing blend of complex time signatures, unusual instrumentation, and intricate vocal harmonies that took him to the top of the 70s rock world but also into a downward spiral of drink and drug abuse. Emerging from a long wilderness, which he writes about here with wit and candour, the man described by Tom Waits as 'fly, sly, wily, and dry eventually returned to recording and performing, making a number of acclaimed albums, including Beatin The Heat, a set of duets with Waits, Costello, Rickie Lee Jones, and more. Along the way, his music continued to subtly permeate the culture, turning up everywhere from The Sopranos to commercials for Levi s and Bic. Hicks passed away in early 2016, but his music, and the stories he tells here, remain as fresh and irresistible as ever. I Scare Myself takes readers on a journey behind the music, and into the life and mind of the fantastic artist who created it.

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Book Synopsis'An amazing story of one woman's journey through mental illness... So inspiring and proving once again that exercise changes lives' Mel SykesSuffering from depression but desperate for 'normality', Rachel Cullen found herself in failing relationships, the wrong career and a reliance on alcohol and chocolate to get her through each day. Stuck in an endless cycle of mental misery, she put on a pair of old trainers. She'd never been able to think of herself as a 'runner' before, and the first time she forced herself out the door, she knew it would hurt. Everywhere. She just didn't realise how much it would heal her, too. Interspersed with Rachel's real diary entries, from teenage non-runner to London Marathon finisher (just months after giving birth), she questions if she really can outrun her demons.Trade ReviewBrave and inspiring, Running For My Life moved me to tears. It also moved me into my trainers and out for a run! -- Ruth FieldA searingly honest account of Rachel's amazing journey from sedentary teenager, lacking in confidence and self-esteem, through to accomplished and inspirational member of the running community. She kept me engaged from start to finish, with plenty of laughs along the way, and I'd thoroughly recommend this book to runners everywhere. -- Tom Williams, Global COO of parkrun and co-host of the Marathon Talk podcastIt's so inspirational to read how Rachel's discovery of a passion for running helped her to overcome her mental health struggles. For Rachel, running became so much more than purely keeping fit. It became something which enabled her to fully conquer the battles of severe anxiety and self-doubt. It's heartwarming to learn how Rachel has been able to -- Jo Pavey, medal-winning long-distance runnerI love this book for showing how with sheer determination and dogged tenacity you can overcome great difficulties, and that sport, from whatever point or age that you start, can change your life. She might even persuade me that one day I too could love running. -- Louise Minchin, BBC journalist and presenterWritten wittily, honestly and with a "take no crap" attitude, I could feel the warmth of [Rachel] as a person in her writing. Anyone who is hungry for change, looking for "the light" or even running their first marathon and needing a little insight; this book is FOR YOU! I loved every chapter of this book. -- Lipstick & Trainers blogWhat a heartfelt, moving, honest journey of self-discovery... this is a book you have to pick up in 2018. Rachel is a natural writer... I was laughing out loud at times, feeling sad at others, but most of all I was rooting for her the whole way through. -- Sissi Reads blogA rich, colourful and brutally honest account of one woman's fight to beat her mental health demons. Written with candid details and dark humour this book is a journey about a quest to live life in the happiest and healthiest way possible - chronicling all the ups and downs, the good, the bad and the downright ugly along the way! -- The Very Pink Notebook blogFull of heart and beautifully told... inspirational, melancholy and often very funny, it's kind of a road map of the inner soul - I loved it. -- Liz Loves Books blogI thought Running For My Life was excellent... honest, interesting and encouraging. I recommend it... to those who simply want a fascinating, surprisingly entertaining and informative read. It's a super book. -- Linda's Book Bag blog

