Biography Books

Book SynopsisA rich and comforting anthology of more than 70 short stories, poems, fairytales, and bedtime classics—from William Shakespeare to B.J. Novak and from Charles Dickens to Neil Gaiman—for grown-ups who want to unwind, unplug, and slip into soothing stories that will send them off to slumberland.There are few more precious routines than that of the bedtime story. So why do we discard this treasured ritual as grown-ups and risk sacrificing our good health and well-being? In this groundbreaking anthology, Ben Holden, editor of the bestselling Poems That Make Grown Men Cry, challenges how we think about life—one-third of which is spent asleep. He deftly explores not only the science of sleep but also why we endlessly tell stories—even to ourselves, as we dream. Holden combines his own illuminating storytelling with a treasure trove of timeless classics and contemporary gems. Poems and short stories, fairy tales and fables, reverie

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Book SynopsisAn extraordinary story of life on a South African game reserve from the 'Indiana Jones of conservation' and the authors of The Elephant Whisperer.Lawrence Anthony's South African game reserve is home to many animals he has saved, from a remarkable herd of elephants to a badly behaved bushbaby called George. When one of his rhinos was brutally slaughtered for her horn, he didn't hesitate to lead an armed response against the poachers. Then he learned that there were only a handful of northern white rhinos left in the wild, living in an area of the Congo controlled by the infamous Lord's Resistance Army and soon to be hunted into extinction. Lawrence knew he had to take action. What followed was an extraordinary adventure, as he headed into the jungle to negotiate with the rebels, while battling to save his own animals from terrible drought and to save the eyesight of his beloved elephant matriarch Nana. The Last Rhinos i

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Book SynopsisAs a child, Elias Chacour lived in a small Palestinian village in Galilee. When tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed and nearly one million forced into refugee camps in 1948, Elias began a long struggle with how to respond. In Blood Brothers, he blends his riveting life story with historical research to reveal a little-known side of the Arab-Israeli conflict, exploring whether bitter enemies can ever be reconciled. This book offers hope and insight to help each of us learn to live at peace in a world of tension and terror.

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Book SynopsisA reissue of this inspiring and heartbreaking memoir about family, empathy and the stories we tell about ourselves and others Gifts come in many guises. One summer, Rebecca Solnit was given three boxes of ripening apricots, fruit from a neglected tree that her mother, gradually succumbing to memory loss, could no longer tend to. In this courageous, heartbreaking memoir, Solnit draws from this unexpected inheritance, weaving her own story into fairy tales and the lives of others. Encompassing the Marquis de Sade and Mary Shelley, explorers and monsters, a library of water in Iceland, and the depths of the Grand Canyon, The Faraway Nearby is a meditation on family, empathy, and the art of storytelling from a writer of limitless talent and imagination.Trade ReviewLike Simon Schama, Solnit is a cultural historian in the desert-mystic mode, trailing ideas like swarms of butterflies * Harper's *Her writerly digressions obey shapely geometry, not random dérive. [The book is] artfully composed to a unifying scheme, which arises from Solnit's commitment to the storytelling craft and its necessary devices... Finely-wrought, intense and eloquent -- Marina Warner * Guardian *[A] passionately imperfect, extremely moving, original and humane book... Beautiful -- Joanna Kavenna * Literary Review *Solnit is an explorer of the most exquisite kind, and a writer of the public road... We follow [her] mind, and what a mind it is, as vast and intriguing as a system of caverns and passageways opening into yet more caverns and passageways... Courageous -- Kurt Caswell * Los Angeles Review of Book *Gripping... Solnit deserves to be widely read -- Sara Wheeler * Observer *This is one of more beautifully written books we've read this year, filled with insight and gut-wrenching phrases. It is simple to read, yet generates complex reactions in the reader. If you enjoy stories and storytelling, this book will expand your understanding of them, and yourself * Huffington Post *An exhilarating form of literary cartography... wonderful -- Jon Day * Financial Times *Solnit is asking us to pause, to consider the stories we tell ourselves about our lives, and to rethink the unstated assumptions of our own interior epics... a book-length primer in the uses of empathy... Rich [and] poignant -- Saul Austerlitz * The National *The book is a lovely one that may bring many readers catharsis or consolation... One loves Solnit for her intelligence and her uprightness... Compelling and unique * Slate *Solnit has a winning prose style... Imaginative sentences are dropped here and there -- Theresa Munoz * Herald *This [book is] about stories - how we use them, the way we tell them. [It] moves between memories from her mother, to more classic fairy tales... you'll want to pen your own by the end -- Lena de Casparis * Company *Complicated, powerful, acutely, even painfully, personal... Solnit is profoundly antagonistic to formulaic production -- Olivia Laing * New Statesman *An astute cultural critic -- Saul Austerlitz * National *Here is Solnit at her most stimulating: pointed (even outraged), grounded in history, observing from the outside -- S. J. Culver * Slate *Solnit fashions an elegant study in empathy through these meandering reflections -- Gabe Habash * Publishers Weekly *The best chapter is on Iceland... her descriptions are wonderful -- Frances Wilson * Telegraph *If you want a very different, lyrical take on how our lives are surrounded and defined by the stories we tell, Solnit's latest book is one of the finest of this or any year -- Andrew Losowsky * Huffington Post *Solnit's words are exquisite; each chapter weaves a fabric of personal experience, literary or historical anecdote and intimate conversation -- Kate Padilla * Spencer Daily Reporter *[It is] at once memoir, literary criticism, and inspirational touchstone, a meandering yet purposeful exploration of how we spin and follow stories, and of how they can lead us on a journey toward self-definition and empathy -- Heller McAlpin * Barnes and Noble Review *Solnit explores love and loss, warmth and coldness, the making of art and the remaking of the self - her distinctive, dense and at times stunning, storytelling hacks a path through the creative landscape -- Alexandra Murphy * We Love This Book *[It is] a work of art with many layers, and readers will be rewarded each time they revisit this wonderful book -- Katie Archer * Yorkshire Post *Solnit is the champion of a style of writing that loops, circles, changes direction... In an era when much of western culture seem unwilling even to acknowledge the political challenges facing us, looming environmental crisis above all, Solnit is a role model -- Susanna Rustin * Guardian *[Solnit] presents us with a fascinating insight into the mind of a writer -- Sarah Tawton * Northern Echo *Pithy, beautifully observed, full of both truth and provocation... Solnit is an extraordinary artist -- Julia Bell * Writers’ Hub *A powerfully insightful and moving memoir... Fittingly for a book about the power of storytelling, Solnit is a terrific practitioner of the art -- Stephanie Cross * The Lady *Tracing the warp and weft of such a work, written with a moving flatness and vagrant wisdom, is a pleasure that frequently carries an almost tactile sensation, so brightly does it sparkle -- David Anderson * Review 31 *Brilliant [and] lavish -- Robin Romm * New York Times *An extraordinary piece of work in which the personal and philosophical meet -- Siobhan Kane * Irish Times *While the structure seems elegant, the writing never loses that real-life feeling that everything might fall apart at any moment -- Denise Frame Harlan * Englewood Review of Books *Solnit manages to do what many memoirists aspire to but few accomplish: she turns the personal into the universal * Totally Dublin *Provocative and extremely thought-provoking... it inspires nothing short of awe * Irish Examiner *This is narrative as jazz improve, each refrain exploring a new melody or theme. Yet familiar strains recur again and again. Metaphors abound, and Solnit seems to believe that all of life could be looked at as an allegory to be deciphered -- Craille Maguire Gillies * Guardian *It's so rich, absorbing and inspirational that I keep putting it down to make notes or research a tangent -- Emma Healey * Metro Scotland *

