Biography Books

Book SynopsisIn January 1928 Stalin, the ruler of the largest country in the world, boarded a train bound for Siberia where he would embark upon the greatest gamble of his political life. He was about to begin uprooting and collectivization of agriculture and industry across the entire Soviet Union. Millions would die, and many more would suffer. Where did such great, monstrous power come from? The first of three volumes, the product of a decade of intrepid research, this landmark book offers the most convincing explanation yet of Stalin''s power.Trade ReviewIn its size, sweep, sensitivity, and surprises, Stephen Kotkin's first volume on Stalin is a monumental achievement: the early life of a man we thought we knew, set against the world - no less - that he inhabited. It's biography on an epic scale. Only Tolstoy might have matched it -- John Lewis Gaddis (author of THE COLD WAR)Stalin has had more than his fair share of biographies. But Stephen Kotkin's wonderfully broad-gauged work surpasses them all in both breadth and depth, showing brilliantly how the man, the time, the place, its history, and especially Russian/Soviet political culture, combined to produce one of history's greatest evil geniuses -- William Taubman (author of KHRUSHCHEV: THE MAN AND HIS ERA)Stephen Kotkin's first volume on Stalin is ambitious in conception and masterly in execution ... combines biography with historical analysis in a way that brings out clearly Stalin's great political talents as well as the ruthlessness with which he applied them and the impact his policies had on Russia and the world. This is a magisterial work on the grandest scale -- David Holloway (author of STALIN AND THE BOMB)Stephen Kotkin's biography of Stalin, of which this but the first of three volumes, is a most impressive achievement. Based on both archival and printed sources, it treats in meticulous detail the early years of a tyrant who was destined to become one of the most influential political figures of the twentieth century -- Richard Pipes (author of RUSSIA UNDER THE BOLSHEVIK REGIME)

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Book SynopsisThe bestselling, devastating account of three sisters torn apart, abused and exploited at the hands of a community that robbed them of their childhood. It reveals three lives, separate but entwined, that have experienced unspeakable horror, unrelenting loyalty and unforgettable courage.From as early as three years old, Juliana, Celeste and Kristina were separated from their parents and physically and sexually abused by their guardians' in the infamous religious cult known as the Children of God. They were made to watch and mimic orgies, received love letters and sexual advances from men old enough to be their grandfather, and were forced into abusive relationships. They were denied access to formal schooling and medical care, had to busk on the streets, beg for money, and were mercilessly beaten for ''crimes'' as unpredictable as reading an encyclopaedia.Finally, unable to live with the guilt of what had happened to her children, their mother escaped with Kristina and her younger sibliTrade Review‘A chilling account of life in the grip of a sinister madness' Daily Mail

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Book SynopsisIn her new book, Cathy Glass, the no.1 bestselling author of Damaged, tells the story of the Alice, a young and vulnerable girl who is desperate to return home to her mother.Alice, aged four, is snatched by her mother the day she is due to arrive at Cathy''s house. Drug-dependent and mentally ill, but desperate to keep hold of her daughter, Alice''s mother snatches her from her parents'' house and disappears.Cathy spends three anxious days worrying about her whereabouts before Alice is found safe, but traumatised. Alice is like a little doll, so young and vulnerable, and she immediately finds her place in the heart of Cathy''s family. She talks openly about her mummy, who she dearly loves, and how happy she was living with her maternal grandparents before she was put into care. Alice has clearly been very well looked after and Cathy can''t understand why she couldn''t stay with her grandparents.It emerges that Alice''s grandparents are considered too old (they are in their early sixtieTrade ReviewReviews for ‘Damaged’: 'Cannot fail to move those who read it.' Adoption-net ‘Heartbreaking.' The Mirror ‘A truly harrowing read that made me cry.’ The Sun 'A true tale of hope.' OK! ‘Foster carers rarely get the praise they deserve, but Cathy Glass’s book should change all that’ First Magazine ‘A hugely touching and emotional true tale.’ Star Magazine

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Book SynopsisThis is the story of Alex James's transition from a leading light of the Britpop movement in the 1990s, to gentleman farmer, artisan cheese-maker and father of five.I was hanging around the pigsty in the way I'd previously hung around at The Groucho Club. I felt wonderfully connected, grounded in the real world, standing in pig muck'Following fifteen years in Blur, Alex James did two wild, unexpected things. He fell in love and he bought a farm.Moving into a rambling, chaotic farmstead in the beautiful Cotswold countryside, he decides the best way to learn about farming is the same way he learned most about music: by jumping in and doing it. As his family settles in, he discovers the unexpected joys that country life abounds in: finding the first egg from your very own chicken, coming across a bramble bush laden with blackberries, roasting home-grown pears on an open fire, before stumbling on a new venture making cheese.Wonderfully warm, witty and perfectly observed, this is the storyTrade Review‘James’s prose is clean and poetic. His childlike wonder at the simple things – from herons to heaps of rubble – can be infectious’ DAILY TELEGRAPH ‘A joy to read. Prose flows and weaves and curls itself into pleasing rhythms…(Alex James) can write like a god’ SPECTATOR ‘The upbeat tone matches that of his Blur-era autobiography A BIT OF A BLUR, treating his downsize from rock heart-throb to cockerel-throttling country gent as if cheese contests were Britpop orgies. Riding bikes, the smell of berry bushes, piles of cow dung: all brilliant’ NME