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times Number One BestsellerGary Barlow is one of the most successful British musicians and songwriters of all time, but fifteen years ago, as he himself admits, he hit rock bottom - he was out of shape, out of work and depressed. Faced with an underperforming solo career, tireless media taunts and the other cruel twists of fate, Gary turned to food. For nine years, he struggled with his weight and went on every diet imaginable before eventually asking a doctor what the 'cure' for obesity was. That was when he realised that he would have to change his life dramatically. So how did he go from an obese, out-of-work pop star to becoming a hugely successful superstar of music and TV, as well an accomplished musical songwriter and producer who is full of vitality, fitter, happier and more successful than ever before?In this extraordinarily honest memoir, Gary tells of his journey back to professional success, as well as mental and physical health. A Better Me is a remarkably frank account of Gary's life as he battled with his demons, endured personal tragedy, and staged one of the most thrilling professional comebacks in decades. In his warm, witty and authentic voice, Gary recounts his story with compelling insight, captivating sincerity and a human side that people rarely see.From returning with a critically and commercially successful Take That and reigniting his own legendary songwriting career, going beyond recorded music to forge success on TV with The X Factor and Let It Shine, to overcoming his weight problems and crippling obsession with food, this is the story of how Gary found balance in both his personal and professional life.Here is one of the UK's most beloved pop stars, more open, honest and raw than ever before.

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Book SynopsisFrom his home in the Cairngorms of Scotland, in There’s Always the Hills Cameron McNeish reflects on a life dedicated to the outdoors. A prolific author, McNeish has led treks in the Himalayas and Syria, edited The Great Outdoors magazine, establishing it as Britain’s premier walking publication, created new long-distance walks and made television series, contributed a monthly column to Scots Magazine, campaigned for Scottish independence and raised a family with his wife, Gina. In this long-awaited autobiography, he candidly recalls the ups and downs of a full life, much of it in the public eye, much of it until now unseen.Trade Review‘There’s Always the Hills flows like a friendly conversation, shared over three or four single malts, and develops into an engaging tale...’ * The Great Outdoors Magazine *‘A gifted storyteller, he peels back the layers of his life and offers a personal and emotional look behind the scenes of his success. This is a great read for anyone who enjoys our great outdoors and the wealth of tales that can be told about it - it's both one man's story and a candid, absorbing account for those with an interest in Scotland's awe-inspiring wildlife.’ * Rachel Scorgie, The Courier *‘There’s Always the Hills is a sure-fire hit. The author’s eye for minor details and honest accounts of his experiences, bring his anecdotes to life.’ * Scottish Field *‘Cameron McNeish's autobiography is everything we hoped it would be, and a "must buy" for anyone who's ever felt the pull of Scotland's mountains. ’ * Undiscovered Scotland *‘Cameron is a born raconteur and his book flows easily, being both informative and full of interest.’ * Helen Todd, Walk Magazine *‘There's Always the Hills is an inspiring story of a life well lived. Or, at least, the first installment.’ * Roger Cox, Scotland on Sunday *‘A vivid travelogue through the breathtaking vistas, towering peaks and rugged islands of Scotland and a tribute to the warmth and hospitality of the Scots people... McNeish's encyclopaedic knowledge of the lochs and glens, Highlands and islands, the bealachs and coires and the myriad myths and legends that reside therein is unrivalled.’ * BBC Countryfile Magazine *

