Biography

The Thrilling and Emotional Memoir from Endurance Horse Racing Legend Sanoma Blakeley Chasing Dreams: The True Story of the Youngest Female Tevis Cup Champion is the incredible, action-packed memoir of Sanoma Blakeley’s 2019 Tevis Cup championship, won while riding her beloved horse Goober, and the tale of how she became the youngest woman to ever become a Tevis Cup champion. Beginning her endurance riding career at the age of seven, Blakeley writes about the years of training and teamwork required to win the most challenging and famous 100-mile horse race in the world aboard a horse she had originally acquired for free off of Craigslist. Blakeley places readers on the ride with her so that they can experience the thrill of the most exciting horse endurance race in existence. Blakeley and Goober survive narrow mountain trails winding through the Sierra-Nevadas, containing over 19,000 feet of elevation gain; three steep, grueling canyons; crossing the shoulder-high American River; riding at night with only the light of the moon to guide them; temperatures that soared over 115 degrees; and, most excitingly, the final neck-and-neck sprint to the finish against a four-time Tevis Cup champion and world class competitor after 100 miles of some of the most rugged mountain trails in the world.When Blakeley and Goober cross the finish line just a few feet ahead of their competition and Blakeley becomes the youngest woman in history to win the Tevis Cup, a lifetime of hard work that began when the author started training as a small child and who had long dreamed of winning the Tevis Cup was finally rewarded. Chasing Dreams contains action, heartwarming twists, and an epic ending that will leave readers in tears.

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An unputdownable true account of how a tenacious head teacher led one of the most challenging schools in the country to excellence. No Excuses charts an extraordinary principal's journey from the moment she took over at a failing secondary school in a deprived area, where less than a quarter of children attained five or more A*-C GCSEs, and how she set about the gruelling task of transforming its reputation using her zero-tolerance, tough-love approach. Armed only with a wicked sense of humour, fearless energy and a powerful vision, Alison Colwell put in place a stringent set of rules, including a strict uniform policy and a complete ban on mobile phones, provoking resistance and hostility from some parents, the wider community and on social media. This is the darkly funny, moving story of how, together, teachers and their - often troubled - pupils rebuilt a school and community, with an inspirational head at the helm. Charming, touching and full of brilliant leadership advice, this is the diary of the woman the Daily Mail labelled Britain's strictest head teacher.

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Jeffrey Frank, author of the bestselling Ike and Dick, returns with the “beguiling” (The New York Times) first full account of the Truman presidency in nearly thirty years, recounting how a seemingly ordinary man met the extraordinary challenge of leading America through the pivotal years of the mid-20th century. The nearly eight years of Harry Truman’s presidency—among the most turbulent in American history—were marked by victory in the wars against Germany and Japan; the first use of an atomic bomb and the development of far deadlier weapons; the start of the Cold War and the creation of the NATO alliance; the Marshall Plan to rebuild the wreckage of postwar Europe; the Red Scare; and the fateful decision to commit troops to fight a costly “limited war” in Korea. Historians have tended to portray Truman as stolid and decisive, with a homespun manner, but the man who emerges in The Trials of Harry S. Truman is complex and surprising. He believed that the point of public service was to improve the lives of one’s fellow citizens and fought for a national health insurance plan. While he was disturbed by the brutal treatment of African Americans and came to support stronger civil rights laws, he never relinquished the deep-rooted outlook of someone with Confederate ancestry reared in rural Missouri. He was often carried along by the rush of events and guided by men who succeeded in refining his fixed and facile view of the postwar world. And while he prided himself on his Midwestern rationality, he could act out of instinct and combativeness, as when he asserted a president’s untested power to seize the nation’s steel mills. The Truman who emerges in these pages is a man with generous impulses, loyal to friends and family, and blessed with keen political instincts, but insecure, quick to anger, and prone to hasty decisions. Archival discoveries, and research that led from Missouri to Washington, Berlin and Korea, have contributed to an indelible and “intimate” (The Washington Post) portrait of a man, born in the 19th century, who set the nation on a course that reverberates in the 21st century, a leader who never lost a schoolboy’s love for his country and its Constitution.

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As Captain Scott lay freezing and starving to death on his return journey from the South Pole, he wrote with a stub of pencil his final words: ‘For God’s sake look after our people.’ Uppermost in his mind were the three women who would now be widows: Kathleen, his own bohemian artist wife; Oriana, the devout wife of the expedition’s chief scientist, Ted Wilson; and Lois, the Welsh working-class wife of Petty Officer Edgar Evans. When the news came that the men were dead, they became heroes, their story filling column inches in newspapers across the world. Their widows were thrust into the limelight, forced to grieve in public view, keeping a stiff upper lip while the world praised their husbands’ sacrifice. These three women had little in common except that their husbands had died together, but this shared experience was to shape the rest of their lives. Each experienced their loss differently, their treatment by the press and the public influenced by their class and contemporary notions of both manliness and womanly behaviour. Each had to rebuild their life, fiercely and loyally defending their husbands’ legacies and protecting their fatherless children in the face of financial hardship, public criticism and intense press scrutiny. Widows of the Ice is not the story of famous women but of forgotten wives, whose love and support helped to shape one of the most iconic moments in British history. They have drifted to the outer edges of the Antarctic narrative, and bringing them back gives a new perspective to a story we thought we already knew. It is a story of imperialistic dreams, misogyny and classism, but also of enormous courage, high ideals, duty – and, above all, love.

