Biography Books

Book Synopsis28 January 1457. England is in the grip of the Wars of the Roses. Inside the walls of Pembroke Castle a thirteen-year-old girl gives birth to a boy. The ordeal nearly kills them both, forging a powerful bond that will see mother and son work together to found the most famous dynasty in British history: the Tudors.___________‘A compelling portrayal of a woman of extraordinary courage, vision and passion. A must read.’ – Tracy Borman‘A pacy narrative, written with a clear love for and detailed knowledge of her subject.’ – Spectator ___________As the battle for royal supremacy raged between the houses of Lancaster and York, Margaret Beaufort, who was descended from Edward III and proved to be a critical threat to the Yorkist cause, was forced to give up her son – she would be separated from him for fourteen years. Surrounded by conspiracies in the enemy Yorkist court, Margaret remained steadfast, only just escaping the headman’s axe as she plotted to overthrow Richard III and secure her son the throne. Against all odds, in 1485 Henry Tudor was victorious on the battlefield at Bosworth. Margaret’s unceasing efforts and royal blood saw her son crowned King Henry VII, and Margaret became the most powerful woman in England.Nicola Tallis unmasks the many myths that have attached themselves to Margaret and reveals the real woman: an independent and vibrant character, who would risk everything to become Queen in all but name.Trade ReviewA compelling portrayal of a woman of extraordinary courage, vision and passion. A must read. -- Tracy BormanStunning – informed, assured and compulsively readable. -- Sarah GristwoodA pacy narrative, written with a clear love for and detailed knowledge of her subject. * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisHave you ever felt unheard by your doctor? Been frustrated that they haven''t understood your symptoms, that they have neglected your concerns?When Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan was admitted to hospital as a patient she didn''t receive the pain medication that she told them she needed, despite her being a senior doctor. It was in that moment she understood that something was deeply wrong with our healthcare system. Doctors aren''t listening, and it is making us ill.In Unheard, Dr Dhairyawan takes us on a journey through history to show how not listening to patients has been ingrained in medicine from its inception. Western medicine has been built on the assumption that power should always lie with the doctor, and that patients should be powerless to decisions made about their body if it is done to make them well. This, alongside the prejudices of society, has led to dramatic gaps in medical knowledge because for centuries people have not been heard.

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Book SynopsisJosephine Baker (Author) Josephine Baker was born in 1906, in St Louis, Missouri. After performing in New York during the Harlem Renaissance as a teenager, she sailed to Paris in 1925 at the age of 19. She became a star there during the 20s, achieving international celebrity. In 1927 she became the first black woman to star in a major motion picture.When the Second World War broke out Baker joined the French intelligence agency and was awarded for her bravery. During the 50s and 60s she became involved in the civil rights movement - in 1963 she spoke at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King. In later life she adopted twelve children. Baker died in 1975.Anam Zafar (Translator)Anam Zafar is a UK-based translator from Arabic and French to English. She is the winner of a PEN Translates award, the Gulf Coast Prize in Translation and the Stinging Fly New Translator's Bursary.Sophie Lewis (Translator) Sophie Lewis translates from French and Portuguese. She has translated books by Stendhal, Marcel Aymé, Violette Leduc, Leïla Slimani, Noémi Lefebvre and Nastassja Martin, as well as Patrícia Melo, Victor Heringer and Sheyla Smanioto.

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Book SynopsisBorn in Oldham and known affectionately as 'Sir Kev', Kevin Sinfield retired in 2016 as an idol of the Leeds Rhinos' golden years and as a former England captain. Sinfield won seven Super League titles, three World Cup Challenges and two Challenge Cups in 521 matches for his club. From 2003 he captained a side that exemplified the best of his sport. Sinfield became the first rugby league player to be nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, finishing in second place behind Andy Murray in 2015.But his career on the pitch is only part of the story. Alongside Sinfield was a small but indomitable scrum-half, Rob Burrow. As Rob's health has tragically declined in recent years due to Motor neurone disease (MND), Sinfield has set himself a series of extraordinary endurance challenges, including running seven ultra marathons in seven days and over 100 miles in a single day, that have raised awareness and millions of pounds for the cause of MND. In the process, Sin

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Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, SPECTATOR, FINANCIAL TIMES, GUARDIAN, BBC HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR''This is the biography we have been awaiting for 400 years'' Hilary Mantel''A masterpiece'' Dan Jones, Sunday TimesThomas Cromwell is one of the most famous - or notorious - figures in English history. Born in obscurity in Putney, he became a fixer for Cardinal Wolsey in the 1520s. After Wolsey''s fall, Henry VIII promoted him to a series of ever greater offices, and by the end of the 1530s he was effectively running the country for the King. That decade was one of the most momentous in English history: it saw a religious break with the Pope, unprecedented use of parliament, the dissolution of all monasteries. Cromwell was central to all this, but establishing his role with precision, at a distance of nearly five centuries and after the destruction of many of his papers at his own fall, has been notoriously difficult.Diarmaid MacCulloch''s biography is much the most complete and persuasive life ever written of this elusive figure, a masterclass in historical detective work, making connections not previously seen. It overturns many received interpretations, for example that Cromwell was a cynical, ''secular'' politician without deep-felt religious commitment, or that he and Anne Boleyn were allies because of their common religious sympathies - in fact he destroyed her. It introduces the many different personalities of these foundational years, all conscious of the ''terrifyingly unpredictable'' Henry VIII. MacCulloch allows readers to feel that they are immersed in all this, that it is going on around them.For a time, the self-made ''ruffian'' (as he described himself) - ruthless, adept in the exercise of power, quietly determined in religious revolution - was master of events. MacCulloch''s biography for the first time reveals his true place in the making of modern England and Ireland, for good and ill.Trade ReviewSir Diarmaid MacCulloch is one of finest historians in the English-speaking world and preeminent in the area of the English Reformation. He has combined his expertise in 16th-century history with a compelling literary style in his latest book ... the definitive work on Henry VIII's great minister and an extraordinary insight into the politics and religion of the age, and of any age for that matter. Thomas Cromwell's somewhat dark reputation was given a new and bright shine by Hilary Mantel in the Wolf Hall trilogy and this life takes us from the fictional into the authentic; its triumph is that it is just as thrilling and equally stimulating and challenging. A profoundly important book. -- Rev. Michael Coren * Spectator *Meticulous and magisterial ... If this is not the definitive biography, I don't know what that would look like -- Peter Marshall * Literary Review *Triumphant and definitive ... a masterpiece of documentary detective-work, which buzzes with the excitement of a great historian immersed in archives -- Dan Jones * Sunday Times *A model of classical historical biography at its finest -- Rowan Williams * New Statesman *The definitive biography ... exhaustively researched and superbly written -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times (Books of the Year) *The Tudor minister brought to fictional life in Wolf Hall is given a definitive scholarly treatment in this long-awaited, masterful, wry biography -- Simon Heffer * Daily Telegraph (Books of the Year) *

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Book SynopsisAs a literary subject, Christmas has inspired everything from intimate domestic dramas, to fanciful flights of the imagination, and the full range of its expression is represented in this wonderfully engaging collection. Goblins frolic in the graveyard of an early Dickens tale; a love-struck ghost disrupts a country estate in Elizabeth Bowen's 'Green Holly'; devils, witches, Cossacks and peasants cavort in Gogol's 'The Night Before Christmas'. The plight of the less fortunate haunts Chekhov's 'Vanka' and Willa Cather's 'The Burglar's Christmas', but takes a boisterously comic turn in Damon Runyon's 'Dancing Dan's Christmas' and John Cheever's 'Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor'. From Nabokov's intensely moving story of a father's grief in 'Christmas' to Truman Capote's hilarious yet heartbreaking 'A Christmas Memory', from Grace Paley's Jewish girl in the Christmas pageant in 'The Loudest Voice' to the dysfunctional family ski holiday in Richard Ford's 'Creche' - each of the stories is imbued with Christmas spirit of one kind or another, and all are richly and indelibly entertaining.