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Book SynopsisIntroduced by Farindokht Zahedi, Associate Professor, College of Fine Arts / Theater / Faculty of Performing Arts and Music, University of Tehran. Editors Aubrey Mellor and Cheryl Robson. A wide-ranging collection of plays from new and established voices from today's Iran and the global Iranian diaspora. Plays cover life in contemporary Iran, the hopes of women finding new ways to assert their individuality in a time of great of upheaval, the lives of those trapped in a migrant camp and the need to challenge stereotypical views. The plays shine a light on a rapidly changing Iran, one that is vastly different from the misconceptions outsiders have of it. Includes: A Moment of Silence by Mohammad Yaghoubi - (Iran) Home by Naghmeh Samini - (Iran) Shame by Sholeh Wolpe -(Iran-USA) Manus by Leila Hekmatnia (Iran), Keyvan Sarreshteh (Iran), Nazanin Sahamizadeh (Australia) Isfahan Blues Torange Yeghiazarian - (Iran-USA) Editors: Aubrey Mellor Aubrey is a leading Australian Theatre Director. Currently Senior Fellow at LASALLE, in Singapore, he was the first Australian to study Asian writing. Formerly Director of the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), he is well-known as an acting teacher to a generation of acclaimed Australian actors. He has directed for all major companies, commissioned and premiered plays by Australia's leading playwrights and is a leading proponent of new Australian writing. Aubrey founded several writing awards for playwrights and is an advisor to arts bodies including the Performing Arts Board of The Australia Council and The Australian National Playwright's Conference. Awards include the OAM in 1992, the Australian Writer's Guild's Dorothy Crawford Award for services to Playwriting and the International Theatre Institute's Uchimura Prize for best production, Tokyo International Festival. Cheryl Robson Cheryl has edited several collections of international drama. After studying drama at Bristol University, she worked for the BBC and as a film lecturer. She founded the Virginia Prize for Fiction in 2009 in the UK. She is an award-winning playwright who has received Arts Council UK commission and option awards and had several plays produced. She ran a theatre company for several years in London, developing and producing international plays by women. She has won numerous awards for her filmmaking and was recently named a finalist in the ITV National Diversity awards - Lifetime Achievement. .Trade Review“I was drawn to the characters. A Moment of Silence made me think about life, art, and freedom of expression.” – Mooney on Theatre; “Isfahan Blues is presented as a memory play…[and] this is a play that knows how to have fun with itself.” – Bay Area Reportero; “Manus, however, for all its pain, hums with vital life – not least the power, good and bad, of storytelling.” – The Guardian; The soggy wetness is a metaphor for the state of mind of detainees at Manus Island, whose real-life stories of oppression are told verbatim in this production by Iranian playwrights Leila Hekmatnia and Keyvan Sarreshteh. It also, however, has a more literal meaning: representing how these “boat people” tried to reach Australia and a new life: by floating on – and sometimes drowning in – water." - The Guardian.

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Book SynopsisA treasure trove of the most exciting tales of adventure afloat: from mountainous seas to a tropical paradise; from the majestic square rigger to the humble homemade yacht. The exploits of sailing's greatest names are recounted, along with an eclectic mix of voyages that never made the headlines yet make compelling reading. Now back in hardback.

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Book SynopsisThe remarkable autobiography of a Holocaust escapee. "Go on, my son. Maybe you will survive..." Aron Goldfarb was fifteen years old when he was ripped from his bed in Poland and forced to enter a Jewish work camp. Watching helplessly as Nazis murdered his friends and family, he and his brother, Abe, made their courageous escape after hearing rumours of fellow prisoners being executed in gas chambers. With astonishing bravery and an unshakeable will to survive, the brothers hid together in underground holes on an estate controlled by the Gestapo. In this moving testament to the strength of human endurance and the power of relationships, co-written with acclaimed author Graham Diamond, Goldfarb tells his unbelievable true tale at long last. Vivid, compelling and frequently harrowing, Maybe You Will Survive is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the human condition. Marking seventy-five years since the end of the Holocaust and Aron's liberation, this edition includes a foreword his from sons, Morris and Ira.