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Book SynopsisTo mark the fiftieth anniversary of C. S. Lewis' death, this attractive book offers daily inspirational readings from this much-loved writer, making this a most thoughtful gift.Few people, whether children or adults, have not been touched by the incredible literary works of C. S. Lewis. Whether their lives have been touched by the Chronicles of Narnia, or the more spiritual Mere Christianity, Lewis continues to be one of the most influential authors and his voice' is as loud today as it ever was.An attractive and collectible gift book, this volume is perfectly designed for those interested in, and intrigued by, daily meditation. It collects material from across the breadth of Lewis's writing talent, taking brief selections from many of his non-fiction works. These extracts are accompanied by brief and engaging snippets of biographical information, offering the reader a more intimate look at Lewis's life in the context of his writings.Trade Review‘I read C.S. Lewis for comfort and pleasure many years ago, and a glance into the books revives my old admiration.’John Updike

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Book SynopsisThe lost tales of Animal-land', written and illustrated by C.S. Lewis and his brother Warnie, which they developed into the chronicles of the kingdom of Boxen, newly published to mark the centenary of the first story.Half a century before the publication of The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis created another imaginary world. The tales of Animal-land' which eight-year-old Jack (as his family knew him) had shared with his brother Warnie developed into the chronicles of the kingdom of Boxen. In a succession of stories over the next few years, the young Lewis explored its history, geography and the colourful exploits of its inhabitants in vivid detail, writing the last of the papers, his Encyclopedia Boxoniana, in April 1928.This new landmark edition marks the centenary of the very first Boxen manuscript. Here are all the stories, some never before seen, sensitively edited and arranged to make the most of the fabulous and inventive fantasy while retaining all the vigour of a child's imagiTrade Review‘These works share with the Narnian stories a remarkable scale of invention, brilliant storytelling and characterisation.’ The Times ‘Allows free admission into an elaborate invented world … A shrewd, witty and lively read.’ British Book News

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Book SynopsisThis biography of Atatürk aims to strip away the myth to show the complexities of the man beneath. Born plain Mustafa in Ottoman Salonica in 1881, he trained as an army officer but was virtually unknown until 1919, when he took the lead in thwarting the victorious Allies'' plan to partition the Turkish core of the Ottoman Empire. He divided the Allies, defeated the last Sultan and secured the territory of the Turkish national state, becoming the first president of the new republic in 1923. He imposed coherence, order and mordernity and in the process, created his own legend and his own cult.Trade ReviewSurely definitive ... I enjoyed every page and recommend this book highly * Simon Sebag Montifiore, Mail on Sunday *A fluent, thorough and enjoyable biography, which for comprehensiveness, balance and deftness of touch outclasses all the alternatives for the English reader * Mark Mazower, New Statesman *The best concise account I have ever seen of the decline of the Ottoman Empire. The narrative is gripping. It does not merely present all the facts of Ataturk's career but paints a credible picture of the whole man * Geoffrey Lewis *The profundity of Mango's analysis and his empathy with the years of national regeneration lift Ataturk to a higher level of biography than any previous account * Alan Palmer, Literary Review *Takes its place at the top * Norman Stone, Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisA publishing phenomenon in hardback, Roy Keane''s autobiography was the biggest selling sports book of the year.The book will include a new chapter covering events that followed the books publication: Keane''s vindication by the FAI report; the punishment meted out by the FA and Mick McCarthy''s resignation.Brilliantly reviewed, Roy Keane''s riveting, brutally honest autobiography has the potential to be one of the year''s biggest paperback bestsellers.

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Book SynopsisFrom Sergeant Stubby to Antis the radar dog, meet the heroic hounds who put their lives on the line in this inspiring compendium of real-life war dog storiesWe all know that a dog is a human''s best friend, but they are even more than that. The truth is that these courageous canines have been a lifeline for us during some of the toughest times in history. In fact, we might not be where we are today without them.Filled with inspirational tales, this book is a moving tribute to the noble war dogs who supported their human comrades throughout the world''s most challenging conflicts. Whether serving as sentries, messengers or trackers, the dogs within these stories all share three things in common: bravery, intelligence and unwavering loyalty. Many of their efforts were rewarded with medals and titles at the time, but it is their legacies that will live on forever in our hearts. So, dive in to discover just how special, unique and essential to us our four-legged friends really are.

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Book SynopsisReveals the important lessons Captain Chesley Sully Sullenberger learned through childhood, in his military service, and in his work as a commercial airline pilot.

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Book Synopsis"The T 'ain B 'o Cuailnge", centre-piece of the 8th century Ulster cycle of heroic tales, is Ireland's greatest epic. This translation is based on the partial texts in two medieval manuscripts, with elements from other versions, and adds a group of related stories which prepare for the T 'ain.Table of ContentsTranslator's Note and Acknowledgements ; Artist's Note ; Introduction ; Maps ; Some Recommended Books ; Pronunciation of Irish Words ; Before the Tain ; The Tain ; Notes on the Text

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Book SynopsisIn his foreword to The Ways of Paradise, Peter Cornell presents this so-called found manuscript, the work of a now-deceased, obscure researcher who spent three decades in the National Library of Sweden working on his magnum opus. Upon his death, no trace of this work remains aside from this set of notes and fragments which form an enigmatic set of texts on the connections between art, literature, spirituality and the occult through history, with a particular focus on spirals and labyrinths. Ranging from the Crusades to Ruskin, Freud to surrealism, cubism, automatic writing, Duchamp, the Manhattan Project, Pollock and Smithson, this cult book, first published in Sweden in 1987, is translated into English for the first time by Saskia Vogel.