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Book SynopsisThe extraordinary story behind A Very British Scandal, starring Claire Foy and Paul Bettany?Margaret was debutante of the year, the beautiful fairy-tale heiress immortalised in Cole Porter''s ''You''re The Top'' - who ended up penniless and ostracised from her own family.Legal actions coloured her life - her divorce from the Duke of Argyll was one of the longest, costliest and most notorious in British legal history. Her diaries, and photographs of her with an anonymous naked man, were used in evidence.This sparkling biography draws on exclusive interviews with the late Duchess to lift the lid off her extraordinary story, and her scandalous lifestyle. The Duchess Who Dared is a fascinating chronicle of a complex, charming and surprisingly modern woman.

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Book SynopsisThe captain who went further than any had before tells her life story for the first time in her own words; perfect for fans of Star Trek: Voyager and the upcoming Star Trek: Prodigy Kathryn Janeway reveals her career in Starfleet, from her first command to her epic journey through the Delta Quadrant leading to her rise to the top as vice-admiral in Starfleet Command. Discover the story of the woman who travelled further than any human ever had before, stranded decades from home, encountering new worlds and species. Explore how she brought together Starfleet and the Maquis as part of her crew, forged new alliances with species across the galaxy and overcame one of Starfleet's greatest threats - the Borg - on their own remote and hostile territory. Get Janeway's personal take on key characters such as Seven of Nine, her trusted friend Tuvok, new arrivals like Neelix and her second-in-command, Chakotay.Trade Review"A fantastic addition to the legend of Star Trek's first female captain... Kudos to author Una McCormack for so thoughtfully expanding Janeway's story, and giving readers some truly interesting material to chew over" - Trek News "A beautiful visual of a little girl who reached her dreams at great cost" - Redshirts Always Die "I love to read biographies and especially memoirs... While this is, of course, fiction and indeed, space fantasy, it pushes all the same buttons." - Women At Warp "Thanks to McCormack's flowing prose, you can lose yourself completely in this book; you may not want to put it down once you start." - TrekMovie.com "A fitting tribute to a character who has been an inspiration to audiences for a quarter of a century" - Daily Trek News "A must-read for any Voyager fan" - TrekMovie "McCormack is a terrific Star Trek author, and... she takes extremely well to Janeway and the Voyager milieu" - TrekCore 'Fans looking for a trip through memory lane and the key encounters of the crew on Star Trek Voyager, all in that calming and authoritative voice, will find it here' - Borg.com 'I loved every bit of it... felt like the final epilogue on a beloved story' - Scifi Chick