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A doctor reflects on his profession and his experience with patients in this brilliant essay collection that expands on his wildly popular Twitter poems.In medicine, every patient presents with a story. “Once upon a time I was well, and then . . . ” These patient narratives are the beating heart of medicine; through stories we strive to communicate, to understand, to empathize, and perhaps find healing.These Vital Signs is a poignant series of essays—deeply personal stories—inspired by nephrologist Sayed Tabatabai’s medical experience and based on a series of poems he posted on Twitter that began going viral at the height of the Covid pandemic. Each short work is a poignant glimpse into the ever-changing field of medicine and the special relationship between patients and their doctor. In each, Tabatabai beautifully evokes the emotional tension between life and death, wellness and disease, uncertainty and hope, in a unique and unforgettable way.Exploring themes of illness, dying, grief, and joy, universal in its reach, These Vital Signs tells stories both remarkable and utterly ordinary of a doctor and the patients who have shaped him.

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‘Kevin does what I pretend to do. Kevin’s a proper musician.’ David Bowie‘Kevin Armstrong has been around, and around.’ Iggy PopGrowing up in a world of punk squats and the London pub-rock scene, suburban rookie guitarist Kevin Armstrong found himself signed to EMI as a solo artist in the early 80s, but fate had other plans for him, his life and career changing in an instant when he was called for a studio date with an unnamed star at Abbey Road.That unnamed star was soon revealed to be David Bowie, and that afternoon’s recording catapulted this unlikely lad onto the world’s grandest stages alongside some of the biggest names in the business. Kevin has gone on to carve out a singular career as a producer, songwriter, and guitarist, performing live and recording with everyone from Grace Jones to Paul McCartney, Iggy Pop to Roy Orbison, Sandie Shaw to Alien Sex Fiend.Absolute Beginner is the story of what it takes to survive as a self-taught musician. It provides an honest and funny glimpse into the backstage world of the artists Kevin has worked with, and is packed with acerbic, laugh-out-loud observations on popular music and musicians from someone who has had a prime seat at the high table of rock’n’roll for more than forty years.

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What happens when you put the Roman Empire in the hands of a teenage boy? Discover the scandalous life and times of Rome's worst emperor. 'Buy the book; it's very entertaining.' David Aaronovitch, The Times On 8 June 218 AD, a fourteen-year-old Syrian boy, egged on by his grandmother, led an army to battle in a Roman civil war. Against all expectations, he was victorious. Varius Avitus Bassianus, known to the modern world as Heliogabalus, was proclaimed emperor. The next four years were to be the strangest in the history of the empire. Heliogabalus humiliated the prestigious Senators and threw extravagant dinner parties for lower-class friends. He ousted Jupiter from his summit among the gods and replaced him with Elagabal. He married a Vestal Virgin – twice. Rumours abounded that he was a prostitute. In the first biography of Heliogabalus in over half a century, Harry Sidebottom unveils the high drama of sex, religion, power and culture in Ancient Rome as we’ve never seen it before. ***** A Financial Times, BBC History and Spectator Book of the Year 'Combining the pace of a novelist, the training of a scholar and the instincts of a true historian, this is a wonderful exploration of the Roman world under its strangest emperor.' Adrian Goldsworthy, author of Pax Romana 'The decadence, debauchery and sexual promiscuity that marked the adolescent’s time on the imperial throne make for a rollicking read.' Daily Mail 'Ancient history was never less dry than in Harry Sidebottom’s superbly entertaining and always scholarly account of the reign of Heliogabalus... There is something for every reader: sex, politics, scandals and a compelling portrait of imperial society and culture.' Financial Times

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At the height of his initial, turn-of-the-1990's infamy as the maraca-wielding dancer with 'Madchester' giants Happy Mondays, the pop-eyed Mark Berry, forever known to the world as Bez, was visibly a danger to society. He became the so-called Chemical Generation's bug-eyed pied piper, every weekend leading millions out to oblivion and beyond, as they adopted his E-gobbling party lifestyle.Neither an accomplished musician nor even a very good dancer, Bez was a prime candidate for fleeting celebrity, soon to sink into 'Where Are They Now?' obscurity. That, however, never happened, nor does it show any sign of happening. Through Black Grape, the second band he co-fronted with the Mondays' Shaun Ryder, and his ever-presence in the mass media, Bez's popularity has grown exponentially, his star rocketing ever upwards.When he bowled into Celebrity Big Brother in 2005, he ended up winning the series, as viewers came to understand his fundamental decency and sunny outlook. His adult life has been extraordinary: unbelievable scrapes with mortality, periods of financial ruin, mindfuck moments like when David Bowie genuflected before him, and enough narcotic-strewn hi-jinx to fill several more volumes of memoir.This is the story of a bad lad who has turned his life good, tracing his passage from early-thirty-something casualty to middle-aged politician, eco-warrior and bee-aficionado.