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Book Synopsis''Mind blowingly brilliant'' PHILIPPA PERRY''Few other writers have such passion for granular detail, intellectual heft and boundless curiosity'' THE TIMES''As suspenseful and pacy as an episode of peak-era ER'' GUARDIANA near-fatal health emergency leads to this powerful reflection on deathand what might followby the bestselling author of Tribe and The Perfect Storm.For years as an award-winning war reporter, Sebastian Junger travelled to many front lines and frequently put his life at risk. And yet the closest he ever came to death was the summer of 2020 while spending a quiet afternoon at the New England home he shared with his wife and two young children. Crippled by abdominal pain, Junger was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Once there, he began slipping away. As blackness encroached, he was visited by his dead father, inviting Junger to join him. It's okay, his father said. There's nothing to be scared of. I'll take care of you. That was the last thing Junger remembered until

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Book SynopsisSpeaking for the first time about the profound impact that his brother's death had on him, the author offers a tribute to Duane that only a younger brother could write, showing how, to this day, he still confronts the grief of losing his big brother, even as Duane continues to guide and inspire him.Trade Review...This book is everything you could hope for: in a grizzled, laconic drawl, Allman provides a rambling backstage account of his five decades with the Allman Brothers Band, and he doesn't seem to hold anything back. -- New York Times Book Review A soul-searching rumination on a hard-lived life... For generations of fans, Allman's book provides insights into the many turns in that long road... MY CROSS TO BEAR carries a welcome seal of honesty. -- USA Today In his memoir, the rambling and rambunctious Gregg Allman lays bare his soul... In the end, Allman, writing with music journalist Light, has produced a fiercely honest memoir. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) This is a story about musical brotherhood. Rich and moving... Nothing less than profound. Life, love and music from one of the most influential American recording artists of the last 40 years. -- Kirkus Reviews "Packed with juicy anecdotes, gripping details and raw energy...Fans of the Allman Brothers Band are certain to relish the revelations... MY CROSS TO BEAR provides a window into Allman's tortured soul - he presents himself as a man cracked and flawed, yet somehow intact." -- Birmingham News

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A rueful, battle-scarred, darkly witty observer of his own life and times." -- New York Times "In his poetic memoir, I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp, Hell takes us on a tour of a lost world and stakes out his place in cultural history." -- Los Angeles Times "Hell brings to his new autobiography more literary experience than your typical rock memoirist...I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp ultimately celebrates passion, in all its complicated, sometimes dangerous forms." -- USA Today "This valuable book... is not only an absorbing cultural history but also a clear-eyed story that superbly channels the attitude expressed in the first blurt to his best-known song 'Blank Generation': "I was saying let me out of here before I was even born." -- Boston Globe "Mr. Hell has an excellent new memoir, I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp, that describes that wild, reckless and important era in downtown Manhattan with candor, wit and reverence." -- The Observer "His book shines its own dirty light. Which means it has lots of sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll. Pick up I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp, if you want poetry and insight." -- Spin "There are many shivery, illicit pleasures in this louche memoir... Hell was a virtuoso of taste, a critic with a sensibility so fine and unconventional it bordered on its own form of art... weird and singular and superbly self-aware." -- BookForum "Hell is an enthusiastic reporter of the critical artistic crossover of the avant-garde art scene and the world of punk rock... his account rings true and it entertains... a treasure both to those present during gritty, heady '70s NYC and to those not." -- Time Out New York (4 Stars) "Hell brings his searingly honest songwriting style to this candid and page-turning memoir... [Hell's] portrait of the artist searching for himself offers a glimpse into his own genius as well as recreating the hellishness and the excitement of a now long-gone music scene in New York City." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A skilled writer...In recalling the days when love came in spurts, Hell is precise, telling a lot without ever seeming to tell too much. He nails the essence of both scenes and people, from rock peers to exploitative record producers...A deft, lyrical chronicle." -- Kirkus "Hell is a fine writer and full of self-knowledge, and part of the pleasure of this randy, drug-addled memoir are his descriptions of New York during the bad old days when crime was rampant and the streets filthy. A compelling and entertaining memoir." -- Booklist "[Hell] almost single handedly created 'punk' as we know it... Few people have been as important--yet as underappreciated as Richard Hell. Poet, musician, fashion icon and terrific, terrific writer. Chances are, you have been deeply influenced by Richard Hell your whole life. You just didn't know it." -- Anthony Bourdain "Richard Hell designed and executed a sustained performance of rock stardom as if he had invented the concept himself. Radically self-aware, he wields prose keen as a diamond knife, sharpened by the light of the moon." -- Luc Sante, award winning author of Low Life "An exquisite snapshot of early punk possibility--that so beautifully captures the exuberance of starting a band!" -- Legs McNeil "Charming and impossible, Hell is the first (and best!) name in punk rock. His insights are informed by the romance of running away to the mystery heard in the rowdy grooves of a dirty LP or in the pages of a thumbed book of verse." -- Thurston Moore "Tramp gave me the same feeling I had as a kid... I cozied up and fell in love with a world that wasn't mine. There are very few books that make me want to start writing my own; this is one of them." -- Kathleen Hanna "Other rock bios are tasteful and cautious - you feel the writer take you to a certain point but then pull back... Hell will take you right there, and that is why this book is an honest and special treat." -- Dean Wareham

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Book SynopsisA sparkling new translation of the most famous travel book ever writtenMarco Poloâ??s voyages began in 1271 with a visit to China. Afterward, he served Kublai Khan on numerous diplomatic missions in the Far East. His subsequent account of his travels offers a fascinating glimpse of what he encountered abroad: unfamiliar religions; new customs and societies; the spices and silks of the East; the precious gems, exotic vegetation, and wild beasts of faraway lands. Evoking a remote and long-vanished world with color and immediacy, Marco Poloâ??s book revolutionized Western ideas about the then-unknown East and remains one of the greatest travel accounts of all time. Nigel Cliffâ??s new translation, based on the original medieval sources, is a fresh, authoritative rendering, with a lively introduction and notes.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin CTrade ReviewThe translation is excellent. The English is clear and modern, but preserves the flavour of the original ... It will doubtless become a standard work and will deservedly take its place as one of the best English translations of Marco Polo's account of his travels -- Stephen G. Haw