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Book SynopsisA nostalgic, warm-hearted memoir from one of the producers of the cult-hit TV show Father Ted.''What a treat - it brought the whole experience flooding back. A feast for fans of the show or indeed anyone interested in the creative chaos of making television'' Graham NortonThree decades after it first appeared on screen, Father Ted is still cherished, quoted and endlessly re-watched. Its beloved main characters, unforgettable lines and extraordinary visual jokes have given birth to a thousand gifs and t-shirts and a million catchphrases.Unforgettable to watch, it was also unforgettable to work on. Lissa Evans, as producer of the second and third series, spent three years hovering anxiously over every moment, from the first glimpse of script to the last revolution of a runaway milk-float round a specially-built plywood roundabout. There was no average Father Ted episode' each of them was stuffed with challenges; endless rain, lustful rabbits, clerics crashing through windows, sheep doubles, collapsing crosses and a never-ending stream of eccentric priests and the work that went into its creation was often nearly as bizarre as what was happening on screen.Picnic on Craggy Island is a hugely affectionate and anecdotal account of what lay behind some of those moments of comic genius so pull on your kagoule, spread out your blanket, unwrap the sandwiches (they're all egg) and enjoy the picnic

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Book SynopsisSudhir Venkatesh the young sociologist who became famous in Freakonomics (Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?) describes his time living with the gangs on the Southside of Chicago and answers another question: what''s it like to live in hell?In the Robert Taylor Homes projects on Chicago''s South Side, Sudhir befriends J.T., a gang leader for the Black Kings. As he slowly gains J.T.''s trust, one day, in order to convince Sudhir of his own CEO-like qualities, J.T. makes him leader of the gang... Why does J.T. make his henchmen, the ''shorties'', stay in school? What is the difference between a ''regular'' hustler and a ''hype'' - and is Peanut telling him the truth about which she is? And, when the FBI finally starts cracking down on the Black Kings, is it time to get out - or is it too late?Trade Review'A rollicking read ! a vivid insight into gang culture' The Times 'Darkly entertaining ! an absorbing and self-effacing odyssey' The Guardian 'An absolutely incredible book ... equal parts comedy and tragedy ... I promise you will not be able to put it down' - Steven D. Levitt, co-author, Freakonomics

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.

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Book Synopsis'A vital book for our times' ROBERT MACFARLANE'Unflinching, complex, provocative' NIKESH SHUKLA'A work of astonishing, insistent importance' ObserverAged eight, Dina Nayeri fled Iran along with her mother and brother, and lived in the crumbling shell of an Italian hotel-turned-refugee camp. Eventually she was granted asylum in America. Now, Nayeri weaves together her own vivid story with those of other asylum seekers in recent years. In these pages, women gather to prepare the noodles that remind them of home, a closeted queer man tries to make his case truthfully as he seeks asylum and a translator attempts to help new arrivals present their stories to officials. Surprising and provocative, The Ungrateful Refugee recalibrates the conversation around the refugee experience. Here are the real human stories of what it is like to be forced to flee your home, and to journey across borders in the hope of starting afresh.Trade ReviewDina Nayeri has written a vital book for our times. The Ungrateful Refugee gives voice to those whose stories are too often lost or suppressed. Braiding memoir, reportage and essayism, Nayeri allows those fortunate enough to have never been stateless or displaced to glimpse something of the hardships and subtleties of the refugee experience. Written with compassion, tenderness and a burning anger, her book appears at the end of a decade in which division and dislocation have risen to a terrible pitch. It speaks powerfully from - and to - the heart. Please read it -- ROBERT MACFARLANEA work of astonishing, insistent importance . . . This is a book full of revelatory truths, moments where we are plunged deeply and painfully into the quotidian experience of the refugee * * Observer * *This is a humane and compelling book that seeks to make human those demonised by the media and governing bodies for so long. Nayeri is never sentimental and her accounts of refugee lives, including her own, are unflinching, complex, provocative and important -- NIKESH SHUKLADina Nayeri's powerful writing confronts issues that are key to the refugee experience -- VIET THANH NGUYENA thoughtful investigation . . . This wide-ranging, reasoned book is no polemic: its observations are self-reflective, contemplative and significant * * Financial Times * *Nayeri combines her own experience with those of refugees she meets as an adult, telling their stories with tenderness and reverence * * New York Times * *A remarkable book, whose evocative stories are deftly woven into a powerful tapestry, with lessons for us all. Anybody interested in the refugee experience will learn from Dina Nayeri's book. As for policymakers: The Ungrateful Refugee should be compulsory reading if they are to regain or retain a sense of humanity -- STEVE CRAWSHAW, Policy Director, Freedom from Torture, former London Director of Human Rights WatchCogent and persuasive . . . provoking and enlightening * * Bookmunch * *With her own experience to guide her, she talks to present-day refugees in camps in Greece, weaving her own story into the tales of hardship she hears . . . Nayeri presents their stories sensitively and respectfully * * Herald * *

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Book Synopsis**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**A humane, hilarious and heart-breaking window into the world of psychiatry from the Adam Kay of mental healthcare' (THE TIMES) 'Very funny and deeply sympathetic. Really excellent' HENRY MARSH'This is honestly my dream book. Both fascinating and bleakly funny' FERN BRADYHonest, funny, saddening and uplifting all rolled into one' JO BRANDA woman in a wedding dress arrives at the hospital looking for Harry Styles. A lorry driver with schizophrenia believes he's got a cure for coronavirus. A depressed man hides his profession from his GP due to stigma. Most of the psychiatric cases in this book are his patients. Some of them are family. One of them is him. Unlocking the doors to the psych ward, NHS psychiatrist Dr Benji Waterhouse provides a fly-on-the-padded-wall account of medicine's most mysterious and controversial speciality. Why would anyone in their right mind choose to be a psychiatrist? Are the solutions to people's messy lives really within medical school textbooks? And how can vulnerable patients receive the care they need when psychiatry lacks staff, hospital beds and any actual cures?You Don't Have to Be Mad to Work Here explores these complicated questions from both sides of the doctor's desk. This is the perfect read for fans of This Is Going to Hurt, Unnatural Causes and The Prison Doctor. Instant Sunday Times bestseller, May 2024