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A fascinating and revelatory cultural history of hypochondria, from Hippocrates to wellness influencers - for fans of Andrew Solomon and Siddhartha Mukherjee

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*THE INSIDE STORY OF BRITAIN'S TOUGHEST PRISON*HMP Wakefield. 'Monster Mansion'. Hell to be inside. Almost impossible to escape. This prison has seen some of the most infamous prisoners of all time pass through its cells - from Levi Bellfield to Harold Shipman, Ian Huntley and Charles Bronson.Jonathan Levi and Emma French are the perfect authors to give chilling insight into all the terrible men who have served time there. After detailing the shocking truth of life in Britain's most high-profile psychiatric hospital in their bestselling book Inside Broadmoor, now they will take readers behind bars in this the UK's most notorious prison.Inside Wakefield Prison will trace its long and intriguing history, from when it was first built in 1594 all the way up to the present day. Today, just over 750 of the country's most dangerous offenders are kept there, including 'Hannibal the

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‘Enlightening, moving’ SIR IAN MCKELLEN From the acclaimed and bestselling biographer Jonathan Bate, a luminous new exploration of Shakespeare and how his themes can untangle comedy and tragedy, learning and loving in our modern lives. ‘The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.’ How does one survive the death of a loved one, the mess of war, the experience of being schooled, of falling in love, of growing old, of losing your mind? Shakespeare’s world is never too far different from our own ‘permeated with the same tragedies, the same existential questions and domestic worries. In this extraordinary book, Jonathan Bate brings then and now together. He investigates moments of his own life – losses and challenges – and asks whether, if you persevere with Shakespeare, he can offer a word of wisdom or a human insight for any time or any crisis. Along the way we meet actors such as Judi Dench and Simon Callow, and writers such as Dr Johnson, John Keats, Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath, who turned to Shakespeare in their own dark times. This is a personal story about loss, the black dog of depression, unexpected journeys and the very human things that echo through time, resonating with us all at one point or another.

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DATE SMARTER, MAKE BETTER DECISIONS IN LOVE, AND ACHIEVE THE RELATIONSHIP YOU DESERVE… IT ALL STARTS WITH NOT SETTLING! By day, Faith Jenkins is the host of Oxygen's Killer Relationship and former host of the nationally syndicated relationship show Divorce Court; by night, she’s a happily married new mother who navigated these dating streets for years before learning how to attract the love of her dreams. When she turned 35 without a wedding ring in sight, like most women, she started getting tons of questions about not being married. But she made a decision: I. Will. Not. Settle.     As an attorney and arbitrator, Faith has presided over hundreds of cases, and has helped couples avoid and resolve a wealth of drama. And she’s seen it all! In Sis, Don’t Settle, she’s gathered an arsenal of love, wisdom and advice for women on how to play it smart.  

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LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE 'Terrific fun' David Walsh, Sunday Times * * 'Thoroughly engaging' Washington Post A frank and revealing biography of legendary golf champion Phil Mickelson - who has led a big, controversial life - as reported by longtime Sports Illustrated writer and bestselling author Alan Shipnuck. Phil Mickelson is one of the most compelling figures in sports. For more than three decades he has been among the best golfers in the world, and his unmatched longevity was exemplified at the 2021 PGA Championship, when Mickelson, on the cusp of turning fifty-one, became the oldest player in history to win a major championship. In this raw and unauthorised biog­raphy, Shipnuck captures a singular life defined by thrilling victories, crushing defeats and countless controversies. Mickelson is a multi-faceted character, and all his warring impulses are on display in these pages: he is a smart-ass who built an empire on being the consummate professional; a loving husband dogged by salacious rumours; a high-stakes gambler who knows the house always wins but can’t tear himself away. Mickelson’s career and public image have been defined by the contrast with his lifelong rival, Tiger Woods. Where Woods is robotic and reticent, Mickelson is affable and extroverted, an incorrigible showman. In their early years together on Tour, Mickelson lacked Tiger’s laser focus and discipline, yet as Tiger’s career has been curtailed by scandal, addiction and a broken body, Phil sails on, still relevant on the golf course and in the marketplace.Phil is the perfect marriage of subject and author. Shipnuck delivers numerous revelations, from the true scale of Mickelson’s massive gambling losses to the secretive backstory of the Saudi golf league that Mickelson championed. But Phil also celebrates Mickelson’s random acts of kindness and generosity of spirit, to which friends and strangers alike can attest. Shipnuck has covered Mickelson for his entire career, allowing him to take readers inside the ropes with a thrilling immediacy and intimacy. The result is the juiciest and liveliest golf book in years - full of heart, humour and unexpected turns.