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Book SynopsisSwim, Bike, Run - The ultimate guide to triathlon by Olympics heroes Alistair and Jonathan BrownleeA Number One Bestseller This is the story of how two skinny lads from west Yorkshire became the best triathletes in the world.Meet the Brownlees: Olympic Champion Alistair, World Champion Jonny. Brothers, training partners, rivals. They have obliterated the competition and set new standards for swimming, biking and running.In this revealing, often very funny book they take us inside their world. It''s both a riveting story of the races, the success and the brotherly rivalry, as well as a guide to triathlon with sections on how to swim, bike and run and packed with advice on nutrition, injury, and mental approach.This book will appeal to readers of cycling and running books like Mark Cavendish''s Boy Racer and Running with the Kenyans, as well as fans of Chrissie Wellington''s A Life Without Limits and Andy BeckeTrade ReviewMaybe their [Olympic] achievement was the greatest of all. Swim, Bike, Run is an absorbing account of this punishing sport for both aspiring participants and armchair masochists alike * Daily Mail *Sport has two new heroes: a couple of nice lads from Yorkshire * The Times *There is a golden rule in triathlon: when a Brownlee races, they win. They are incredibly close, do most things together, train as a team, and yet come the big race they are deadly rivals * The Guardian *Under the pressure of the biggest race of their lives, they delivered in unforgettable style * The Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisRecalls how much of the rebellious queer culture, cheap rents, and a vibrant downtown arts movement vanished almost overnight to be replaced by gay conservative spokespeople and mainstream consumerism.Trade Review"This bracing, powerful, and well-reasoned work reaffirms the author's stature as a distinctive American woman of letters... Highly recommended." -- Richard Drezen Library Journal "The book that's inspired me more than any other this year is Sarah Schulman's Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination, a razor-sharp memoir of New York in the heyday of the AIDS crisis." -- Jason King Slate "Teeming with ideas, necessary commentary, refreshing connections and examination of the status quo." Lambda Literary "A brilliant critique of contemporary culture... This is the most important book of the year." -- Jeff Miller Cult MTL "Schulman's personal recollections... are sharp and vivid." Gay & Lesbian Review/Worldwide "This is a very good, very sad book about the aftershock of the AIDS crisis in New York. Schulman is a truly gifted thinker." -- Alex Frank Fader Magazine "The author, a true woman of letters, makes a persuasive case." -- Roberto Friedman Bay Area Reporter "This is why the book is so successful and demands our attention: through a focus on the pulse of the queer community (of the 80s), it touches upon the individual condition (of today)." -- Marcie Bianco Velvetpark "A polemic, a passionate, provocative ... account of disappearance, forgetfulness and untimely death." -- Olivia Laing New Statesman "No book has rocked my world in recent times more than Sarah Schulman's 'The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination' ... [it ranks] among the best alternative histories published in the last 50 years." -- Don Shewey Culturevulture.net "A galvanizing account of the transformation, both external and mental, in New York City life." -- Emily Douglas Los Angeles Review Of Books "The essence of what Schulman calls gentrification is to pretend that privilege and difference do not exist and that any attempt to remember that they do is mere 'political correctness' rather than facing up to the reality to who does what to whom. To forget these things, is to deceive ourselves-and Schulman's harsh, bitter prose is a useful way of waking ourselves up." -- Roz Kaveney Times Literary Supplement (TLS) "It's a beautifully written screed (not a bad word in my books)... Schulman shines when she taps her deep knowledge of the AIDS movement... She can be brilliant." -- Susan G. Cole NowTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Making Record from Memory Part I. Understanding the Past 1. The Dynamics of Death and Replacement 2. The Gentrification of AIDS 3. Realizing That They're Gone Part II. The Consequences Of Loss 4. The Gentrification of Creation 5. The Gentrification of Gay Politics 6. The Gentrification of Our Literature Conclusion: Degentrification--The Pleasure of Being Uncomfortable

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Book SynopsisThe Phaedo is acknowledged to be one of Plato''s greatest masterpieces, showing him both as a philosopher and as a dramatist at the height of his powers. For its moving account of the execution of Socrates, the Phaedo ranks among the supreme literary achievements of antiquity. It is also a seminal document for many ideas deeply ingrained in western culture, and provides one of the best introductions to Plato''s thought. This new edition is a revised version of the Clarendon Press translation, and is eminently suitable for readers new to Plato, and ideal for classroom use, thanks to the provision of Stephanus page and letter numbering. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clariTrade ReviewThe new translation is freer in some places making it more accessible to those encountering Plato for the first time. An essential book for those who desire an introduction to Platonic philosophy. * The Greek Gazette *

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Book SynopsisMeet the dogs who searched for life amongst the ruins of the Twin Towers.Many heroes were made on 9/11 and in the weeks that followed. Not all of them showed human courage. Some of them could only show that they were truly man's best friend. German Shepherds, Labradors and Spaniels accounted for the majority of the four-legged heroes.Over three hundred search and rescue dogs worked the pile at Ground Zero and the crash site at the Pentagon. For hours they searched, fighting off exhaustion with sheer determination and they continued every day long after the hope of finding survivors had passed.There were faithful Guide dogs who helped their sightless owners out of the Twin Towers and led them to safety showed unstinting devotion in the face of adversity. And later, therapy dogs arrived to bring comfort to the bereaved and confused. At every stage of the operation, dogs were there helping humankind in various roles. And invaluably, they provided comfort and reassurance and lifted spirits