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Book SynopsisDiscover the exhilarating true story of Ernest Shackleton''s legendary Antarctic expeditionTold through the words of the world''s greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes - one of the only men to understand his experience first-hand . . .''For anyone with a passion for polar exploration, this is a must read'' NEW YORK TIMES''THE definitive book on Shackleton and no one could have done it better . . . an authentic account by one of the few men who truly knows what it''s like to challenge Antarctica'' LORRAINE KELLY_________In 1915, Sir Ernest Shackleton''s attempt to be the first to traverse the Antarctic was cut short when his ship, Endurance, became trapped in ice.He and his crew should have died.Instead, through a long, dark winter, Shackleton fought back: enduring sub-zero temperatures, a perilous lifeboat journey across icy seas, and a murderous march over glaciers to seek help.Trade ReviewAn insider's look into a very select club ... Fiennes' personal asides help to explain the unfathomable - such as how and why humans could and, more inexplicably, would persist with moving their tortured bodies across tortured landscapes in such extreme cold ... For anyone with a passion for polar exploration, this is a must read. * New York Times *THE definitive book on my hero Shackleton and no one could have done it better. "The Boss" would have heartily approved of such an authentic account by one of the few men who truly knows what it's like to challenge Antarctica -- Lorraine KellyFiennes makes a fine guide on voyage into Shackleton's world . . . What makes this book so engaging is the author's own storytelling skills -- Lorna Siggins * Irish Independent *With first-hand experience of polar expeditions, Fiennes relates these tales of exploration and survival, adding insight to Shackleton's journeys unlike any other biographer * Radio Times *An insider's look into a very select club . . . Fiennes' personal asides help to explain the unfathomable - such as how and why humans could and, more inexplicably, would persist with moving their tortured bodies across tortured landscapes in such extreme cold . . . For anyone with a passion for polar exploration, this is a must read * New York Times *Fiennes brings the promised perspective of one who has been there, illuminating Shackleton's actions by comparing them with his own. Beginners to the Heroic Age will enjoy this volume, as will serious polar adventurers seeking advice. For all readers, it's a tremendous story -- Sara Wheeler * The Wall Street Journal *Praise for Ranulph Fiennes' Captain Scott * - *Fiennes' own experiences certainly allow him to write vividly and with empathy of the hell that the men went through. * The Sunday Times *A valuable corrective to the trend of Scott debunking...One by one, and with the commendable attention to detail, Fiennes explodes the accumulated myths. * Sunday Telegraph *Sir Ranulph Fiennes has done Captain Scott's memory some service...he has certainly written a more dispassionate and balanced account than Huntford ever set out to do. -- Simon Courtauld * Spectator *Full of awe-inspiring details of hardship, resolve and weather that defies belief, told by someone of unique authority. No one is more tailor-made to tell [this] story than Sir Ranulph Fiennes * Newsday *

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Book SynopsisNapoleon is an out-and-out masterpiece and a joy to read' Sir Antony Beevor, author of StalingradA landmark new biography that presents the man behind the many myths. The first writer in English to go back to the original European sources, Adam Zamoyski's portrait of Napoleon is historical biography at its finest.Napoleon inspires passionately held and often conflicting visions. Was he a god-like genius, Romantic avatar, megalomaniac monster, compulsive warmonger or just a nasty little dictator?While he displayed elements of these traits at certain times, Napoleon was none of these things. He was a man and, as Adam Zamoyski presents him in this landmark biography, a rather ordinary one at that. He exhibited some extraordinary qualities during some phases of his life but it is hard to credit genius to a general who presided over the worst (and self-inflicted) disaster in military history and who single-handedly destroyed the great enterprise he and others had toiled so hard to constructTrade Review'A pacy and characteristically unintimidated picture of how and why Napoleon achieved what he did and then succeeded in screwing it all up …. 600 pages of narrative history will seldom pass so easily' David Crane, Spectator 'Adam Zamoyski refreshingly downsizes the Corsican commander-in-chief' Nicky Haslam, Spectator ‘Always elegant in style and original in analysis. Zamoyski, a master of the sources and of the culture and politics that created his subject, produces a fresh, nuanced, beautifully written, gripping and outstanding biography of Napoleon that reveals him to be a triumph of luck and accident as much as the invincible genius of the legend’ Simon Sebag-Montefiore, author of The Romanovs and Jerusalem: The Biography ‘Napoleon is an out-and-out masterpiece and a joy to read’ Sir Antony Beevor, author of Stalingrad ‘A lifetime’s diligent research and profound thinking about Napoleon and his times has gone into this hugely readable, highly enjoyable and well-balanced biography. Zamoyski is at the top of his game as a biographer’ Andrew Roberts, Visiting Professor, Department of War Studies, King’s College, London ‘Adam Zamoyski has retold a story that we thought we knew and made it fresh: stripping away two centuries of mythology, discarding the apocryphal stories and legends, he finally brings us the real Napoleon’ Anne Applebaum, author of Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine

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Book SynopsisTen essays on how reading and meaningfully engaging with literature can help us live better, more purposeful lives.How do we live fully?How do we live successfully?Adrift in an anchorless world, we often worry about where we are heading. What meaning can we hope to find in our modern, secular life? The answer, Ben Hutchinson explains, can be found by looking to writers and thinkers to help us live more purposefully, more mindfully more fully.Interweaving his own (mis-)adventures with those of authors such as T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust and Joan Didion, On Purpose proposes ten ways in which reading and writing encourage us to ask difficult questions, project our minds into the past and future, and see ourselves and others differently.Engaging, uplifting and aphoristic, this book is for anyone who has lost their sense of direction or wishes to radically transform the way they live.