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In 2019, Oscar-winning special effects supremo John Richardson released his first book, the bestselling Making Movie Magic, which chronicled his remarkable career in the film industry. A year later, during a house clear-out as the UK was stuck in a seemingly never-ending lockdown, he unearthed another treasure trove of behind-the-scenes images from the blockbuster films he worked on. Featuring never-before-seen photos from the Harry Potter films, eight James Bond films, The Omen, A Bridge Too Far, Superman, Aliens, Willow, Cliffhanger and many others, all reproduced in stunning colour alongside extended captions, Making Movie Magic: The Photographs is a further celebration of Richardson’s extraordinary body of work over five decades.

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The definitive biography of guitar icon and Grammy Award-winning artist Bill Frisell.FEATURING EXCLUSIVE LISTENING SESSIONS WITH: Paul Simon; Justin Vernon of Bon Iver; Gus Van Sant; Rhiannon Giddens; The Bad Plus; Gavin Bryars; Van Dyke Parks; Sam Amidon; Hal Willner; Jim Woodring; Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill'A beautiful and long overdue portrait of one of America's true living cultural treasures.'JOHN ZORN'The perfect companion-piece to the music of its subject.'MOJO'Outlines the subject's life in a series of scrupulous strokes and intimate interviews that are rare in such undertakings . . . a cool, casual victory.'IRISH TIMESOver a period of forty-five years, Bill Frisell has established himself as one of the most innovative and influential musicians at work today. A quietly revolutionary guitar hero for our genre-blurring times, he connects to a diverse range of artists and admirers, including Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, Gus Van Sant and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, all of whom feature in this book.A vital addition to any music lover's book collection, Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer tells the legendary guitarist's story for the first time.'Stuffed with musical encounters, so many that every couple of pages there's an unheard Frisell recording for the reader to chase down.'NEW YORKER'Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer is the definitive biography.'BILL MILKOWSKI, DOWNBEAT'Superb . . . the book races along like Sonny Rollins in full sail. Like subject, like writer: this is super-articulate, adventurous prose.'PERSPECTIVE'[Watson's] writing balances unbridled passion and dispassionate research nearly as deftly as Mr. Frisell's playing does sound and silence . . . compelling.'WALL STREET JOURNAL

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Great explorers are known for their hard-earned skills and meticulously honed character traits which have made their astonishing endeavours possible. Valuable lessons are waiting to be learned from the feats attained by the most revered names in exploration – from legendary adventurers such as Ernest Shackleton to lesser-known figures such as Junko Tabei.Life Lessons from Explorers collects 15 of the most highly prized traits shared by those who have scaled mountains and traversed tundras, proposing how these could be applied to your own life, whether you are crossing Antarctica or battling a mental obstacle. Compelling accounts of the life and times of celebrated explorers, highlighting when they have displayed these traits are accompanied by remarkable images of the people who have travelled to the ends of the Earth, and the places they discovered.

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‘A deeply moving and riveting memoir.’ Arianna Huffington ‘An incredible personal story.’ Don Cheadle This spellbinding memoir opens with a woman receiving shattering news that her husband and son have been in a terrible accident. In that instant, she becomes a widowed immigrant left to raise four children in a London neighbourhood beset by poverty and crime. Her struggle awakens an inner strength which – coupled with the rituals of radical mothering from her village – lead to the family’s salvation. The fierce parenting style she adopts ultimately produces an Oscar-nominated actor, an Oxford-educated CNN anchor, a doctor and a successful entrepreneur. Where the Children Take Us is the story of a woman who battled genocide, famine, poverty and crushing grief to rise from war-torn Africa to the streets of South London and eventually the drawing rooms of Buckingham Palace. It paints an unforgettable portrait of strength, tenacity and love – and is a testimony to the sacrifices Nigerian parents make to raise successful children.

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The beloved Sunday Times bestseller - a touching, hilarious, often outrageous memoir of home-making and family adventures in the world's furthest outposts 'Hilarious, and utterly beguiling - it’s a complete treat to be in Keenan’s witty and open-hearted company' Esther Freud 'Deliciously effervescent' Sunday Times 'Brigid writes like a dream ... fabulous' Joanna Lumley 'Irresistible' Mail on Sunday When Sunday Times fashion journalist Brigid Keenan married the love of her life in the late Sixties, she had little idea of the rollercoaster journey they would make around the world together. For he was a diplomat - and Brigid found herself the smiling face of the European Union in locales ranging from Kazakhstan to Trinidad, and asking herself questions she never thought she'd have to ask. How do you throw a buffet dinner during a public mourning period in Syria? Where do you track down dog fat in Almaty? And how do you entertain guests in a Nepalese chicken shed? Negotiating diplomatic protocol, difficult teenagers, homesickness, frustrated career aspirations, witch doctors, and giant jumping spiders, Brigid muddles determinedly through - with no shortage of mishaps on the way. 'There are not many books that have actually made me cry from laughing, but this is one of them' Sunday Times