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Book SynopsisThe fifteenth fostering memoir by Cathy Glass.Danny was petrified and clung to me in desperation as I carried him to my car. Trapped in his own dark world, he couldn''t understand why his parents no longer loved or wanted him, and were sending him away.While Danny's parents have everything they could wish for in material terms, they are unable to care for their only child. This is where Cathy comes in. On a cold dark evening Danny finds a place in her home where he can be himself; away from his parents' impatience and frustration. Often in his own little world, six-year-old Danny finds it difficult to communicate, finding solace in his best friend and confidant George his rabbit.Cathy quickly becomes aware of his obsessively meticulous behaviour in addition to his love of patterns, he sees them everywhere and creates them at any opportunity in his play and also with his food. She realises that patience is the key to looking after Danny as well as her well-tried strategies for managin

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Book SynopsisThe bestselling follow-up to Humble Pie, now in paperback. When he was struggling to get his first restaurant in the black, Gordon Ramsay never imagined he''d be famous for a TV show about how to run profitable eateries, or that he''d be head of a business empire. But he is and he did. Here''s how.In the beginning there was nothing.Not a sausage penniless, broke, fucking nothing and although, at a certain age, that didn't matter hugely, there came a time when hand-me-downs, cast-offs and football boots of odd sizes all pointed to a problem that seemed to have afflicted me, my mum, my sisters, Ronnie and the whole lot of us. It was as though we had been dealt the all-time dysfunctional' poker hand.I wish I could say that, from this point on, the penny dropped and I decided to do something about it, but it wasn't like that. It would take years before the lessons of life, business and money began to click into place before, as they say, I had a pot to piss in.This is the story of how those lessons were learned.This is Gordon Ramsay at his raw, rugged best. PLAYING WITH FIRE is the amazing story of Gordon's journey from sous-chef to superstar. In his no-holds-barred style, Gordon shares his passion for risk and adventure and his hard-won success secrets.Trade Review'A truly inspiring read that makes you realise if you want something enough, it's there for the taking.' The Sun Praise for Humble Pie: ‘Gordon Ramsay’s Humble Pie – so exuberantly angry boastful, cliche-ridden, expletive-laden and touchingly sincere that I can’t believe that a single sentence has been written by anyone but the failed footballer, great cook, telly star and businessman himself. He’s the genuine bollocks, as he’s so fond of saying, and this is the tale of his personal class struggle.’ – The Observer 'Inspirational stuff.' Heat ‘I cannot recommend strongly enough that every BII member reads it… The book is an inspiration. Anybody running any kind of business will benefit from reading this.’ BII Business magazine

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Book SynopsisPassionate, independent-minded nonfiction from the international bestselling author of The Corrections'.Jonathan Franzen''s Freedom' was the literary sensation of 2010, whilst The Corrections' was the best-loved and most written-about novel the previous decade. How to be Alone', is a collection of the personal essays and painstaking, often humorous reportage that have earned Franzen a wide and loyal readership, including what has come to be known as ''The Harper''s Essay'', Franzen''s controversial 1996 look at the fate of the novel. From the sex-advice industry to the way a supermax prison works, from his father''s struggle with Alzheimer''s disease to a rueful account of Franzen''s brief tenure as an Oprah Winfrey author, each piece wrestles with Franzen''s familiar themes: the erosion of civic life and private dignity, and the hidden persistence of loneliness, in postmodern imperial America.These collected essays record what Franzen calls ''a movement away from an angry and frightenTrade Review‘Compelling and invigorating.’The Times ‘A passionate and compelling piece of work … Each page is studded with irresistible writing which leaves you breathless for more. Franzen’s strength is his ability to combine a rigorous intellectual appraoch with an upbeat energy, using language which touches the heart as surely as the head.’Time Out ‘Oprah was right. Franzen is conflicted. That’s what makes him a trustworthy, sceptical essayist.’FT

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking account of two suffragettes who lived wild and brave lives together during World War One and beyond.

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Book SynopsisThe political thriller of the year - UPDATED WITH A DEVASTATING NEW CHAPTER ON THE CHILCOT INQUIRY''Excellent'' Sunday Times''Devastating'' Daily MailWhen Tony Blair became prime minister in 1997, he was, at forty-three, the youngest to hold that office since 1812. With a landslide majority, his approval rating was 93 per cent and he went on to become Labour''s longest-serving premier. So what went wrong? With unprecedented access to more than 180 Whitehall officials, military officers and politicians, Tom Bower has uncovered the full story of Blair''s decade in power. He has followed Blair''s trail from his resignation, since which he has built a remarkable empire advising tycoons and tyrants. The result is the political thriller of the year, illuminating the mystery of an extraordinary politician who continues to fascinate to this day.

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Book SynopsisRené Girard (1923–2015) was one of the leading thinkers of our era - a provocative sage who bypassed prevailing orthodoxies to offer a bold, sweeping vision of human nature, human history, and human destiny. His oeuvre, offering a “mimetic theory” of cultural origins and human behavior, inspired such writers as Milan Kundera and J. M. Coetzee, and earned him a place among the forty “immortals” of the Académie Française.Too often, however, his work is considered only within various academic specializations. This first-ever biographical study takes a wider view. Cynthia L. Haven traces the evolution of Girard’s thought in parallel with his life and times. She recounts his formative years in France and his arrival in a country torn by racial division, and reveals his insights into the collective delusions of our technological world and the changing nature of warfare.Drawing on interviews with Girard and his colleagues, Evolution of Desire: A Life of René Girard provides an essential introduction to one of the twentieth century’s most controversial and original minds.