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Book Synopsis"Aja" was the album that made Steely Dan a commercial force on the order of contemporaries like Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and Chicago. A double-platinum, Grammy-winning bestseller, it lingered on the Billboard charts for more than a year and spawned three hit singles. This book paints a detailed picture of the making of a masterpiece.Trade ReviewMusician and songwriter Breithaupt's book pores over every last note of Josie, Deacon Blues, Peg and the like with the enthusiasm of a teenybopper and the insight of an academic. -- Terry Staunton * Record Collector *Aja was the album that made Steely Dan a commercial force on the order of contemporaries like Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, and Chicago. A double-platinum, Grammy-winning bestseller, it lingered on the Billboard charts for more than a year after its 1977 release and spawned three hit singles. Odd, then, that its creators saw it as an `ambitious, extended` work, the apotheosis of their anti-rock, anti-band, anti-glamour aesthetic. Including an in-depth interview with Dan co-founder Donald Fagen, this book - part of Continuum`s ongoing 33 1/3 series - by Canadian musician and music journalist Don Breithaupt paints a detailed picture of the making of a masterpiece. * Upper North Side *Don Breithaupt has crafted an informative book about Steely Dan's platinum sixth album, Aja—part of Continuum Press' 33 1/3 series on acclaimed albums in rock history. The author analyzes Walter Becker and Donald Fagen's cryptic word play and arty rock and West Coast studio contributions to the 1977 release and tried to build a case in support of his fervid-fan claim that Aja is ‘the best record in the solar system. * Downbeat Magazine *Aja is the first one [in the series] I've read, but I'll be checking out the others. Highly recommended. * Stereophile *

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Book SynopsisNearly all the works Aristotle (384–322 BC) prepared for publication are lost; the priceless ones extant are lecture-materials, notes, and memoranda (some are spurious). They can be categorized as practical; logical; physical; metaphysical; on art; other; fragments.

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Book SynopsisThe fire was visible from seventy miles away and the heat generated was so intense that a helicopter could only circle the rig at a perimeter of one mile. On the surface of the sea, a converted fishing trawler inched as close as possible, but the paint on the vessel’s hull blistered and burnt. In the water surrounding the inferno, men’s heads could be seen bobbing like apples as their yellow hard hats melted with the heat.On 6 July 1988 a series of explosions ripped through the Piper Alpha oil platform, 110 miles north-east of Aberdeen in the North Sea. Ablaze with 226 men on board, the searing temperatures caused the platform to collapse in just two hours. Only sixty-one would survive by leaping over 100 feet into the water below.Newly updated for the thirtieth year since the tragedy, Fire in the Night by journalist Stephen McGinty tells in gripping detail the devastating story of that summer evening. Combining interviews with survivors, witness statements and transcripts from the official inquiry into the disaster, this is the moving and vivid tale of what remains the worst offshore oil-rig disaster to date.Trade ReviewFire in the Night is rare and riveting, among the classics of Scottish reporting. -- Andrew O’HaganGenuinely gripping reading...[McGinty] has an eye for the illuminating detail, both human and technical * The Scotsman *The stories of how survivors escaped from 'the inferno' of the rig are truly heart-stopping * The Herald (Glasgow) *

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Book SynopsisLike the Dublin of Joyce and Jan Morris'' Venice, Orhan Pamuk''s bestselling Istanbul: Memories of a City is a triumphant encounter of place and sensibility, beautifully written and immensely moving.Since the publication of Istanbul, Pamuk has continued to add to his collection of photographs of Istanbul. Now, he has selected a range of photographs for Illustrated Istanbul, linking each new image to his memoir.This lavish selection of 450 photographs features contributions from Ara Güler, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Istanbul''s characteristic photography collectors, and contains previously unpublished family photographs from the author''s archives.

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Book Synopsis"Some people say, 'How can you live without knowing?' I do not know what they mean. I always live without knowing. That is easy. How you get to know is what I want to know."--Richard P. Feynman Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman (1918-88) was that rarest of creatures--a towering scientific genius who could make himself understood byTrade Review"Feynman's depth and zing leap from the page."--Nature "[Richard Feynman] combined scientific genius with regular-guy language... Now his daughter, Michelle Feynman--born three years after he received the Nobel in 1965--has edited a collection of quotes from his voluminous output of books, lectures, essays, articles and scientific papers."--Washington Post "So much has been said by and about the charismatic physicist Richard Feynman that it is no surprise to find that his witticisms fill a book nearly 400 pages long... A fun present for any Feynman fanboys and fangirls in your life."--Physics World "Deeply learned... Highly detailed and utterly convincing."--Tarek Masoud, Perspectives on Politics "[Feynman] was, after all, a Nobel Prize winning scientist, yet he wrote often with great lucidity and humor, much of which is on display in this collection."--Acadiana LifeStyleTable of ContentsA Brief Note on Sources ix Foreword, by Brian Cox xi Reflections on Richard Feynman, by Yo-Yo Ma xv Preface: My Quotable Father, by Michelle Feynman xvii Chronology xxiii Youth 3 Family 15 Autobiographical 23 Art, Music, and Poetry 51 Nature 57 Imagination 83 Humor 89 Love 103 Philosophy and Religion 109 Nature of Science 123 Curiosity and Discovery 165 How Physicists Think 185 The Quantum World 197 Science and Society 213 Mathematics 223 Technology 241 War 249 Challenger 261 Politics 271 Doubt and Uncertainty 281 Education and Teaching 293 Advice and Inspiration 317 Intelligence 327 The Nobel Prize 333 Worldview 345 The Future 355 Honoring Richard Feynman 363 Acknowledgments 383 Photo Credits 387 Sources 389 Index 397