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Book Synopsis"Veteran wine books are by modern standards short on facts." — Decanter Magazine "This is an inspirational book well worth your time." — Eric Asimov on Instagram "If you want to learn about wine, switch off your phone, buy these two books and enjoy them with a nice glass of something." — The Critic "This is a don’t-miss book for people who plan their travels around vineyards." — Washington Post "This is one of the best books on wine ever written." — Sommelier India In this unique approach to understanding wine, Hugh Johnson, the world’s best-loved wine author, weaves the story of his own epic wine journey with an embracing view of everything he has discovered along the way. Almost without realising it, the reader is drawn into a fascinating world; with each page turned, knowledge is gained and wine wisdom absorbed. Hugh takes us from the teetering ledges of the Mosel and majestic châteaux of the Médoc to the sylvan slopes of Windsor Great Park with a spring in his step and a tasting glass at the ready. No one writes so infectiously on every aspect of wine, whether human or cultural, technical or historical. This book is peppered with anecdotes and personal recollections, infused with the sheer delight Hugh finds in his subject. It is a book with a story to tell and a mastery of wine to impart. Previously published as Wine, A Life Uncorked 2005, now updated with new chapters.Trade Review"Veteran wine books are by modern standards short on facts." - Decanter Magazine"This is an inspirational book well worth your time." - Eric Asimov, Instagram"...he learnt early how to write with an easy, flowing (sometimes flowery, but always precise) style that’s a joy to read." - Club Enologique"This is a new edition of Johnson’s “memoir written with a corkscrew”. It has been “modestly edited and gently updated,” as Eric Asimov writes in the Foreword, and Johnson’s lucid, evocative prose shines as brightly as ever." - Falstaff"If you want to learn about wine, switch off your phone, buy these two books and enjoy them with a nice glass of something." - The Critic"This is a don’t-miss book for people who plan their travels around vineyards." - Washington Post"It is an absolute joy to read Johnson’s writing. It’s not only that he is exquisitely articulate, playing words as a maestro violinist might play Bach’s Chaconne. It is that he finds so much joy in wine. He is an incurable romantic, an optimist, infectiously enthusiastic, infinitely curious." - Tamlyn Currin, Jancis RobinsonA Decanter best wine book of the year 2022: "Two new chapters – on digestifs and sparkling wines – make it compulsory purchase, even for owners of the previous edition." - Decanter"This is one of the best books on wine ever written." - Sommelier India"Hugh Johnson said recently that his career happened more or less accidentally. The Life and Wines of Hugh Johnson... is his memoirs but framed as a voyage around his cellar, the cellar being that at Saling Hall, the house he bought in 1970." - The World of Fine WineTable of ContentsForeword Preface Part One - Prospects Part Two - Bubbly Part Three - White Part Four - Red Part Five - Sweet Part Six - Digestif Index

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Book Synopsis"An entrancing companion for wine lovers. Celebratory, discerning writing with all the variety and unexpectedness of the wines explored." — Michèle Roberts, author and Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia "This book is about feeling, tasting and describing the beauty of wine, as well as understanding the intensity of emotion that wine can engender." — Decanter Magazine "So precise and dancing, so chiselled and so free, as complex and delicious as your favourite bottle of wine, you will enjoy the world of wine differently after reading through Jefford’s words." — Pascaline Lepeltier on Instagram “A new sort of literary gumption arrived on the scene with Andrew Jefford; a powerful blend of science and poetry. Here is a writer who does his interviews, delves deep into motives and methods, and then lets fly with whatever imagery he finds winging by.” Hugh Johnson (2019) Poet, philosopher, author, radio presenter and journalist, Andrew Jefford lives in France; but buried deep in one wine country what does he miss most about the rest? The answer: “Drinking young port. It’s the wine drinker’s equivalent of zorbing, wing-walking, base-jumping … you won’t fully understand it unless you have tasted it young, in its ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ stage, when it comes hurtling out of the glass and puts the screamers on you...” Andrew is the ideal companion for anyone wine-curious. In this collection of his essays, opinions and articles he shares his fascinating observations from half a century of discovery. For Andrew, wine should be listened to and admired, wherever it comes from; old-school pretentions turned on their head; style-points disdained; stellar prices dismissed; questions asked...Trade Review"An entrancing companion for wine lovers. Celebratory, discerning writing with all the variety and unexpectedness of the wines explored." - Michèle Roberts, Author and Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia"This book is about feeling, tasting and describing the beauty of wine, as well as understanding the intensity of emotion that wine can engender." - Decanter Magazine"…indispensible book in which the formidable strengths of this writer are on full display." - Terry Theise"So precise and dancing, so chiseled and so free, as complex and delicious as your favorite bottle of wine, you will enjoy the world of wine differently after reading through Jefford’s words." - Pascaline Lepeltier, Instagram"Reading through Drinking with the Valkyries — the title refers to the experience of drinking young vintage port — it struck me that Jefford is a throwback to a less specialised age." - The Critic"But while Jefford’s lyrical, almost literary language is his calling card, I’ve long found the most impressive element of his writing to be the rigour." - Club O Enologique"Jefford’s essays are like that glass of wine at day’s end — restorative, uplifting and enlightening. You may want to read another before putting down the bottle — I mean, the book." - Washington Post"…the standout read has to be the recently published Drinking With The Valkyries, the writings, thoughts, and wine philosophy of Andrew Jefford." - The Irish Sun"I open Jefford’s books to skim through and find myself drawn in." - The Telegraph"He writes so beautifully." - Kylie Minogue, The Guardian"If there was a single wine book that Tam would beg wine lovers to buy in 2022, it would be this one." - Tamlyn Currin"Andrew Jefford is the wine writer’s wine writer. To read his words is to be drawn far away from the everyday world of professional wine-tasting." - Falstaff"His prose is poised and purposeful, each word carefully considered yet never weighed down by pointed effort. He is a rarity in the world of wine: a writer whose (main) topic happens to be wine." - Fine+Rare"Jefford consistently unearths and illuminates ways of looking at wine that continually deepen my appreciation and passion for the subject. I can assure you, if you love wine, this book will do the same for you." - vinography"… devoted to the pleasure of wine, the experiences and all the reasons you are interested in the subject." - Yorkshire Post"This current volume is a collection of essays culled from the period 2007 to 2022 and it is safe to say that Jefford hasn't lost his touch." - Sommelier India"Jefford consistently unearths and illuminates ways of looking at wine that continually deepen my appreciation and passion for the subject. I can assure you, if you love wine, this book will do the same for you." - vinography"… devoted to the pleasure of wine, the experiences and all the reasons you are interested in the subject." - Yorkshire Post"In a candid and wide-ranging interview to mark the publication of his superb new book Drinking with the Valkyries, WFW contributing editor Andrew Jefford looks back over his distinguished career, opening up about the art and craft of (wine) writing, his abiding love of wine, and his hopes and fears for its future." - The World of Fine Wine"This is, instead, all about eloquent, open-minded, and generously inclusive wine appreciation: We’re all invited, and reminded how much there is to enjoy." - Wine Conversation"One of the great pleasures of Andrew's writing, and of this volume, is the great variety of pace, dynamics, tempo, and tone between his pieces." - The World of Fine WineTable of ContentsForeword, Preface, Chapter One: Origins, Chapter Two: Some Soils, Some Skies, Chapter Three: Taste and Tasting, Chapter Four: Some Beautiful Wines, Chapter Five: A Tea Break, Chapter Six: Interrogations and Impieties, Chapter Seven: Wine Shadows, Chapter Eight: Wine in a Life, Chapter Nine: Against Wine Worldliness, Chapter Ten: Three Last Wines, Glossary, Chronology, Index