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Book SynopsisEmpress of Rome is the fascinating biography of one of the most perplexing and powerful figures of the ancient world: the empress Livia. Second wife of the emperor Augustus and the mother of his successor Tiberius, Livia has been vilified by posterity (most notably by Tacitus and Robert Graves) as the quintessence of the scheming Roman matriarch, poisoning her relatives one by one to smooth her son''s path to the imperial throne. In this elegant and rigorously researched biography, Matthew Dennison rescues the historical Livia from this crudely drawn caricature of the popular imagination. He depicts a complex, courageous and richly gifted woman whose true crime was not was not murder but the exercise of power, and who, in a male-dominated society, had the energy to create for herself both a prominent public profile and a significant sphere of political influence. Trade Review'Brilliant' Daily Express. * Daily Express *'Ebullient' The Times. * The Times *Table of ContentsAuthor's Note. Family tree. Preface 'He chopped down the family tree'. 'Superbissima'. In the beginning ... were the Claudii. 'Innocent of guilt'. 'Virility to her reasoning power'. A young man of noble family, of native talent and moderation? 'Night would last for ever'. Fugitive. 'The whimsicality of fate'. 'An eagle flew by'. The price of comfort. 'No magic chant will make you a mother'. By the side of the goddess. Sacrosanct. 'A charming view with minimal expense'. 'A man and his family should live together as partners'. 'They compelled him, as it seemed, to accept autocratic powers'. 'Born of his sacred blood'. 'Her sacred office'. 'If you come to any harm ... that is the end of me too'. Three cities of Judea. 'The man set apart by such an alliance would be enormously elevated'. 'Outstandingly virtuous'. 'Tiberius closer to Caesar'. 'What more can I ask of the immortal gods?' 'Try not to guess what lies in the future'. 'Perpetual security'. Purer than Parian marble? 'Blood -red comets'. Augusta. 'His mother Livia vexed him'. Above the law? Epilogue: 'You held your course without remorse'. Notes. Bibliography. Glossary. Index. List of illustrations.

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Book SynopsisFiery and candid, I Killed Scheherazade is a provocative exploration of what it means to be an 'Arab woman' today.Trade Review'Haddad is a revolutionary, this book is the manifesto. Read it or be left behind.' Rabih Alameddine 'Haddad is a poet who inhabits the storm.' Tahar Ben Jelloun 'In this courageous book Haddad breaks down the taboo of the silent absent Arab woman.' Elfriede Jelinek 'Courageous and illuminating - it opens our eyes, destroys our prejudices and is very entertaining.' Mario Vargas Llosa 'Haddad cannot be intimidated. This book is a lesson of courage for all those who fight to go beyond their own limits and chains.' Roberto Saviano 'A spirited call to arms' New York Times 'A vivid assertion of individuality, free speech, free choice and dignity against religious bigotry, prejudice and the herd instinct both within and outside the Arab world.' Guardian 'Lifts the veil on love and sex' Marie Claire 'Provocative and sensual' Huffington Post 'Beirut's body language pioneer' Washington PostTable of ContentsCONTENTS: TO START WITH - On camels, belly dancing, schizophrenia and other disasters 1 AN ARAB WOMAN READING THE MARQUIS DE SADE 2 AN ARAB WOMAN NOT BELONGING ANYWHERE 3 AN ARAB WOMAN WRITING EROTIC POETRY 4 AN ARAB WOMAN CREATING A MAGAZINE ABOUT THE BODY 5 AN ARAB WOMAN REDEFINING HER WOMANHOOD 6 AN ARAB WOMAN SAYING NO 7 AN ARAB WOMAN FLYING AN AIRPLANE 8 AN ARAB WOMAN SEIZING THE MOMENT 9 AN ARAB WOMAN UNAFRAID OF PROVOKING ALLAH 10 AN ARAB WOMAN TALKING TO HER SON ABOUT SEX TO START again - Am I really an 'Arab Woman'? POST PARTUM - I killed Scheherazade THE MISSING CHAPTER - Attempt at an autobiography

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Book SynopsisWinner of the PEN/Ackerley Prize 2014The book opens and we are inside the wave: thirty feet high, moving at twenty-five mph, racing two miles inland. And from there into the depths of the author's despair: how to live now that her life has been undone? Sonali Deraniyagala tells her story - the loss of her two boys, her husband, and her parents - without artifice or sentimentality. In the stark language of unfathomable sorrow, anger, and guilt: she struggles through the first months following the tragedy -- someone always at her side to prevent her from harming herself, her whole being furiously clenched against the reality she can't face; and then reluctantly emerging and, over the ensuing years, slowly allowing her memory to function again. Then she goes back through the rich and joyous life she's mourning, from her family's home in London, to the birth of her children, to the year she met her English husband at Cambridge, to her childhood in Colombo while learning the balance between the almost unbearable reminders of her loss and her fundamental need to keep her family, somehow, still with her.Trade ReviewIn her unflinching writing you live through the horror and despair, but also feel her self-generated repair and the promise of survival -- Harriet Walter * The Week *