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Book SynopsisENTERTAINMENT SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024What Goes on Tour, Stays on Tour?Until Now!As a cricketer, broadcaster and celebrity jungle-dweller, Phil Tufnell has travelled the world far and wide. From the great cricket tours of Australia and South Africa to his equally memorable jaunts to Benidorm and Blackpool, Phil has spent much of his life living out of a suitcase, meeting a host of colourful and memorable characters along the way.The Tourist takes you out on the road, into the dressing room and behind the scenes of the commentary box to reveal just what really happens on Tour. Did Phil once push a baby grand piano down the stairs of a plush hotel? Did he accidentally eat a rat? Was he blamed for England being bowled out for 46 against the West Indies without even being in the team?There?s only one way to find out?It?s time to take a hilarious trip across the world with one of our most treasured sports personalities.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThrilling dispatches from a vanishing world... A powerful - and entertaining - corrective to the idea that the only hopes that matter on this planet are those of our own species. -- Tim Adams * Observer *Vesper Flights is a book of ideas and urgent, beautiful writing... [Macdonald] is a writer whose every word is to be cherished. -- Tom Lathan * Spectator *Helen Macdonald is one of the best nature writers now working. -- Simon Ings * Telegraph *Books of the Year* *Nature writing at its best... All kinds of wondrous... Each and every essay reminded me what a gifted writer Macdonald is. Her prose is poetry but it also has a drenching kind of a clarity. And this is good because we shouldn't allow ourselves to be lulled by the sheer pleasure of reading her. For these are urgent pieces designed to open our eyes. -- Caroline Sanderson * Bookseller *Book of the Month* *An antidote to so much romantic, reductive writing about the natural world... Macdonald's writing teems with other voices and perspectives, with her own challenges to herself. It muddies any facile ideas about nature and the human, and prods at how we pleat our prejudices, politics and desires into our notions of the animal world... Hers is a gritty, companionable intimacy with the wild... The essays...are short, varied and highly edible. -- Parul Sehgal * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisRobert M. Pirsig was born in 1928 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He holds degrees in chemistry, philosophy, and journalism and also studied Oriental philosophy at Benares Hindu University in India. He is the author of this book's sequel, entitled Lila.Trade ReviewMr Pirsig has written a work of great, perhaps urgent, importance. Read this book * Observer *Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is an unforgettable trip * Time *Disturbing, deeply moving, full of insights. This is a wonderful book * Times Literary Supplement *The book is inspired, original...the narrative tact, the perfect economy of effect defy criticism.The analogies with Moby-Dick are patent * New Yorker *Profoundly important-full of insights into our most perplexing contemporary dilemmas * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisThe articles collected in George Orwell''s Essays illuminate the life and work of one of the most individual writers of this century - a man who elevated political writing to an art. This outstanding collection brings together Orwell''s longer, major essays and a fine selection of shorter pieces that includes ''My Country Right or Left'', ''Decline of the English Murder'', ''Shooting an Elephant'' and ''A Hanging''. With great originality and wit Orwell unfolds his views on subjects ranging from a revaluation of Charles Dickens to the nature of Socialism, from a comic yet profound discussion of naughty seaside postcards to a spirited defence of English cooking. Displaying an almost unrivalled mastery of English plain prose, Orwell''s essays created a unique literary manner from the process of thinking aloud and continue to challenge, move and entertain.This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Bernard Crick.

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Book SynopsisThe Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings is a collection that displays the full force of Edgar Allan Poe''s mastery of both Gothic horror and the short story form. This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction and notes by David Galloway.This selection of Poe''s critical writings, short fiction and poetry demonstrates his intense interest in aesthetic issues, and the astonishing power and imagination with which he probed the darkest corners of the human mind. ''The Fall of the House of Usher'' is a slow-burning Gothic horror, describing the final hours of a family tormented by tragedy and the legacy of the past. In ''The Tell-Tale Heart'', a murderer''s insane delusions threaten to betray him, while stories such as ''The Pit and the Pendulum'', ''The Raven'' and ''The Cask of Amontillado'' explore extreme states of decadence, fear and hate.In his introduction, David Galloway re-examines the myths surrounding Poe''s life and reputation. This edition includes a new chronology and suggestions for further reading.As well as his remarkable literary output, Boston-born Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) had a variety of occupations - he served in the US army and was a magazine editor. Towards the end of his life, he was plagued by mental instability. If you enjoyed The Fall of the House of Usher, you might like Horace Walpole''s The Castle of Otranto, also available in Penguin Classics.''The most original genius that America has produced''Alfred, Lord Tennyson''Poe has entered our popular consciousness as no other American writer''The New York Times Book ReviewTable of ContentsThe Fall of the House of Usher and Other WritingsChronologyIntroductionFurther ReadingA Note on the TextPoemsStanzasSonnet - To ScienceAl AaraafRomanceTo HelenIsrafelThe City and the SeaThe SleeperLenoreThe Valley of UnrestThe RavenUlalumeFor AnnieA ValentineAnnabel LeeThe BellsTalesMS. Found in a BottleLigeiaThe Man that was Used UpThe Fall of the House of UsherWilliam WilsonThe Man of the CrowdThe Murders in the Rue MorgueA Decent into the MaelströmEleonoraThe Oval PortraitThe Masque of the Red DeathThe Pit and the PendulumThe Tell-Tale HeartThe Gold BugThe Black CatThe Purloined LetterThe Facts in the Case of M. ValdemarThe Cask of AmontilladoHop-FrogEssays and ReviewsLetter to B--Georgia ScenesThe Drake-Halleck Review (excerpts)Watkins TottleThe Philosophy of FurnitureWyandottéMusicTime and SpaceTwice-Told TalesThe American Drama (excerpts)HazlittThe Philosophy of CompositionSong-WritingOn ImaginationThe Veil of the SoulThe Poetic Principle (excerpts)Notes

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Book SynopsisHIGHLY COMMENDED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING 2024An invigorating cross-pollination of memoir and natural history, both beautifully phrased and delicately structured this book deserves your time and attention' Cal Flyn, author of Islands of AbandonmentBorn in Canada to a Taiwanese mother and a Welsh father, Jessica J. Lee is a perfectly placed observer of our world in motion. In Dispersals, she examines the echoes and counterpoints in the migration of plants and people and the language we use to describe them. Combining memoir, history and scientific research, Lee questions how both plants and people come to belong or not and reveals how all our futures are more entwined than we might imagine. Contemplative, elegant' New Statesman'At once expansive and intimate, and most of all, gorgeously written. This is a book I will return to often over the course of my life' Nina Mingya Powles, author of Small Bodies of Water

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Book SynopsisThe Paris Trilogy is celebrated French author Colombe Schneck's first English language publication, translated by Lauren Elkin and Natasha Lehrer. Writing in response to Annie Ernaux and in conversation with Elena Ferrante, Colombe Schneck's three semi-autobiographical takes on a woman’s life form an elegant, powerful exploration of sexuality, bodily autonomy, friendship, loss and renewal. Colombe is seventeen in 1984 and carefree, busy discovering sex and studying for her baccalauréat. When she becomes pregnant her choice to have an abortion is never in question. Yet suddenly she must grapple with the body that has brought the precarity of her freedom into focus. Colombe and Héloïse are two little Parisian liberals, friends since the age of eleven. They look alike, have similar upbringings and for years they follow parallel paths: university, love affairs, work, marriage, children, divorce, more

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Book SynopsisOne question binds the cases of Dr Duncan Harding, Britain's top forensic psychiatrist: Why?Growing up in a violent home, Harding became a doctor to be good and kind. His journey brought him to psychopaths, to the limits of his compassion and to the darkest corners of his own troubled past.