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'Stunning . . . Built like a thriller, moving, wise and illuminated on every page with love' -Joanne Harris, author of ChocolatA parent's deeply moving love letter to a daughter who has always known exactly who she is.When Carolyn Hays’s child made clear to the family that they were all wrong, he was not a boy, but, in fact, a girl, the Hays shifted pronouns, adopted a nickname and encouraged her to dress as she felt comfortable. One ordinary day, a caseworker from the Department of Children and Families knocked on their door to investigate an anonymous complaint about the upbringing of their transgender child. It was this threat that instilled in them a deep-seated fear for their child’s safety in the Republican state they called home. And so they uprooted their lives to the more trans-accepting Northeast United States, though they were never far from the hate and fear resting at the nation’s core.Intimate, lyrical and thought-provoking, A Girlhood is an ode to Hays’s brilliant, brave child, as well as a cathartic revisit of the pain of the past. It tells of the brutal truths of being trans, of the sacrificial nature of motherhood, and of the lengths a family will go to shield their youngest from the cruel realities of the world. Hays asks us all to love better, for children everywhere enduring injustice and prejudice just as they begin to understand themselves. A Girlhood is a celebration of difference, a plea for empathy, a hope for a better future, but moreover, it is a love letter to a child who has always known herself and is waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.

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'This book will shake your brain and make your soul scream. I am so ready for myself after reading this book!' Adele'Untamed will liberate women - emotionally, spiritually, and physically. It is phenomenal.' Elizabeth Gilbert, author of City of Girls and Eat Pray LoveWho were you before the world told you who to be? Part inspiration, part memoir, Untamed explores the joy and peace we discover when we stop striving to meet the expectations of the world, and instead dare to listen to and trust in the voice deep inside us. From the beloved New York Times bestselling author, speaker and activist Glennon Doyle.*****For many years, Glennon Doyle denied her discontent. Then, while speaking at a conference, she looked at a woman across the room and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There. She. Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high but soon she realised they had come to her from within. This was the voice she had buried beneath decades of numbing addictions and social conditioning. Glennon decided to let go of the world's expectations of her and reclaim her true untamed self. Soulful and uproarious, forceful and tender, Untamed is both an intimate memoir and a galvanising wake-up call. It is the story of how one woman learned that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children, but one who shows them how to fully live. It is also the story of how each of us can begin to trust ourselves enough to set boundaries, make peace with our bodies, honour our anger and heartbreak, and unleash our truest, wildest instincts.Untamed shows us how to be brave. And, as Glennon insists, 'The braver we are, the luckier we get.'

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An oral history in the vein of Please Kill MeLeftöver Crack is a band of drug abusing, dumpster diving, cop-hating, queer positive, pro-choice, crust punks that successfully blend ska-punk, pop, hip-hop and death metal genres. They've been banned from clubs, states and counties and kicked off multiple record labels. They’ve received teen-idol adoration and death threats from their fans. They’ve played benefits for a multitude of causes while leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.But, if you dig below the crusty, black metal-patch encased surface, you'll find a contemplative, nuanced band that, quite literally, permanently changed the punk rock community. By combining catchy ska-punk with lyrics that referenced political theorist Michael Parenti, drug usage, and suicide, the band formed a unique mélange that was both provocative and challenging. In fact, the band’s hooks were so sharp that after releasing their debut LP, Mediocre Generica, an entire culture of “Crack City Rockers” grew around the band, pushing the youth towards both the positive and negative aspects of extreme punk rock.Of course, being the combustible band that they are, the band has gotten involved in its far share of fiascoes: full-scale riots in Phoenix and NYC, getting punched out by their own fans, showing up to tour Florida with machetes after receiving death threats from the local gang.Architects of Self-Destruction: An Oral History of Leftöver Crack traces the band's entire history by speaking to the band members themselves, fellow musicians, their fans, and of course, those that still hold a grudge against the LoC... FYI, that's a lot of people.

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“A marvelous new biography.” -The New York Times On an otherwise normal weekday in the 1980s, commuters on busy Route 1 in central New Jersey noticed an alarming sight: a man in a suit and tie dashing across four lanes of traffic, then scurrying through a narrow underpass as cars whizzed by within inches. The man was William “Holly” Whyte, a pioneer of people-centered urban design. Decades before this perilous trek to a meeting in the suburbs, he had urged planners to look beyond their desks and drawings: “You have to get out and walk.” American Urbanist shares the life and wisdom of a man whose advocacy reshaped many of the places we know and love today—from New York’s bustling Bryant Park to preserved forests and farmlands around the country. Holly’s experiences as a WWII intelligence officer and leader of the genre-defining reporters at Fortune Magazine in the 1950s shaped his razor-sharp assessments of how the world actually worked—not how it was assumed to work. His 1956 bestseller, The Organization Man, catapulted the dangers of “groupthink” and conformity into the national consciousness. Over his five decades of research and writing, Holly’s wide-ranging work changed how people thought about careers and companies, cities and suburbs, urban planning, open space preservation, and more. He was part of the rising environmental movement, helped spur change at the planning office of New York City, and narrated two films about urban life, in addition to writing six books. No matter the topic, Holly advocated for the decisionmakers to be people, not just experts. “We need the kind of curiosity that blows the lid off everything,” Holly once said. His life offers encouragement to be thoughtful and bold in asking questions and making space for differing viewpoints. This revealing biography offers a rare glimpse into the mind of an iconoclast whose healthy skepticism of the status quo can help guide our efforts to create the kinds of places we want to live in today.