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Book SynopsisTranslation of: Kafka, die Jahre der Entscheidungen.Trade ReviewOne of The Guardian Best Books of 2013, chosen by Colm Toibin "Most impressive is Stach's recounting of the creation of his subject's writings... Stach's own writing is wonderfully expressive."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A scrupulous, discriminating, and highly instructive account of Kafka's life."--Robert Alter, New Republic "[S]uperbly tempered... [T]hrough this robustly determined unearthing he rescues Kafka from the unearthliness of his repute... Shelley Frisch, Stach's heroic American translator, movingly reproduces his intended breadth and pace and tone... In this honest and honorable biography there is no trace of the Kafkaesque; but in it you may find a crystal granule of the Kafka who was."--Cynthia Ozick, New Republic "Stach aims to tell us all that can be known about [Kafka], avoiding the fancies and extrapolations of earlier biographers. The result is an enthralling synthesis, one that reads beautifully... I can't say enough about the liveliness and richness of Stach's book... Every page of this book feels excited, dynamic, utterly alive."--Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World "Stach's is a splendid effort and will be hard to surpass."--William H. Gass, Harper's Magazine "A masterpiece of inspired biographical writing."--Choice "Probing... Essential reading."--Booklist (starred review) "Magnificent."--Die Zeit "Stach develops the various elements that play a role in Kafka's life brilliantly."--Der Spiegel "The first great biography of Franz Kafka ... exciting and instructive from the first to the last page."--Tagesanzeiger "This extraordinary biography fills the empty spaces between Kafka's own writings and the writings of friends, family, and contemporaries with so much empathy and imagination that one can't put it down."--Frankfurter Rundschau "[M]onumental... [A] superb English-language translation by Shelly Frisch ... now reprinted in a handsome paperback by Princeton... In this first volume, Stach sifts through that rubble with huge amounts of energy and discretion (and Frisch follows him without a misstep; it feels like exactly the book I read ten years ago in its original language)... His letters and journals are marshaled with sometimes breathtaking ingenuity, and the sheer scope of the work allows Stach to be expansive when painting his backgrounds... Always in these recountings, Stach is searching for his elusive subject, trying--as all previous biographers have tried, though none so well--to hear Kafka's strange, singular voice in the noise... Kafka: The Decisive Years was greeted with a loud chorus of praise when it first appeared in English, and the passage of almost a decade has cast no doubt on that verdict. Princeton has re-issued this classic so that it can stand next to the following volume, Kafka: The Years of Insight, newly published in hardcover. No one interested in Kafka (or, by almost inevitable extension, 20th century literature) should miss either."--Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly "[F]lawlessly translated... [A] wonderfully intelligent and perceptive portrait of a uniquely powerful writer."--PD Smith, Guardian "Stach reads the work and the life with minute care and sympathy. He has a deep understanding of the world that Kafka came from and this is matched by an intelligence and tact about the impulse behind the work itself."--Colm Toibin, Irish Independent "[T]he definitive biography."--Jonathon Sturgeon, Flavorwire "Superbly translated from German by Shelley Frisch... Illuminating facts and intelligent commentary... The three volumes are so carefully composed and densely woven--blending history, literary analysis, psychological insights, quotes and commentary from others--that it would be practically impossible to produce an abridged version in a single volume."--Alexander Adams, Spiked ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction 1 PROLOGUE: The Black Star 16 1At Home with the Kafkas 21 2Bachelors, Young and Old 42 3Actors, Zionists, Wild People 54 4Literature and Loneliness: Leipzig and Weimar 71 5Last Stop Jungborn 86 6A Young Lady from Berlin 94 7The Ecstasy of Beginning: "The Judgment" and "The Stoker" 108 8A Near Defenestration 119 9The Girl, the Lady, and the Woman 134 10Love and a Longing for Letters 145 11Exultant Weeks, Little Intrigues 159 12The Bauer Family 169 13America and Back: The Man Who Disappeared 175 14The Lives of Metaphors: "The Metamorphosis" 192 15The Fear of Going Mad 206 16Balkan War: The Massacre Next Door 226 171913 231 18 The Man Who Disappeared: Perfection and Disintegration 242 19Invention and Exaggeration 253 20Sexual Trepidation and Surrender 266 21The Working World: High Tech and the Ghostsof Bureaucracy 281 22The Proposal 297 23Literature, Nothing but Literature 324 24Three Congresses in Vienna 350 25Trieste, Venice, Verona, Riva 368 26Grete Bloch: The Messenger Arrives 379 27An All-Time Low 390 28Kafka and Musil 401 29Matrimonial Plans and Asceticism 413 30Tribunal in Berlin 433 31The Great War 444 32Self-Inflicted Justice: The Trial and "In the Penal Colony" 464 33The Return of the East 484 34The Grand Disruption 493 35No-Man's-Land 508 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 517 TRANSLATOR'S NOTE 519 KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS 521 NOTES 523 BIBLIOGRAPHY 551 PHOTO CREDITS 563 INDEX 565

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Book SynopsisHere is a survivor''s vivid account of the greatest maritime disaster in history. The information contained in Gracie''s account is available from no other source. He provides details of those final moments, including names of passengers pulled from the ocean and of those men who, in a panic, jumped into lifeboats as they were being lowered, causing injury and further danger to life. Walter Lord, author of ''A Night to Remember'', comments that Gracie''s book - written shortly before he died from the exposure he suffered on the night - is invaluable for chasing down who went in what boat, and calls Gracie an indefatigable detective.