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Book SynopsisEvening Standard Book of the Year. Observer Book of the Year. Guardian Book of the Year. Sunday Times Book of the Year. Telegraph Book of the Year. New Statesman Book of the Year. Herald Book of the Year. Mojo Book of the Year.Brett Anderson came from a world impossibly distant from rock star success, and in Coal Black Mornings he traces the journey that took him from a childhood as ''a snotty, sniffy, slightly maudlin sort of boy raised on Salad Cream and milky tea and cheap meat'' to becoming founder and lead singer of Suede.Anderson grew up in Hayward''s Heath on the grubby fringes of the Home Counties. As a teenager he clashed with his eccentric taxi-driving father (who would parade around their council house dressed as Lawrence of Arabia, air-conducting his favourite composers) and adored his beautiful, artistic mother. He brilliantly evokes the seventies, the suffocating Trade ReviewA remarkable feat, utterly true. This decade's Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius -- Douglas Coupland, author of Generation X and Girlfriend in a ComaCoal Black Mornings is a triumph . . . a bracingly honest work raised way above the celeb book fray by Anderson's obvious talent for writing . . . revelatory and delivered with writerly panache -- John Harris * Mojo *Fascinating . . . gorgeously written. On more than one occasion it made we well up . . . most certainly not just for the fan club * Guardian *A rich, sad and honest tale -- Olivia Cole * GQ *Beautifully crafted and brilliantly well-written . . . his memoir is a thought-provoking meditation on how our childhoods form the people we become, as well as a love letter to London . . . The book is perfect as it is, but there's no question that we need a second volume -- Anna van Praagh * Evening Standard *Coal Black Mornings is excellent: evocative, thoughtful and frank; an instant hit in a minor key. Anderson is particularly good on his unusual upbringing . . . as accomplished a writer of elegant prose as he was of narcotically enhanced lyrics about urban ennui -- Neil Armstrong * Mail on Sunday *a thrillingly energetic, bracingly entertaining snapshot of a writer hitting his first full flush, leaving you wishing two things. One: that you'd formed a band. Two: that he changes his mind about documenting the coke-blurred mornings to come * Record Collector *An ineffably romantic coming-of-age story; a beautiful reminder of the magic that happens round the edges * Sunday Times *Generous, funny, poignant * Financial Times *Perfect prose, thanks to which Coal Black Mornings does the job of describing the beauty in the banality better than any music memoir since Patti Smith's sublime Just Kids * Classic Pop *His memoir is melancholy and evocative, a dreamy ballad recalling the time before the drugs and the band break-up * Sunday Express *Personal and moving, unpolished and demure . . . Coal Black Mornings is a bravura performance * Times Literary Supplement *Revealing, funny and moving * Mail on Sunday *As an antidote to all the drug-fuelled destruction, I recommend Brett Anderson's elegant Coal Black Mornings, in which the Suede frontman looks back on his pre-fame days * Telegraph *Few rock memoirs are worthy of critical note. Brett Anderson's richly melancholic Coal Black Mornings was an exception. Eschewing the "coke and gold discs" template, the Suede singer recounts a childhood of bohemian poverty and traces his band's vivid prehistory -- George Eaton * New Statesman *It shouldn't have come as a surprise that one of British pop's most original lyricists would write a book almost poetic in its language and painterly in its eye for detail, but this illuminating, moving and generous memoir by the Suede frontman still had the power to confound . . . Coal Black Mornings is a thing of beauty and a work of art * Sunday Times *Richer and stranger than any tale of narcotic excess and success * Guardian *a tough-minded and emotionally acute account of the Suede singer's childhood and teenage years, about his relationship with his parents and the route map that pop music provided for him to march away from his suburban origins * Herald *2018 Music Book of the Year: A brilliant account of how growing up can be impossible and full of possibility, all at the same time -- Victoria Segal * Q *

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Book SynopsisMore than 2,000 years old, this classic of Chinese philosophy lays out a systematic, rational approach to tactics and strategy that leaders worldwide have applied not only to the military, but also to business, law, martial arts, and sports.

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Book SynopsisWhether it''s a public health and safety mandate, the enforcement of building and safety codes, or the actions of law enforcement officers within a municipal police department, most people tend to think of Washington D.C. when it comes to the government. The sober reality, however, is that the most relevant government happens at the local level. Death of a Public Servant is a true story about a former City Manager''s personal experience. After serving his community for thirty years, he was accused of misconduct, labeled a whistleblower, and publicly terminated. These actions would blackball his reputation and nearly destroy his personal life. Over the next six years, he would embark on the steep, uphill journey to clear his name in court, while attempting to pivot from an otherwise stellar career in public service. After a challenging and lengthy court battle, he would go on to win a multi-million-dollar jury verdict. This book delves into the intricacies of the local public administr