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Book SynopsisFrom somewhere out in the vast whiteness of the blizzard we hear a cry for help. Instinctively the three of us turn and head across the mountainside. We find two men and a woman, huddled together in the snow, unable to descend the steep icy slope between them and safety.The woman asks if we are experienced in conditions like this. My friends and I have tackled a few winter hills in the Lake District and bumbled up easy rock climbs, but we have never been in a full Scottish winter snowstorm. I laugh and assure her that this is nothing to mountaineers like us.Soon our hills will be empty and one day the last hillwalker will disappear over the horizon. In the 21st century we are losing our connection with the wild, a connection that may never be regained.The Last Hillwalker by bestselling author John D. Burns is a personal story of falling in and out of love with the hills. More than that, it is about rediscovering a deeply felt need in all of us to connect with wild places.Trade ReviewCaptures the essence of what it means to love mountains and love being in mountains. -- Chris Townsend * The Great Outdoors Magazine *Table of Contents1 Psycho Killer2 American Pie3 Horizontal Everest4 Three Men in a Tent5 The Hidden World6 Winter in Langdale7 The White Giant8 North and South9 Dangerous Days10 Meeting the Reaper11 Death by Armchair12 The Bothy Hunter13 The Last HillwalkerPostscriptThe Journey Continues

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times #1 Bestseller, shortlisted for the Cross Sports Book Award.In 1996, Damon Hill was crowned Formula One World Champion. For the first time ever he tells the story of his journey through the last golden era of the sport when he took on the greats including Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher and emerged victorious as World Champion in 1996, stepping out of the shadow of his legendary father Graham Hill.Away from the grid, Watching the Wheels: The Autobiography is an astonishingly candid account of what it was like to grow up as the son of one of the country's most famous racing drivers. It also tells the unflinching story of dealing with the grief and chaos that followed his father's tragically early death in an aircraft accident in 1975, when Damon was fifteen years old. Formula One drivers have always been aware of their mortality, and the rush that comes with the danger of racing was as intoxicating for Hill as it had been for his father's generation, until he came face-to-face with catastrophe when his team-mate, Ayrton Senna, was killed in 1994. The swirling emotions that Hill was faced with in light of the death of Senna was a defining moment for his generation of drivers and for the first time ever Hill talks candidly about the impact that Senna had on his life, even as he watched his own son step into motor racing.Courageously honest, and hugely rewarding, Watching the Wheels is a return to the last golden era of F1 racing, whose image still burns ferociously for those who love the sport for what it reveals about human skill in the face of near certain death.Trade ReviewThe afterlife of this particular world champion has not always been easy, thanks to the fight against depression and a couple of unsatisfactory business ventures, but the upside includes a decision to resume the educational path he left almost forty years ago . . . That may have encouraged him to tell a remarkable story in his own words, and to do so with eloquence, directness and insight. -- Richard Williams * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisThe engrossing account of one of World War II's legendary figures. A member of the legendary Band of Brothers, Ed Shames was involved in some of the most important battles of World War II. His incredible combat record includes parachuting into Normandy on D-Day, and service during Operation Market Garden, at Bastogne and in Germany itself. Shames' own words and recollections fuel a searing account that gives a soldier's glimpse into the ferocity of the fighting on the ground and the close fellowship that developed between the men in Easy Company. The first member of the 101st Airborne Division to enter Dachau concentration camp, just days after its liberation, Shames ended the war in the bombed out shell of Hitler's Eagles Nest, surrounded by his comrades in arms.Written by the author of the critically acclaimed Tonight We Die As Men, this is the phenomenal story of a remarkable young lieutenant during World War II, from training at Toccoa, Georgia right through Table of ContentsForeword by James C. Roberts /Introduction /Acknowledgments /1. "Take the A train" /2. "Beyond golden fields" /3. "The other side of tomorrow" /4. "The river runs red" /5. "Five seconds to forget" /6. "Bullets from the sun" /7. "Dead men's shoes" /8. "The bucket list" /9. "And the rain drank champagne" /10. "Faith and justice" /11. "Northwind" /12. "Ruhr Pocket" /13. "Last stand" /14. "Ameritocracy" /Epilogue by Ed Shames /Bibliography /Glossary /Index

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Book Synopsis'The story of a disease that plunged its victims into a prison of viscous time, and the drug that catapulted them out of it' – Guardian Hailed as a medical classic, and the subject of a major feature film as well as radio and stage plays and various TV documentaries, Awakenings by Oliver Sacks is the extraordinary account of a group of twenty patients.Rendered catatonic by the sleeping-sickness epidemic that swept the world just after the First World War, all twenty had spent forty years in hospital: motionless and speechless; aware of the world around them, but exhibiting no interest in it – until Dr Sacks administered the then-new drug, L-DOPA, which caused them, temporarily, to awake from their decades-long slumber . . .Trade ReviewA brilliant and humane book. * Observer *It makes you aware of what a knife edge we live on. -- Doris LessingNot only a collection of astonishing case histories, Awakenings is also a memoir, a moral essay and a romance. It is a work of genius. * Washington Post *