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On screen, Danny Trejo is the most recognisable anti-hero in Hollywood. But off screen, he is so much more. The ultimate hard-knock-lifer, and a true man of the world, he has all the stories, and all the scars. Raised in an abusive home, Danny struggled from an early age with heroin addiction, doing time in some of the country's most notorious prisons, before breaking into acting. Starring in modern classics and cult hits alike, including Heat, Breaking Bad, From Dusk Till Dawn and Sons of Anarchy, Danny has worked with silver-screen icons like Robert De Niro and Charles Bronson. Now, Danny recounts how he survived the horrors of jail, rebuilt his life, and drew inspiration from the adrenaline-fueled robbery heists of his past to forge his on-screen legend. Redemptive and raw, Trejo is an unforgettable journey through tragedy, pain, and success. Told with cowboy appeal, gritty rebel wisdom, and total honesty, these are outlaw stories from the frontiers: the frontiers of prison, of Hollywood, and of life.

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Caroline Moorehead is a bestselling and prizewinner author, and the biographer of Bertrand Russell, Freya Stark, Iris Origo, Madame de la Tour du Pin and Martha Gellhorn. Her recent books - a quartet focussed on resistance to dictatorship, particularly in Italy - were shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Orwell Prize and the Costa Biography Award. She lives in London.

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The irresistible story of Japanese cherry blossoms, threatened by political ideology and saved by an unknown Englishman'This is not just a tale of trees, but of . . . endeavour, war and reconciliation' Sunday TimesCollingwood Ingram, born in 1880, became known as 'Cherry' for his defining obsession. As a young man, he travelled to Japan and learned of the astonishing displays of cherry blossoms, or sakura.On a return visit in 1926, Ingram witnessed frightening changes to the country's cherry population. A cloned variety was sweeping the landscape and being used as a symbol for Japan's expansionist ambitions. Determined to protect the diversity of the trees, Ingram began sending the rare varieties from his own garden in England back to Japan with the help of a network of 'cherry guardians'.This is an eloquent portrait of an extraordinary man whose legacy we enjoy every spring, and his unsung place in botanic history.'Engrossing . . . A portrait of great charm and sophistication' Christopher Harding, GuardianWinner of the 2020 Award for Excellence from The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries

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Franz Beckenbauer – known as ‘the Kaiser’ – is Germany's greatest-ever footballer and one of the game's biggest icons of all time, a World Cup winner as player and manager. But what is often described as a blessed life has in fact been a rollercoaster ride with stunning highs and bitter lows. He rose to fame at the 1966 World Cup in England, where after West Germany’s final defeat the British press marvelled at the grace of a ‘beaten but proud Prussian officer’. Yet there was nothing Prussian about the Bavarian boy who flouted authority, disregarded rules and viewed the traditional German work ethic with the disdain of someone to whom everything comes naturally. After a glittering early career at Bayern Munich – captaining them to three European Cup victories and pioneering the playmaking libero role in central defence – Beckenbauer made a controversial move t

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The revealing, compelling memoir of one of Australia's foremost cardiothoracic surgeons, Dr Nikki Stamp.Raw, honest and compelling, Scrubbed is Dr Nikki Stamp's account of her life as one of Australia's leading cardiothoracic surgeons. A life lived at the very edge of modern medicine, where heart surgeons walk the thinnest of lines between life and death, and yet where the greatest challenge can be the medical system itself.From childhood Nikki Stamp wanted to be a doctor. It was a calling, not a career. Her love for her vocation only grew as a medical student, and as a young registrar going through training rotations she fell, totally and utterly, for the hugely demanding specialty of cardiothoracic surgery. But alongside the excitement and enormous challenges of trying to make it in one of the toughest and most competitive fields of surgery came warning signs. Even in the operating theatre, where she felt most alive, she battled with sexism, enormous egos and at times outright bullying. And within the hospital system she lived with inhuman hours, chronic sleep deprivation and bureaucratic mismanagement that had a profoundly damaging effect on her life outside of work.From the drama of the operating theatre, filled with both triumph and tragedy, to the brutal realities of surgical training and the sacrifices needed to make it to the top, to entrenched misogyny and the grinding nature of hospital politics, Scrubbed is one of the most revealing books yet written about the real life and experiences of a surgeon.

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Who wants to be a millionaire?Brydon Coverdale did, and dedicated himself to outsmarting quiz masters on every Australian TV and radio trivia format he could - until he became so successful, he was hired by The Chase to stop others from winning.The Quiz Masters is his fascinating, charming and funny memoir of how he played the game, along the way giving us a how-to guide for anyone who aspires to win a million dollars. As Brydon takes us through his own quizzing journey, he also reveals the psychology behind ordinary people who are prepared to gamble, under maximum pressure, in front of huge audiences, with only their brain in their armoury, and reveals how the great champions developed their special tricks of the trade.The Quiz Masters truly takes us behind the scenes of a world that's both hugely familiar yet intriguingly unknown.