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Book Synopsis'Beautifully written, acutely observed This is a wonderful memoir of an exotic childhood and a striking portrait of one of the world's most beguiling countries. A gem of a book.' ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITHTrade Review'The nearest thing you will get to Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals in Africa and it is just as enchanting' Giles Foden, Conde Nast Traveller 'Beautifully written and lovingly told, Scott's book has the makings to be Out of Africa meets Running with Scissors' New York Times Book Review 'A fabulous read, rollicking, good-humoured and intensely sane' Alexandra Fuller 'Scott does more than simply record her African adventures. She tackles the difficult issue of race, revealing a shift in white attitudes across the generations [and] remind[s] us that southern Africa has many different histories' Independent

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Book SynopsisPresents travel writings which chronicle the author's perilous journeys through Japan and also capture his vision of eternity in the transient world around him.Table of ContentsThe Narrow Road to the Deep NorthAcknowledgmentsIntroductionThe Records of a Weather-Exposed SkeletonA Visit to the Kashima ShrineThe Records of a Travel-Worn SatchelA Visit to Sarashina VillageThe Narrow Road to the Deep NorthMap 1. Central JapanMap 2. Central JapanMap 3. Northern JapanNotes

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Book SynopsisA companion piece to the captivating memoir Giving Up the Ghost by the Man Booker-winning author of Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies and The Mirror & the Light, this collection of loosely autobiographical stories locates the transforming moments of a haunted childhood.This sharp, funny collection of stories drawn from life begins in the 1950s in an insular northern village ''scoured by bitter winds and rough gossip tongues.'' For the child narrator, the only way to survive is to get up, get on, get out.In ''King Billy is a Gentleman'', the child must come to terms with the loss of a father and the puzzle of a fading Irish heritage. ''Curved Is the Line of Beauty'' is a story of friendship, faith and a near-disaster in a scrap-yard. The title story sees our narrator ironing out her northern vowels with the help of an ex-actress with one lung and a Manchester accent. In ''Third Floor Rising'', she watches, dazzled, as her mother carves out a stylish new identity.With a deceptively light toTrade Review'Mercilessly funny' Daily Telegraph ‘Mantel writes with wit, compassion and great elegance.' Independent on Sunday On ‘Giving Up the Ghost’: 'Like Lorna Sage's BAD BLOOD, GIVING UP THE GHOST is a story of childhood that is also a piece of history. Hilary Mantel's self-portrait is a masterpiece of wit, but it conjures up a time and a place and an epoch of female experience with razor-edged sobriety. That past, so thoroughly vanished, is made to live again here – disclosed, cannily and heartbreakingly, as once it too yielded up its author's mind.' Rachel Cusk ‘What a remarkable writer she is. She is piercingly, even laceratingly observant, and every remembered detail has the sharpness of a good photograph. And yet for all its brilliance of detail and its black comedy the memoir is heavy with atmosphere. It's a very startling and daring memoir; the more I read it the more unsettling it becomes.’ Helen Dunmore ‘I was riveted. It’s raw, it’s distressing and it’s full of piercing insights into a novelist’s mind.’ Margaret Forster

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Book SynopsisThe remarkable true story of Big Red,' one of America's finest racehorses.When her beloved Meadow Stables is faced with closure following her father's illness, housewife and mother Penny Chenery agrees to take over. Despite her lack of horse-racing knowledge she calls in assistance from trainer Lucien Laurin and a host of successful jockeys.Pitted against the Phipps' racing dynasty, Penny takes the decision to breed her mare Somethingroyal to the Phipps' Bold Ruler, the nation's favourite stallion. With the toss of a coin it is agreed that one family will take Somethingroyal's first foal with the losing stable taking the colt out of Hasty Matelda and Somethingroyal's second foal. Penny loses the toss, but the wait for the unborn foal proves fortuitous when a bright red chestnut colt is born, Secretariat. Nicknamed Big Red, with Laurin's guidance, Penny manages to navigate the male-dominated business of horse racing, ultimately fostering the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and whaTrade Review"Secretariat is an elegantly crafted, exhilarating tale of speed and power, grace and greatness, told with such immediacy that the reader is lost in the rush of horses and the clatter and ring of the grandstand." Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit

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Book SynopsisA new edition of Adam Zamoyski's definitive biography of Chopin, first published in 1979 and unavailable in English for many years.Few composers elicit such strong emotions as Chopin. Few have been more revered and cherished. And few have had so much sentimental nonsense written about them.Published to coincide with the bicentenary of Chopin''s birth, Adam Zamoyski''s compelling new biography cuts through the mass of anecdote and myth that has sprung up around the composer''s life and the ebullient and striking personalities of Romantic Paris among whom he lived, including Liszt, Berlioz, Victor Hugo and George Sand, in search of the real Chopin.Zamoyski brings to the subject an unrivalled knowledge of the historical, social and cultural background of the composer''s native Poland as well as of the France in which he spent most of his creative life. He has scoured the archives of Warsaw, Krakow, Paris and London in his quest for the truth, and has based his account exclusively on primaTrade Review'A close, intimate and thoroughly absorbing portrait … Zamoyski has written a thoughtful, lively and moving account of an extraordinary and exceptional man.' Mail on Sunday 'Those seeking to revisit the genius of the man who Camille Saint-Saens described as "the sweet evening star that shone for only a moment" could do no better than to have this book at their side.' Daily Telegraph 'A fine study of the composer's life and career … Zamoyski's highly readable account brings non-technical insights into the music itself and he is superb at conveying what is known as Chopin's own playing.' Sunday Telegraph 'As ever, the historian writes with absolute assurance about the politics and culture of his ancestral homeland … Zamoyski recounts the private life, and public events, with ringing authority.' Independent 'Zamoyski is terrific at probing the subtle contradictions of Chopin.' Evening Standard