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Book SynopsisThe extraordinary true story of Guy Burgess, the man at the heart of the Cambridge Spy Ring and a linchpin of Cold War espionage.Trade ReviewAn abundance of vivid detail from many different voices, viewpoints and nationalities...Stalin's Englishman is a matchless and splendidly exciting read. * The Times *This exhaustively researched and absorbing book, the first full biographical study and likely to remain the definitive life. * New Statesman *A meticulously researched biography...an astonishing piece of research. * Sunday Times *Complicated, revelatory: a superb biography more riveting than a spy novel. * Sunday Telegraph *As one of this country's foremost literary agents, Andrew Lownie certainly knows what makes a good book, and in Stalin's Englishman he has delivered one of his own - many times over. * Independent *Not every question has been answered, but most have, and those that remain probably never will be. * Independent on Sunday *In this meticulous biography of the most colourful of the quintet, espionage expert Lownie argues convincingly that Burgess - often seen as a clownish buffoon - was the key member of the ring, and his treachery the most damaging. * Observer *A magnificent biography...Burgess has all the right ingredients for an engrossing story and Lownie, who has spent 30 years researching this biography, makes the most of it... a narrative as gripping as a thriller. * Daily Express *Scrupulous and comprehensive. * The Week *Is there anything significant left to say about members of the Cambridge spy ring, Moscow's 'magnificent five'? The answer, judging by this book, is a resounding yes. * Guardian *A masterly biography. * Mail on Sunday *The most comprehensive, readable and faultlessly researched account of one of Britain's most notorious (but colorful) traitors. Now we know just about all there is to know about this wretched man who betrayed friends, family, country... the lot! * Nigel West, author of The Secret War For The Falklands *One of the most important intelligence books in many years. * Eye Spy Magazine *A fascinating story, racily recounted. * The Oldie *Andrew Lownie demonstrates that there is plenty still to be learned about Burgess...an enjoyable and convincing biography. * Literary Review *This deeply researched new biography...Lownie has unearthed much fascinating material...well worth reading. * Evening Standard *Exhaustive research, elegant construction, psychological acuity, wit and the necessary sympathy. Lownie shows that Burgess's treason was far more significant than had been thought. * Spectator *Andrew Lownie's biography of Guy Burgess, Stalin's Englishman ... shrewd, thorough, revelatory. -- William Boyd * Guardian *In the sad and funny Stalin's Englishman, [Lownie] manages to convey the charm as well as the turpitude. -- Craig Brown * Guardian *The first full biography of Burgess is fascinating on both his methods and his motivation - and proves a more compelling page-turner than any spy thriller. * Mail on Sunday *Awful human beings make for splendid biographies, and the traitor Guy Burgess was a terrible specimen of humanity...This terrible man is brought back to vivid life by this well-researched, finely written book. * Times Best Biographies of Year 2015 *... a rich combination of spy story, cultural history, social outrage and character portrait. Several recent biographies with an espionage angle have seemed to me despicable in their sensationalism and gullibility but Lownie writes with scepticism, decency and a sharp regard for truth. * Richard Davenport-Hines, BBC History ‘Books of the Year’ *A biography that reads as compellingly as a fine novel. * Church Times *There's world-class gossip here. * The Spectator *This superb biography captures the ambiguity Burgess always inspires. * Daily Mail *Lownie's research is complete and impeccable. He has unearthed more facts on this case than anyone else writing in the field. Brilliant! * Intelligencer: Journal of US Intelligence Studies *A comprehensive biography, which convincingly revealed quite how important Burgess was for his KGB handlers. * Country Life *Lownie's book successfully rescues Burgess from the image he is sometimes given, as little more than a drunken buffoon...a meticulous account of Burgess's life and makes a useful contribution to Cold War intelligence history. * TLS *An impeccably researched biography, but also as an in-depth cultural study and a spy thriller of genuine, knuckle-gnawing tension. * The Independent *An astonishing, unique story. * Sarah Bradford, The Tablet *A remarkable and definitive portrait of the truly ghastly spy and traitor Guy Burgess who should surely never have been permitted to do us so much damage. And a portrait of the snobbery and laxity that permitted an Old Etonian who had changed sides to get away with it for so long. * Frederick Forsyth *Stalin's Englishman tells the outrageous story of a master manipulator and trickster, and evaluates his treason with a vigour that made it one of the great biographies of 2015. * The Times *A hugely entertaining read about one of the most notorious spies ever. Eric Ambler couldn't have provided a more fascinating story. * Philip Kerr *This is a must-read for anyone at all interested in espionage. The definitive and revelatory biography of one of the greatest traitors of the Cold War. -- Jeremy Duns * author of the Paul Dark spy series and Codename:Hero: The True Story of Oleg Penkovsky and the Cold War's Most Dangerous Operation *...a masterly and penetrating study of this strange man, the rich well-connected brilliant Cambridge scholar, who was a seriously dangerous agent for the Soviet Union from the 1930s until he fled with Maclean in 1951. -- Michael Hartland * author Seven Steps to Treason *Above all, this is a gripping study of a most unusual personality, written with compassion but without sentimentality. It is detailed, and impeccably sourced...Reminiscent of early John le Carré, this is a book to be relished with a glass of whisky at one's side - or should that be vodka? Highly recommended. * Marius Gabriel *Almost from the moment he skipped the country Guy Burgess has been the subject of biographers, from early journalists' hastily assembled clippings, via the academic study, to 'Stalin's Englishman' - the first 'life' that captures the man fully ... the decadent, the drunkard, the outrageous sex bandit ... and above the all the first life to reveal the full extent of Burgess's treason. Andrew Lownie's book will be definitive for years to come. -- John Lawton * author of the Inspector Troy series *I loved it. Beautifully written and riveting from start to finish. Also very funny. -- Piers Brendon * author of Ike: His Life and Times and The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s *Stalin's Englishman comes as close to touching the tortured and tempestuous soul of Guy Burgess as anything I have read. It's superbly researched and written with an extraordinary elegance that takes you by the hand and guides you along the pathways of outrageous treachery. Truly exceptional. * Michael Dobbs *A superb biography... full of detail, meticulously sifted by the author, and it's also engrossing and exciting. We are transported into the past with real skill... Brilliantly told. * Evening Standard *Lownie brilliantly chronicles the life of the man at the centre of the Cambridge spy ring. * Guardian *An extremely well-written biography...an astonishing piece of research. * Sunday Times *A fascinating book, enlivened by many new sources and the results of painstaking interviews. -- Edward Towne * The Historian *Stalin's Englishman is a fine biography about an effective spy and a disgraceful traitor who lived to enjoy Communist reality firsthand. It fills a major historical gap in espionage history. * Studies in Intelligence *A crack biography of a man who was a preposterous enigma. * Kirkus *A superb biography, the quality of which is unlikely tobe surpassed. * Intelligence & National Security *Fine biography, packed with detail...impressive primary and secondary reasearch * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisBlend the wild and fevered Irish imagination with a wonderful facility for recounting a dark, compelling tale, add a dash of the supernatural, and you have a potent brew of spine-tingling tales. This anthology of the best ghost stories from Ireland and Irish writers includes contributions from such masters as Sheridan Le Fanu, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats and Rosa Mulholland. Within these pages you will find strange accounts of haunted houses, death warnings from beyond the grave, and revengeful spirits, all guaranteed to stir the imagination and chill the blood.The haunting tales featured in this beautiful Macmillan Collector's Library edition of Irish Ghost Stories have been selected and introduced by David Stuart Davies.Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

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Book Synopsis'Beautiful... A moving reminder for us all to connect with what's gone before' STYLIST'Atmospheric, scholarly - and gripping . . . Shocking and important' Laline Paull, author of PodRoaming the ragged coasts and remote villages of Scotland, Ashes & Stones takes us on a moving journey in search of those women accused of witchcraft in the seventeenth century. From fairy hills to hedge mazes, we follow the traces their stories have left on the landscape. By linking the lives of contemporary women to the horrors of the past, Allyson Shaw creates a powerful record of resilience and remembrance, untangling the myth of witchcraft and giving voice to those erased by it. 'Allyson Shaw has built a monument in words to the thousands persecuted as witches in Scotland. A fascinating and necessary book' Peter Ross, author of A Tomb With a View'Deeply insightful and profoundly respectful . . . I was spellbound from start to finish' Sally Huband, author of Sea BeanTrade ReviewAllyson Shaw has built a monument in words to the thousands persecuted as witches in Scotland. A fascinating and necessary book. -- Peter RossIn Ashes and Stone Shaw has written a compelling and intimate pilgrimage across Scotland as she visits the sites of notorious witch trials to connect with and comment on the memorials left there to the murdered people who perished through greed, misogyny, and superstition . . . The book is a fascinating exploration of the search for personal identity, the ever-present dangers of religious and political extremism, and how we examine and process the murderous injustices from our past -- Helen CallaghanAn incantational group biography infused with personal narrative . . . Shaw pays homage to the hunted while elevating modern self-identified witches as feminist archetypes -- Abigail Santamaria * New York Times *Beautiful . . . A moving reminder for us all to connect with what's gone before * Stylist *Wonderful . . . Powerful . . . it will make you angry, it will make you sad, it will make you want to know so much more * The Scots Whay Hae! Show *Sometimes the truth behind myths and legends is more fascinating and terrible than could ever be imagined . . . Ashes & Stones is its own reminder of a dark period in Scotland's past, but also carries a warning for the present day . . . This is not the book you think it is, and it is all the better for it * Snack *Allyson Shaw's journey around Scotland in search of witches and witness is both deeply insightful and profoundly respectful. Shaw's writing is utterly compelling and her perspective is vital. I was spellbound from start to finish, Ashes & Stones is a work of devotion. This is what it means to write with care and with candour. Ashes & Stones is both genuine memorial and galvanising activism in book form -- Sally Huband, author of Sea BeanVery atmospheric, scholarly - and gripping . . . [Shaw] gives life to many of the women burned as witches in Scotland. Shocking and important - it made me realise this hasn't been done before, nor have I questioned why until now. Recommended. -- Laline PaullThe past is a treacherous landscape shrouded in the mists of myth and misogyny, and Shaw is the sun burning through to reveal clear paths and daunting vistas alike. Profound, personal, and tragically timely, this is more than an important book - it's a requiem that rises to a rallying cry -- Jesse Bullington, author of The Folly of the World