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Praise for Eddie Jones‘A genuine super-coach’ – The Sunday Times‘His gifts of leadership and organisation are remarkable’ – The Daily MailEddie Jones is one of the most successful sports coaches of all time. From coaching three different nations to Rugby World Cup finals and enjoying a winning record with England of nearly 80 per cent, he knows what’s needed to lead and manage high performance teams. For the first time, Eddie reveals what it takes to operate in high pressure environments, the successes and setbacks, and how these lessons can be applied to every walk of life, from coaching a children’s sports team to leading a multinational organization to simply doing your job better.Forthright and unflinchingly honest, Eddie Jones reveals what he has learnt from Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger and Pep Guardiola, as well as from the founder of Uniqlo and Ron Adams of the NBA. Drawing on stories from nearly thirty years of coaching, Eddie explains how you need humour, humility and relentless curiosity to lead an eclectic mix of superstars – from Maro Itoje to James Haskell, George Smith to Kyle Sinckler – and create teams that are relentlessly hungry to win. Leadership is the ultimate rugby book about what it takes to be the best.Written with Donald McRae, two-time winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, Leadership is the book for anyone who wants to learn how to build and lead a team to success.

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From influential and iconic star Constance Wu, a powerful and poignant memoir-in-essays full of funny and intimate observations that will resonate with readers everywhere. ‘Like her, the book is bold, emotional and unexpurgated; the story of an Asian American who always wanted to fit in, and ended up just wanting to be her true self.’Independent ‘A startling insight into the reality of trials by social media and sexual exploitation in Hollywood… Most powerful is her #MeToo rallying cry, which will make your skin crawl and your blood boil.’ Sunday Times Growing up in the friendly suburbs of Richmond, Virginia, Constance Wu thought that girls were supposed to be reserved, graceful, and polite. Everyone around her praised ladylike behaviour while seeming to disapprove of the louder, rougher girls – the kind of girls who made scenes. And while she spent most of her childhood suppressing her bold, emotional nature, Constance found an early outlet in local community theatre. The stage was the one place where big feelings were okay – were good, even. As she continued to reconcile her personality with the expectations of daily life, acting became more than a hobby. It was her refuge, her touchstone, and eventually her vocation. She went to New York to study classical theatre and pursue an acting career while waiting tables, dating, despairing, and embracing city life. In 2015, she was cast in the ground-breaking TV sitcom Fresh Off the Boat, a touching, funny story about an Asian American family in the ’90s. Another historic role followed when she starred in the smash hit film Crazy Rich Asians, which featured an entirely Asian cast. These two pivotal moments in Hollywood history opened up a new chapter for Constance, who continues to explore the complexities of Asian American representation. Through raw, hilarious, and relatable stories, Constance fearlessly shares her experiences of growing up in suburban Virginia, scraping by as a struggling actress, falling in love again and again, confronting her identity and influence, and navigating the pressures and pleasures of existing in today’s world.

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A new, updated edition of Christopher Sandford's classic biography of the band, The Rolling Stones is a gripping account of the band's remarkable 60 years at the top of the rock industry. In 1962 Mick Jagger was a bright, well-scrubbed boy (planning a career in the civil service), while Keith Richards was learning how to smoke and to swivel a six-shooter. Add the mercurial Brian Jones (who'd been effectively run out of Cheltenham for theft, multiple impregnations and playing blues guitar), the wryly opinionated Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts, and the potential was obvious.During the 1960s and 70s the Rolling Stones were the polarising figures in Britain, admired in some quarters for their flamboyance, creativity and salacious lifestyles, and reviled elsewhere for the same reasons. Confidently expected never to reach 30, the band is now celebrating 60 years together with a European tour, Sixty, to mark the occasion. Of the original line-up, only Jagger and Richards remain, along with 'new boy' Ronnie Wood, who joined the band in 1975. In The Rolling Stones, Christopher Sandford tells the human drama at the centre of the Rolling Stones story. Sandford has carried out interviews with those close to the Stones, family members (including Mick's parents), the group's fans and contemporaries - even examined their previously unreleased FBI files. Like no other book before The Rolling Stones makes sense of the rich brew of clever invention and opportunism, of talent, good fortune, insecurity, self-destructiveness, and of drugs, sex and other excess, that made the Stones who they are.

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**THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER** _______________ 'I want to be Sheila Hancock when I grow up' Lorraine Kelly 'Wise, witty, kind and true' – Sunday Times 'A sparkling memoir as funny and insightful as it’s moving' – Daily Mail 'A captivating memoir' – Mail on Sunday _______________ A gloriously irreverent memoir from the frontline of old age - by the Sunday Times-bestselling author and legendary actor Sheila Hancock looked like she was managing old age. She had weathered and even thrived in widowhood, taking on acting roles that would have been demanding for a woman half her age. She had energy, friends, a devoted family, a lovely home. She could still remember her lines. So why, at 89, having sailed past supposedly disturbing milestones – 50, 70 even 80 – without a qualm, did she suddenly feel so furious? Shocking diagnoses, Brexit and bereavement seemed to knock her from every quarter. And that was before lockdown. Home alone, classified as ‘extremely vulnerable’, she finds herself yelling at the TV and talking to the pigeons. But she can at least take a good long look at life – her work and family, her beliefs (many of them the legacy of her wartime childhood) and, uncomfortable as it might be to face, her future. In Old Rage, one of Britain’s best loved actors opens up about her ninth decade. Funny, feisty, honest, she makes for brilliant company as she talks about her life as a daughter, a sister, a mother, a widow, an actor, a friend and looks at a world so different from the wartime world of her childhood. And yet – despite age, despite rage – she finds there are always reasons for joy. _______________ 'The much-loved actor candidly shares the fear, joy and frustration she has found in her ninth decade' - Guardian, Books of the Year 2022 'Sheila Hancock reflects upon her life and career with all the winning candour and warm-heartedness we have come to expect from the legendary actress' - Waterstones