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Book Synopsis"From a historical point of point, the book is fascinating... From a literary point of view, it’s eloquent ... If you’re a Bordeaux wine collector with deep pockets and a large cellar, it’s invaluable." —Tamlyn Currin, Jancis Robinson "Associations and societies such as the Bordeaux Club are the very acme of civilization. Botticelli and Bach were engaged in the eternal quest for truth and beauty in painting and music, and the Bordeaux Club did the same for viniculture." — Andrew Roberts "For lovers of claret - indeed, all wine - this can only be described as a drool-inducing book." — World of Fine Wine The story of 12 friends who gathered to share and celebrate the extraordinary wines of Bordeaux. Like-minded in their love of wine, they differed wildly (often alarmingly!) in their personal wealth, life and circumstances – their opinions, always voiced, had the power to ignite anger and divide friendships just as easily as they bound them together. Neil McKendrick, member and minute-taker for 57 of the Club’s 70 extraordinary years, weaves the tale of this convivial group with the rigour of a Cambridge academic (he is ex-Master of Gonville and Caius) and the humour of a born raconteur. Alongside the likes of Hugh Johnson, Steven Spurrier and Michael Broadbent, he celebrates the beauty of top-class Bordeaux and the splendour of each setting – from glorious country park to rickety Dickensian boardroom – in which these men were lucky enough to dine, serving up memories of vintages the like of which we will never see again.Trade Review"From a historical point of point, the book is fascinating... From a literary point of view, it’s eloquent ... If you’re a bordeaux wine collector with deep pockets and a large cellar, it’s invaluable." - Tamlyn Currin, Jancis Robinson"Written by historian Neil McKendrick, this is the true story of a group of male friends – including wine writers Hugh Johnson, Steven Spurrier and Michael Broadbent, and Neil himself – united by their love of claret." - Decanter"...a quite remarkable book... For students of this period and for future historians, this will be essential reading." - World of Fine Wine"For lovers of claret - indeed, all wine - this can only be described as a drool-inducing book." - World of Fine Wine