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Book SynopsisJoin science journalist Sabrina Imbler on an astonishing journey which will completely redefine the way you think about nature and the ocean''An astonishing debut'' GUARDIAN''Reveals just as much about our fascinating, mysterious world as it does about our fascinating, mysterious selves'' NEW YORK TIMESIn My Life in Sea Creatures we encounter: the mother octopus, starving herself while watching over her eggs; the yeti crab, thriving in crushing pressure and oppressive darkness; the cuttlefish, able to change its appearance in a fraction of a second; and many other creatures lurking in the depths of the ocean.Imbler''s work weaves the wonders of marine biology with their own identity as a queer, non-binary mixed-race writer. They implicitly connect endangered sea life to marginalised human communities and shatter our preconceptions about the sea and what it means to survive.''A miraculous, transcendental book'' ED YON

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Book Synopsis**Winner of the Lionel Gelber Prize 2024****A Financial Times Best Book of 2023**''A moving love letter to Europe'' Lea Ypi, author of FreeDrawing from the people who lived it, Homelands explores how Europe slowly recovered and rebuilt from World War Two. And then faltered.Timothy Garton Ash, our greatest writer about Europe, has spent a lifetime studying Europe and this deeply felt book is full of vivid experiences: from his father''s memories of D-Day and his own surveillance at the hands of the Stasi to interviewing Albanian guerrillas in the mountains of Kosovo and angry teenagers in the poorest quarters of Paris, as well as advising prime ministers, chancellors and presidents.Homelands is at once a living, breathing history of a period of unprecedented progress, a clear-eyed account of how so much then went wrong and an urgent call to the citizens of this great old continent to understan

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Book SynopsisEndurance, Determination and Grit: The first ever man to run the length of Africa shares his inspirational story10,000 miles. 16 countries. 352 days. Hardest Geezer, Russ Cook, is the first person to ever run the entire length of Africa. From his starting point in Cape Agulhas, South Africa, through sandstorms in the Sahara Desert, rainforests, mountain ranges and long empty roads stretched out for miles in front of him, Russ ran the equivalent of 386 marathons before finally crossing the finish line in Tunisia 50 weeks later. Through attempted kidnaps, an armed robbery where he was held at gunpoint, and the gut-wrenching moment when he was denied the right to cross Algeria and whole challenge was left hanging in the balance, Russ never once contemplated giving up. When he crossed the finish line in Ras Angela, he did so with the eyes of the world on him. Africa may have been his most physical challenge yet but it certainly wasn't his first. For years, Russ hid from the realities of life by drinking too much and losing himself in the world of online gambling, and it wasn't until he discovered running and sought out endurance challenges that life took a different turn. He soon learned that you don't get to avoid the struggle, but you do get to choose it. Hardest Geezer: Mind over Miles is an inspirational story full of sheer grit and incredible determination. You get one chance at life. Go and have a stab at it.'

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisA biography of the Yorkshire and England cricketer Brian Close, one of the game's greatest characters.

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Book SynopsisA major source for the BBC drama The ReckoningWinner of the 2015 Gordon Burn Prize and the 2015 CWA Non-Fiction DaggerShortlisted for the Orwell Prize and the James Tait Black Prize'An astonishing account' Observer'A compulsive, colourful and chilling read' Sunday Times'An extraordinary book' Mail on SundayDan Davies spent more than a decade on a quest to find the real Jimmy Savile, and interviewed him extensively over a period of six years before his death. Dan also interviewed scores of people, many of them unobtainable while Savile was alive.Jimmy Savile was cynical, calculating and predatory. He revelled in his status as a Pied Piper of youth and used his power to abuse the vulnerable and underage, all the while covering his tracks by moving into the innermost circles of the establishment.IN PLAIN SIGHT is a devastating and definitive account of a national figure turned national disgrace.Trade ReviewTo my mind, the best and hottest non-fiction property of the decade is Dan Davies's book on Jimmy Savile. He had amazing access for years and stuck with the story before anybody knew how interesting it was. His book will be a must-read and will hit British culture like a clusterbomb. I can't wait -- Andrew O'HaganAn astonishing account . . . It is an incredible read -- Carole Cadwalladr * Observer *An extraordinary book, by turns deeply sinister and darkly comic -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *Absolutely jaw-dropping * Nicky Campbell, Radio Five Live *

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Book Synopsis Meet the unit that posed as Nazi stormtroopers in the most daring mission ever undertaken SAS Ghost Patrol is the explosive true story of the day in 1942 when the SAS donned Nazi uniforms to perpetrate the most audacious and daring mission of the war. Beyond top secret, deniable in the extreme (and of course enjoying Churchill's enthusiastic blessing), this is one of the most remarkable stories of wartime lawlessness, eccentricity and raw courage in the face of impossible odds - a thoroughly British undertaking.What unfolded - the longest mission ever undertaken by Allied special forces - was an epic of daring, courage, tragedy and survival that remains unrivalled to this day, and which rightly became a foundation stone of Special Forces legend. It may read like the stuff of impossible myth or folklore, but every single word is true.PRAISE FOR SAS GHOST PATROL'Intensively researched and powerfully written. One of the great untold stories of WWII' Bear Grylls'Lewis has done a terrific job in resurrecting Heaven Platoon, portraying them as the brave, buccaneering heroes they undoubtedly were' Daily Mail'Another true tale of military derring-do from Lewis' Sunday Express'In SAS Ghost Patrol Lewis reveals a tale of suicidal bravery, untold daring and breath-taking deceit. Told with the panache and verve of a born storyteller, Lewis is in a class of his own' Saul David'Amazing tale of WWII great escaper's Nazi ruse . . . The extraordinary Second World War saga of the SIG and its legacy is revealed.' The Daily Mirror'British troops dressed in German uniforms and mounted a daredevil raid to take the Libyan port of Tobruk during the Second World War, reveals a fascinating new book' Daily Express'Lewis's account . . . reads like a Boy's Own adventure, except it isn't a work of fiction and the heroes don't come through unscathed. His storytelling enhances the bravery of the men and the danger of the missions without over-dramatising anything. There is no need to' Soldier Magazine'Reveals the true story of an ultra-secret fighting unit that posed as Nazi Storm Troopers to seize the German-held port city of Tobruk during the Second World War' Richard Hatch and Verity Geere, Forces Radio breakfast show