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2016 EDGAR, AGATHA, MACAVITY and H.R.F.KEATING crime writing awards, this real-life detective story investigates how Agatha Christie and colleagues in a mysterious literary club transformed crime fiction.Detective stories of the Twenties and Thirties have long been stereotyped as cosily conventional. Nothing could be further from the truth.The Golden Age of Murder tells for the first time the extraordinary story of British detective fiction between the two World Wars. A gripping real-life detective story, it investigates how Dorothy L. Sayers, Anthony Berkeley, Agatha Christie and their colleagues in the mysterious Detection Club transformed crime fiction. Their work cast new light on unsolved murders whilst hiding clues to their authors' darkest secrets, and their complex and sometimes bizarre private lives.Crime novelist and current Detection Club President Martin Edwards rewrites the history of crime fiction with unique authority, transforming our understanding of deteTrade Review‘Few, if any, books about crime fiction have provided so much information and insight so enthusiastically and, for the reader, so enjoyably’ THE TIMES ‘Illuminating and entertaining – provides a new way of looking at old favourites. I admire the way that Martin Edwards weaves the sometimes violent, sometimes unlawful, and always gripping true stories of these writers with the equally wild tales they tell in their books.’ LEN DEIGHTON, author of SS-GB ‘Forensically sharp and exhaustively informed… Crime fiction is driven by death. In this superbly compendious and entertaining book, Edwards ensures that dozens of authorial corpses are gloriously reborn.’ MARK LAWSON, GUARDIAN ‘Edwards knows his business. He understands how to parcel out the clues and red herrings so as to feed the reader enough information to keep a variety of possibilities open, while making sure to prepare for a satisfying solution.’ SEATTLE POST ‘You can learn far more about the social mores of the age in which a mystery is written than you can from more pretentious literature. I mean, if you want to know what it was like to live in England in the 1920s, the so-called Golden Age, you can get a much better steer from mysteries than you can from prize-winning novels.’ P. D. JAMES

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Book SynopsisCathy Glass, international bestselling author, tells the shocking story of Zeena, a young Asian girl desperate to escape from her family.When 14 -year-old Zeena begs to be taken into care with a non-Asian family, she is clearly petrified. But of what?Placed in the home of experienced foster carer Cathy and her family, Zeena gradually settles into her new life, but misses her little brothers and sisters terribly. Prevented from having any contact with them by her family who insist she has brought shame and dishonour on the whole community, Zeena tries to see them at school. But when her father and uncle find out, they bundle her into a car and threaten to set fire to her if she makes anymore trouble. Zeena is too frightened to press charges against them despite being offered police protection in a safe house.Eventually, Cathy discovers the devastating truth from Zeena, and with devastation she believes there is little she can do to help her.Trade ReviewREVIEWS FOR DAMAGED: 'Cannot fail to move those who read it.'Adoption-net ‘Heartbreaking.'Mirror ‘A truly harrowing read that made me cry.’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 SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA fast-paced debut...Espionage buffs will savor this vibrant account. — Publishers WeeklyA U.S. naval counterintelligence officer working to safeguard Pearl Harbor; a Japanese spy ordered to Hawaii to gather information on the American fleet. On December 7, 1941, their hidden stories are exposed by a morning of bloodshed that would change the world forever. Scrutinizing long-buried historical documents, NCIS star Mark Harmon and co-author Leon Carroll, a former NCIS Special Agent, have brought forth a true-life NCIS story of deception, discovery, and danger. Hawaii, 1941. War clouds with Japan are gathering and the islands of Hawaii have become battlegrounds of spies, intelligence agents, and military officials - with the island''s residents caught between them. Toiling in the shadows are Douglas Wada, the only Japanese American agent in naval intelligence, a

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Book Synopsis''No man is crushed by misfortune unless he has first been deceived by prosperity.''In these dialogues and essays the Stoic philosopher Seneca outlines his thoughts on how to live in a troubled world. Tutor to the young emperor Nero, Seneca wrote exercises in practical philosophy that draw upon contemporary Roman life and illuminate the intellectual concerns of the day. They also have much to say to the modern reader, as Seneca ranges widely across subjects such as the shortness of life, tranquillity of mind, anger, mercy, happiness, and grief at the loss of a loved one. Seneca''s accessible, aphoristic style makes his writing especially attractive as an introduction to Stoic philosophy, and belies its reputation for austerity and dogmatism. This edition combines a clear and modern translation with an introduction to Seneca''s life and philosophical interests, and helpful notes. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literatTable of ContentsOn Providence ; On Anger, Book 3 ; Consolation to Marcia ; On the Happy Life ; On the Tranquillity of the Mind ; On the Shortness of Life ; Consolation to Helvia ; On Mercy ; Natural Questions, Book 6: On Earthquakes