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Originally published in 1978 as The Beach Boys and the California Myth, this groundbreaking study was both the first full-length book on the band and the first to recognize Brian Wilson as one of the most significant and influential artists of the 20th century. Covering the turbulent family strife and internal conflicts as well as giving proper attention to the remarkable music, the book was an instant classic. An intimate look at Brian's rollercoaster of a life and career, it's told through the eyes of those who were there during Wilson's most legendary productions including Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations. Revised and updated, God Only Knows covers the decades since the 1985 edition, including Brian's first acclaimed solo album, his startling return to live performing, the landmark Pet Sounds tour, the "All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson" (which Leaf wrote and produced) and the triumphant and miraculous Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE world premiere in London. Filled with surprising revelations, insight and behind-the-scenes detail, this indispensable book written by renowned Brian Wilson expert David Leaf also features forewords by Jimmy Webb, the Bee Gees' Barry Gibb and Melinda Wilson, Brian's wife.

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LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2023 From the author of Apollo's Angels, the first major biography of the figure who modernised dance: an intimate portrait of the man behind the mythology, set against the vibrant backdrop of the century that shaped him Balanchine's radical approach to choreography reinvented the art of dance and his richly evocative ballets made him a lasting legend. Today, nearly thirty years after his death, the man is still so revered that the mysteries of his biography are often overlooked. Who was George Balanchine? Born in Russia under the last Czar, Balanchine experienced the upheavals of World War One, the Russian Revolution, exile, World War Two and the cultural Cold War; he was part of the Russian modernist moment, a key player in Paris in the 1920s, and in New York he revolutionized ballet, pressing it to the forefront of modernism and making it serious and popular art. His influences were myriad. He considered himself Georgian, yet he did not step foot in his ancestral homeland until he was in his fifties. He was deeply influenced by the cold grandeur and sensuous beauty of the Orthodox Church, but equally absorbed by the new rhythms and dance steps coming out of Harlem in the 1930s. He collaborated broadly, with figures like Diaghilev and Stravinsky. A man of muses, Balanchine was married five times, always to young dancers, and consumed by many other loves in between. The difficulties of his life - personal losses, bouts of ill health, debilitating loneliness and dark moods of despair - resonate in his dances, which speak so poignantly of love and loss, and yet the full implications for his art remain unexplored. Now for the first time we look beyond the myth of 'Mr B' - the mask which Balanchine himself helped to create - to see 'Mr B' the man.

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Per Wimmer is equally known as a global financier, philanthropist, adventurer and explorer. Today, Per owns and runs his own investment bank, Wimmer Financial, which he founded in 2007. He has also supported numerous charities financially with a particular view to inspiring children to live out their dreams. His penchant for exploration and adventure has taken him to 85 countries, a world landspeed record attempt, crossing the USA on a Harley-Davidson motorbike, living with the Indians of the Amazon Forest, skydiving over Mount Everest - and soon to be the first Dane private citizen to fly into space via Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. This is the first volume in the autobiography of a person who a commentator described as "a true Indiana Jones meets 007 James Bond". Per Wimmer's life story is far from ordinary and very much driven by the desire to push boundaries. This first volume covers Per's formative years, his growing fascination for adventure, travel and space, and the growth of his career in international finance, culminating in the founding of Wimmer Financial.

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Prepare to be intrigued, amazed and astonished as you join Dr Rhona Morrison on an often funny, and at times downright bizarre, thought-provoking and eye-opening rollercoaster ride through some of the most curious encounters of her career as a leading forensic psychiatrist. Delve into the minds of real people, whose actions may shock and stun you, but who's stories have the power to challenge your assumptions and the stigma that surrounds mental illness. Travel directly into their living rooms and see behind the closed doors of hospitals, prisons and court rooms. Lift the lid on Dr Morrison's jaw-dropping experiences with murderers, stalkers and other dangerous offenders as she attempts to make sense of some highly unusual situations. Discover the true stories of the inspiring human beings who are bravely learning to live with major mental illness. I Don't Talk To Dead Bodies shines a powerful, emotional and surprisingly moving spotlight on the fascinating life of a forensic psychiatrist and the people she works with. It goes beyond the sensationalist headlines to show you just what happens in a world where mental illness occasionally makes good people do bad things.

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