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Book SynopsisBeing paid to explore sounded like a dream job. From Norway to Madagascar, by campervan, taxi, boat and small plane, Amelia Dalton hunted down remote archipelagos, deserted beaches and tiny local museums to create expedition holidays with a difference. On the way she was abandoned on an unpopulated island and escaped a hotel fire – and worse. Pages from my Passport is a memoir of adventures, disasters and occasional triumphs, all infused with Amelia’s unquenchable enthusiasm.Trade Review‘Colourful, honest, and often amusing. Great fun.’ * Alexander McCall Smith *‘Magical... Amelia Dalton is the Indiana Jones of small, glamorous cruise ships.’ * Lee Durrell *

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Book SynopsisIn January 2020, leading epidemiologist Professor Mark Woolhouse learned of a new virus taking hold in China. He immediately foresaw a hard road ahead for the entire world, and emailed the Chief Medical Officer of Scotland warning that the UK should urgently begin preparations. A few days later he received a polite reply stating only that everything was under control. In this astonishing account, Mark Woolhouse shares his story as an insider, having served on advisory groups to both the Scottish and UK governments. He reveals the disregarded advice, frustration of dealing with politicians, and the missteps that led to the deaths of vulnerable people, damage to livelihoods and the disruption of education. He explains the follies of lockdown and sets out the alternatives. Finally, he warns that when the next pandemic comes, we must not dither and we must not panic; never again should we make a global crisis even worse. The Year the World Went Mad puts our recent, devastating, history in a completely new light.Trade Review ‘So many issues clarified and insights eloquently expressed. This will be an essential book.’‘A unique record of the pandemic year by an insider.’‘Vital reading for understanding where we’re currently at.’ * Stylist *Fascinating * The Times *Devastating * The Sunday Telegraph *A glorious example of great science communication. * Science Media Centre *A compelling read, comprehensively laying out the case against lockdowns alongside clear explanations of basic epidemiological concepts, and fresh insights from the front line of scientific advice during the pandemic. * The Scotsman *A confronting and fascinating look at the UK’s mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic * Monocle *

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Book SynopsisMy Palestine is a poignant personal memoir and an incisive political and economic commentary on the tumultuous events that have shaped the history of Palestine, Israel and the modern Middle East.

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Book SynopsisIntertitles is an anthology of work situated at the intersection of writing and the visual arts. The anthology aims to explore their confluence and is conceived in response to a twofold observation: the increased presence of written, spoken and performed language in the work of visual artists and the simultaneous increase in visibility and circulation of the work and voices of writers in the visual arts arena.Bringing together a substantial and significant collection of work, the anthology recognises that both writers and artists are attracted to the possibilities of language as a material. Through essays, performance texts, scores, poetry and more, Intertitles plots a course through contemporary writing practices and lends perspective to the question of why this might be of particular interest at this moment in time.In art as in poetry, meaning is made in the very conditions of the encounter itself. The knowledge produced is not instructive or strictly informational but subjective and relational. Artists build the worlds that viewers may inhabit temporarily in the moment of their becoming. The physicality of these temporary utopias, however, is frequently realised in the contested spaces of our museums and galleries. This anthology asks if poetry, and the world it is capable of building outside of these normative structures, is poised to be the most constitutive form of all. Putting poetry into the social milieu, as a shared goal of artists and writers, might be understood as a gesture towards a truly radical reimagining.

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Book SynopsisGeorge Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. Politics vs. Literature, the fourth in the Orwell’s Essays series, is, at heart, a review of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Having been given a copy of the book on his eighth birthday, Orwell knows it inside out, and thinks highly of it; it is ‘pessimistic’, though, he says – ‘it descends into political partisanship of a narrow kind,’ designed to ‘humiliate man by reminding him that he is weak and ridiculous.’ Using the book as an example of enjoying a book whose author one cannot stand, Orwell goes on to say that he considers Gulliver’s Travels a work of art, leaving the reader to reconsider the books on their own shelves.Trade Review'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' Irish TimesTable of ContentsPolitics vs. Literature, Note on the Text, Notes, A Brief Biographical Sketch of George Orwell

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