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Book Synopsis"Although Reminiscences. was first published some seventy years ago, its take on crowd psychology and market timing is a s timely as last summer's frenzy on the foreign exchange markets.Trade Review"...certainly one of the most entertaining books ever written about stock trading..." (Money magazine, November 2007) "...is a classic that gives readers a sense of a trader's mind..." (Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2006) "... an engaging read, chock-full of pearls of wisdom and amusing anecdotes...candid and analytical style evoking sympathy for the narrator." (Money Week, October 2006) "... contains timeless advice on the markets." (The Independent, Extra, Thu 13th March)Table of ContentsChapter I - 3 Chapter II – 14 Chapter III – 27 Chapter IV – 35 Chapter V – 49 Chapter VI – 60 Chapter VII – 71 Chapter VIII – 77 Chapter IX – 89 Chapter X – 104 Chapter XI – 116 Chapter XII – 127 Chapter XIII – 141 Chapter XIV – 153 Chapter XV – 168 Chapter XVI – 176 Chapter XVII – 190 Chapter XVIII – 203 Chapter XIX – 210 Chapter XX – 216 Chapter XXI – 227 Chapter XXII – 241 Chapter XXIII – 259 Chapter XXIV – 269

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Book SynopsisFirst published on the anniversary of Kurt Vonnegut''s death, Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of twelve new writings - a fitting tribute to the author, and an essential contribution to the discussion of war, peace and humanity''s tendency towards violence. Imbued with Vonnegut''s trademark rueful humour, the pieces range from a visceral non-fiction recollection of the destruction of Dresden - to a painfully funny short story about three soldiers and their fantasies of the perfect meal.Trade ReviewReads like a madcap Montaigne on acid * Metro *The most entertaining of American writers, almost a new Mark Twain...his words can travel on through time * Daily Mail *The wittiest man since Groucho Marx and the wisest since Karl Marx * The Times *Imbued with the innocence, empathy, and kindness that always seemed central to Vonnegut's sensibility -- Lionel Shriver * Financial Times *(Vonnegut) was a splendid preacher of American populism at its most radical...always funny and sometimes refreshingly vulgar * Independent *

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Book Synopsis''The problem of the twentieth-century is the problem of the color-line.''Originally published in 1903, The Souls of Black Folk is a classic study of race, culture, and education at the turn of the twentieth century. With its singular combination of essays, memoir, and fiction, this book vaulted W. E. B. Du Bois to the forefront of American political commentary and civil rights activism. The Souls of Black Folk is an impassioned, at times searing account of the situation of African Americans in the United States. Du Bois makes a forceful case for the access of African Americans to higher education, memorably extols the achievements of black culture (above all the spirituals or ''sorrow songs''), and advances the provocative and influential argument that due to the inequalities and pressures of the ''race problem'', African American identity is characterized by ''double consciousness''.This edition includes a valuable appendix of other writing by Du Bois, which sheds light on his attitu

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Book SynopsisLab Girl is a book about work and about love, and the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It is told through Jahren''s remarkable stories: about the discoveries she has made in her lab, as well as her struggle to get there; about her childhood playing in her father''s laboratory; about how lab work became a sanctuary for both her heart and her hands; about Bill, the brilliant, wounded man who became her loyal colleague and best friend; about their field trips - sometimes authorised, sometimes very much not - that took them from the Midwest across the USA, to Norway and to Ireland, from the pale skies of North Pole to tropical Hawaii; and about her constant striving to do and be her best, and her unswerving dedication to her life''s work.Visceral, intimate, gloriously candid and sometimes extremely funny, Jahren''s descriptions of her work, her intense relationship with the plants, seeds and soil she studies, and her insights on nature enliven every page of this thrilling book. In Lab Girl, we see anew the complicated power of the natural world, and the power that can come from facing with bravery and conviction the challenge of discovering who you are.Trade Review[Lab Girl] does for botany what Oliver Sacks's essays did for neurology -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *Some people are great writers, while other people live lives of adventure and importance. Almost no one does both. Hope Jahren does both. She makes me wish I'd been a scientist -- Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto (winner of the Orange Prize)Jahren's journey from struggling student to struggling scientist has the narrative tension of a novel and characters she imbues with real depth . . . Jahren transcends both memoir and science writing in this literary fusion of both genres * Kirkus *Darkly humorous, emotionally raw and exquisitely crafted * Publishers Weekly *This title should be required reading for all budding scientists, especially young women. However being a scientist is not essential in order to savor Jahren's stories and reflections on living * Library Journal *Deeply affecting . . . A belletrist in the mold of Oliver Sacks, [Jahren] is terrific at showing just how science is done . . . Jahren's writing is precise, as befits a scientist who also love words. She's an acute observer, prickly, and funny as hell . . . A totally original work, both fierce and uplifting * Elle (US) *Jahren's singular gift is her ability to convey the everyday wonder of her work: exploring the strange, beautiful universe of living things that endure and evolve and bloom all around us, if we bother to look * Entertainment Weekly *The Jane Goodall of botany . . . I am not sure which is more extraordinary, the plants or the woman who studies them. If the next generation of scientists have role models like Jahren, then the world of science will be better off indeed * Science *this book is delightfully, wickedly funny. I was constantly surprised by the literary tricks this first-time memoirist manages to pull off. With Lab Girl, Jahren has taken the form of the memoir and done something remarkable with it. She's made the experience of reading the book mimic her own lived experience in a way that few writers are capable of. It's a powerful and disarming way to tell a story, and I admire the craft behind it. Mostly, though, I love this book for its honesty, its hilarity and its brilliant sharp edges. Jahren has some serious literary chops * Washington Post *Leaves become elegant machines, soil is the interface between the living and the dead, and seeds, well, they are transformed into the most patient and hopeful of all life forms. Jahren has such a passion for the natural world that it's hard to imagine her in any role other than her current one; a professor of geobiology at the University of Hawaii. Lab Girl is her engaging new memoir, which tells the story of her fight to establish and fund her own research laboratory. And it's been a fascinating journey -- Lucie Green * Observer *Infectious, frank and finely written . . . a wonderful read * Sunday Express *Jahren pulls no punches on the stark realities of being a woman in science . . . Lab Girl is funny, full of joyous moments and often sad * Nature *Lab Girl reads more like a novel than a traditional science book . . . This kind of personal, bittersweet, bruised memoir is emerging as a new way of writing about science - one that will hopefully banish for good the notion that it is just for the boys -- Philip Ball * Prospect *Science is about a passion for ideas and the people who pursue those passions. Hope Jahren captures both in her book, the engrossing story of her love of science and of the adventures she has while pursuing her hunches and hypotheses. -- Helen Pearson * Guardian *This is an absolutely extraordinary book . . . By the end, I was babbling about it to complete strangers and determined to give a copy to just about everyone I know . . . Jahren is not just a scientist, though, but a poet who has given us insight into her mind and her passions, and I feel privileged to have been granted a glimpse * Times Higher Education Supplement *Jahren's literary bent renders dense material digestible, and lyrical . . . a gratifying and often moving chronicle of the scientist's life * Scotsman *Lab Girl is arguably a better motivator for a career in science than any mandatory curriculum * Discover *Clear and compelling but also fiercely tender . . . Jahren refuses to pretend that scientists don't quite often come with more than their share of peculiarities. She captures so precisely the way they dress, talk, and occasionally misunderstand stuff that others take for granted . . . I love Jahren's enthusiasm for her work, an all-encompassing passion for which she won't apologise and which makes her indomitable -- Rachel Cooke * New Statesman *A fascinating account of plants, love and obsession * Mail on Sunday *[A] frank, illuminating and moving memoir . . . Hope's book casts a whole new light on the natural world * Hello *Her memoir, rich in feeling and in facts, is an ode to her profession and to the natural world * Time *