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Book SynopsisAccording to tradition, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. Depicted there in suprising and contradicting ways, and both for and against his people, bringer of the tablets of law which he then breaks.By way of a series of possible portraits-including one of a female Moses-Jean-Christophe Attias follows the metamorphoses of the Hebrew liberator through ages and cultures. Drawing on rabbinical sources as well as the Bible itself, he examines the words of the texts and especially their silences. He discovers here a fragile prophet, teacher of a Judaism of the spirit, of wandering, and of incompleteness. The Judaism of Moses speaks to believers and others-to Jews, of course, but also far beyond them, inviting its hearers to have done with tribal pride, the violence of weapons, and the tyranny of a special place.Trade ReviewA sparkling essay. -- Maurice Sartre * L’Histoire *A very sure erudition, an experienced exchange with the Scriptures, a joyous freedom of expression, reflection and analysis, moments of poetic grace alongside high-level linguistic analysis, a writing with wings. -- Pierre Assouline * La République des Livres *A very personal Moses. -- Dominique Greiner * La Croix *The reader is left free to draw political lessons. Moses left no lineage, and it is unreasonable to claim this in the name of an improbable genealogy. There can therefore be no "Judaism of blood" that crossed centuries and continents to establish a right of ownership over an idolatrous land. Contemporary relevance is not far away. -- Denis Sieffert * Politis *We should immerse ourselves in this fragile Moses, rescued from the bland waters of the Sulpicians or the burning waters of "holy fools". -- Nicolas Weill * Le Monde *Jean-Christophe Attias, a specialist in medieval Jewish thought, has freed himself from the academic straitjacket and drawn in a beautiful and evocative style a portrait of Moses as an "uncertain prophet". -- David Fontaine * Le Canard enchaîné *Regenerated by reflection, revived by the power of the mind, Jean-Christophe Attias's Moses emerges from the pages as a young man, freed at last of Charlton Heston's granite features and relieved of the gigantic weight that the three monotheistic religions imposed on him. -- Christian Makarian * L’Express *A brilliant book, as decidedly original as it is disturbing. -- Catherine Golliaud * Le Point *Praise for The Jews and the Bible: This beautifully written (and translated) monograph casts profound doubt on attempts to simplistically characterize the terms Jews and Bible or to view the relationship between them one dimensionally... Highly recommended. -- L. J. Greenspoon * Choice *Praise for The Jews and the Bible:Professor Attias, a significant French intellectual and scholar of medieval Judaism, has written the first book that explores broadly the place of the Bible in Jewish culture throughout the ages. Engagingly written, this is an important initial foray into this broad and significant topic that raises important questions concerning the place of the Bible within contemporary Jewish culture. -- Marc Brettler, Brandeis UniversityPraise for The Jews and the Bible:A study of the Jews' peculiar relationships with the Bible, Jean-Christophe Attias's The Jews and the Bible is an excellent companion to the recent crop of books on the Bible's construction... [They] tell us how the Bible came to be, Attias focuses on how it came to be regarded. -- Jay Michaelson * Forward *Praise for The Jews and the Other:This is a rich summation of the resources and challenges of Jewish identity and difference at the turn of the third Christian millennium. Committed, lucid, critical, and informed, it exemplifies a vibrantly human science of Jewishness. -- Jonathan Boyarin, author of Storm from Paradise: The Politics of Jewish Memory and Thinking in JewishPraise for Israel, the Impossible Land: Jean-Christophe Attias and Esther Benbassa have written an elegant and erudite book demonstrating the complex relationship to the land of Israel throughout Jewish history. * American Historical Review *In one of the most imaginative and creative works of contemporary Jewish thought, Jean Christophe Attias presents a fascinating interpretation of Moses as a woman. Building on intriguing suggestions in the Bible, Arttias inspires us to wonder how our understandings of the Bible and its sacred history might change if we think of Moses as female. -- Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth CollegeIn this original and magical portrait of Moses, Attias takes the stock figure of the stern lawgiver and transforms him into 'one of us'. His Moses combines humility and grandeur, frailty and strength. He is a Jew and a non-Jew, 'and all the more of a human being because he is both'. Likewise, 'fully a man because he is also a woman'. Even his death emphasizes his humanity: he 'dies likes the rest of us, prematurely'. 'We do not know who buried him.' But we do know who brings him back to life: Attias the scribe. In this inspired, humane and deeply moving book, the 'Woman called Moses' speaks also to 'those of us who are secular'. She is truly 'a prophet for our times'. -- Brian KlugWho was Moses? Not the historical Moses or the Moses of tradition, but the biblical Moses without apologetics, Moses in his most contradictory and obscure configuration. In A Woman Called Moses Attias presents us with a provocative, evocative, and courageous reading of Moses, seamlessly drawing from the biblical imaginary and classical commentaries combined with modern sensibilities and literary finesse that brings this imaginary figure to life. Attias' pen sparkles with literary insight and poetic breadth. This work should be enjoyed slowly, like fine French wine. -- Shaul Magid, Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth CollegeAttias's respect and attention to Moses's example and legacy shines through. ... Open-minded readers are in for a thought-provoking treat. * Publishers Weekly *Thoughtful and thought-provoking, informative and iconoclastic, and an impressively detailed work of original scholarship, Woman Called Moses: Prophet for Our Time is extraordinary and inherently fascinating reading. -- John Burroughs * Midwest Book Review *Anybody with an interest in theology, or indeed Jewish history should enjoy A Woman Called Moses and be stimulated by it. Work like this underlines once more the extent to which the Bible has formed western thought, for Christians worshipping the deity, and equally for atheists in their vehement rejection. -- Drew Ratter * Shetland Times *Attias's portrayal of Moses reveals the author's respect, tenderness, and even love for the figure. ... Ultimately, through his imaginative depiction of Moses, Attias discloses a poignant longing and hope. -- Mahri Leonard-Fleckman * Commonweal Magazine *

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Book SynopsisRose West was, on the face of it, a mother living with her family in a semi in Gloucester. But behind closed doors, she was a monstrous killer who, with husband Fred, killed at least a dozen women and girls, including her own daughter Heather, sixteen, and stepdaughter, Charmaine, eight.Rose was sadistic as both a mother and killer, and all her victims as well as her own children were subjected to horrific sexual violence and torture. Rose did paid sex work in the family home with husband Fred peeping through the holes he had made in the wall and listening on an intercom. They modified the house to take in lodgers and then preyed on them, as well as other young women hitching a lift or waiting for a bus.In 1972, aged seventeen, Caroline Owens, who had been hired as a nanny, was drugged, attacked and raped, but managed to escape. But she could not bring herself to testify, so the Wests remained free.Two decades would pass before Rose?s dark secrets were discovered when nine of the victims? bodies were dug up in the garden and beneath the cellar at the West?s home at 25 Cromwell Street. And now, three decades after this grim discovery, the workings of Rose West?s twisted mind remain as mysterious as who played what role in this husband-and-wife folie à deux.

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Book SynopsisA compelling and fascinating portrait of the continuing intellectual tradition of Greek writers and thinkers in the Age of Rome.In 146 BC, Greece yielded to the military might of the Roman Republic; sixty years later, when Athens and other Greek city-states rebelled against Rome, the general Lucius Cornelius Sulla destroyed the city of Socrates and Plato, laying waste to the famous Academy where Aristotle had studied. However, the traditions of Greek cultural life would continue to flourish during the centuries of Roman rule that followed, in the lives and work of a distinguished array of philosophers, doctors, scientists, geographers, travellers and theologians.Charles Freeman''s accounts of such luminaries as the physician Galen, the geographer Ptolemy and the philosopher Plotinus are interwoven with contextual ''interludes'' that showcase a sequence of unjustly neglected and richly influential lives. Like the author''s The Awakening, The Children

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