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Book SynopsisIn this stunning memoir, beloved internationally acclaimed earth advocate chronicles her journey to reconnect with the earth, offering a model for how we all can nurture the wild around and inside ourselves.In 1991, twenty-four-year-old Lynx Vilden crawled out of a sweat lodge covered in mud, her face streaked with tears, and whispered a promise to the earth: “I will love you and cherish you, I will learn how to live and share what you teach me.” That promise became Vilden’s life purpose: to return to the ways of our oldest ancestors, to a simpler life, and to listen deeply to Earth and what she has to say. Over the next thirty years, Vilden’s mission would lead her far from the city streets and punk bands of London and Amsterdam where she was raised, on a long and winding journey spanning continents and seasons, and filled with indigenous wisdom, Stone Age hunting skills, and important lessons from nature.In this illuminating memoir, Vilden shares the joys that await all of us when we reconnect with the earth, when we recognize what has been lost, and understand what we gain by meaningfully returning to our roots and become rewilded. Return is a glimpse into her extraordinary world—from stories about mentoring Silicon Valley millennials at her Stone Age immersion in rural Washington State to adventures traveling among Sami reindeer herders in Arctic Sweden to detailing the intricacies of just how to pursue and survive a wild lifestyle inspired by Stone Age humans.This extraordinary debut ultimately invigorates our hunger to renew our bonds with the earth and awaken our wildest, most primal selves.Trade Review"Lynx Vilden's life has been an atavistic quest to find, and perhaps even recover, some fundamental meaning and substance that still lurks in our most elemental human nature. Here, Lynx has shared her life's work– her relentless passion to explore, identify, and recapture the organic and symbiotic relevance of the human experience. In Return, this remarkable woman has faithfully sought and truly found the marrow in the bone." — Joe Hutto, author of Illumination in the Flatwoods, The Light in High Places, and Touching the Wild “ …an exploration of what a closer relationship with the natural world can offer us…a spirited debut. A rigorous, colorful portrait of true wilderness living.” — Kirkus “[A] mesmerizing and ethereal autobiography mixed with aspects of spirituality…” — Booklist "Return is a story of a remarkable woman who is living the Stone-Age ways. For Lynx, the past, present and future are intertwined. By learning the skills of our ancestors, she reminds Mankind of our forgotten abilities." — Miriam Lancewood, author of international bestseller Woman in the Wilderness

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Book SynopsisIn Eminent Hipsters, musician and songwriter Donald Fagen, best known as the co-founder of the rock band Steely Dan, presents an autobiographical portrait that touches on everything from the cultural figures that mattered the most to him as a teenager, to his years in the late 1960s at Bard College, to a hilarious account of a recent tour he made with Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald.Fagen begins by introducing the ''eminent hipsters'' that spoke to him as he was growing up (and desperately yearning to be hip) in suburban New Jersey in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The figures who influenced him most were not the typical ones Miles Davis, say, or Jack Kerouac but rather people like Jean Shepherd, whose manic, acidic nightly radio broadcasts out of WOR-Radio had a tough realism about life and enthralled a generation of alienated young people'; Henry Mancini, whose chilled-out, nourish soundtracks, especially to films by Blake Edwards utilised the unconventional, spaTrade ReviewNerdishly clever, entertainingly original and even a moving reconfiguration of the memoir format. -- Bernadette McNulty * Sunday Telegraph *Fagen, as you might expect, is an elegant and erudite writer. -- John Mulvey * Uncut *If you're a Dan fan you should read this book. If you're not a Dan fan you should read it anyway. * The Afterword *Part memoir, part personal dissertation, and it makes for an enjoyable, if brief, read. -- Dylan Jones * GQ *A curious little autobiographical volume by another hero of long ago, Donald Fagen, once and again of Steely Dan. * Spectator *Eminent Hipsters is regularly funny and insightful. * Sunderland Echo / Dorset Echo *I would like to be given Eminent Hipsters. -- Sebastian Faulks * Observer *An excellent, albeit slim, collection of essays about the Steely Dan singer’s formative teenage influences as "a subterranean in gestation with a real nasty cast of otherness". -- Andy Gill * Independent *A memoir of inspired essayism and darkly comic recollection which barely touches on Steely Dan yet utterly satisfies. -- Mat Snow * Mojo *This is moaning of the highest order — jazz moaning, you might call it — and Fagen keeps it up for 70 brilliant, hilarious pages. For the intelligent, grumpy old music fan, only one of these books needs to be bought as a present this Christmas, and it’s not Morrissey’s. -- Markus Berkmann * Spectator *Eminent Hipsters is regularly funny and insightful…whether you know who Fagen is or not, it’s still worth anyone’s time. * Yorkshire Evening Post *The writing is sharp, wry and elegant, without a single wasted word. -- Aidan Smith * Scotland on Sunday *This book is a piece of pure bliss. -- Anthony Quinn * Guardian *An unalloyed joy. -- Les Gofton * Times Higher Education *Constantly surprising, and recalled with great elegance. * Financial Times *A terrific and easy read. -- Jonathan O'Brien * Sunday Business Post *Wry, funny and forensically observant. * Saga *A terrific music memoir. -- Tony Clayton-Lea * Irish Times *

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Book SynopsisGauguin's great diary from Tahiti almost never saw the light of day in its original form. The manuscript was sent by the artist from his island refuge to his friend Charles Morice in Paris, and published in 1901 with immediate success, under the two names of Paul Gauguin and Charles Morice. Morice, with Gauguin's permission, had 'edited' and enlarged it to make it more readable. How much of the charm and crispness of the manuscript had been lost in the process was anyone's guess. It was to be 40 years before Gauguin's original version came to light, and it is published here in a translation by the poet Jonathan Griffin, together with a detailed description by the art historian Jean Loize, who re-discovered the manuscript. Loize shows that Morice had in parts altered Gauguin's text beyond recognition - a startling discovery that entirely changed ideas about Gauguin's style and intentions. This genuine version of Noa Noa is not only an important document, it is also a beautiful piece of writing: amusing, acid, wide-eyed, moving. Gauguin feared that, unedited, it would seem absurdly crude; and no doubt it would have, to most readers in his day. Today we can appreciate its sketch form, jerky directness, authentic freshness. This edition is illustrated with the watercolours, wood-engravings and drawings that Gauguin assembled for the book.Trade Review"The London publishing house Pallas Athene has come up with the very welcome and worthwhile project of assembling English translations of early biographies of artists in an easily accessible publication." - Historians of Netherlands Art Reviews

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