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Book SynopsisIn a sequence of short, condensed entries, Ferenczi’s diary records self-critical reflections on conventional psychoanalytic theory—as well as criticisms of his own experiments with technique—and his obstinate struggle to divest himself and psychoanalysis of professional hypocrisy.Trade ReviewCompelling… Ferenczi was an innovator, an experimenter, someone who was always trying new approaches to the treatment of mental illness, even when his unorthodox techniques placed him in opposition to his analyst and mentor, Sigmund Freud. -- Stuart Schneiderman * New York Times Book Review *Allows the public interested in such matters to assess, far better than before, the range of [Ferenczi’s] professional gifts and the depth of his psychological vulnerability… A welcome addition to the growing number of significant texts illuminating the history of psychoanalysis. -- Peter Gay * London Review of Books *The Diary is the work of a sane mind in full possession of its powers and gives us insight into the day-to-day thoughts of a practitioner whose status as a creative innovator is probably unsurpassed since Freud. It is a very moving book. One is continually amazed by the courage of the man. -- Peter Lomas * Times Literary Supplement *Freud criticised his one-time favourite son for advocating the ‘kissing technique’; Ferenczi believed that ‘only sympathy heals’. This is the 1932 record of his analyses. His work was faltering, doubting, and quite possibly, healing. -- David Flusfeder * The Week *Table of ContentsEditor's Note Acknowledgments Introduction by Judith Dupont Abbreviations The Clinical Diary of Sandor Ferenczi Draft Introduction by Michael Balint Notes for a Preface by Michael Balint Index

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Book SynopsisWhen Zevon was diagnosed with cancer he asked his estranged wife Crystal Zevon to take notes for a 'no-hold-barred' oral biography and insight into the Los Angeles music scene at the top of it's game. This work presents that biography. It features an introduction by Bruce Springsteen and afterword by Carl Hiassen.Trade Review"In one of the most unflinching examinations of the rock & roll life ever, Warren Zevon's ex-wife Crystal paints a harrowing picture of a brilliant mind ravaged by alcohol - using excerpts from the late singer-songwriter's journals and interviews with friends including Jackson Browne and Bruce Springsteen." -- Rolling Stone, The Best of Rock Issue "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead turns out to be one of the most casually insightful rock bios ever." Grade: A- -- Entertainment Weekly " The book reveals a smartass satirist ... as bankrupt as the characters he documented in his songs." -- Los Angeles Times "[A] new, riveting oral history... unflinching interviews with his friends, admirers and fellow hell-raisers." -- Rolling Stone "... an unforgettable journey into the depths of Mr. Zevon's mad genius." -- New York Times "Few books have captured so well the L.A. rock and roll scene in all its mindlessness and eloquence." -- Los Angeles Magazine "...I'll Sleep When I'm Dead definitely piles up enough horrendous behavior to back the title's claim." -- New York Times Book Review "It's a frank account of yet another great talent taken down by his own demons." -- Time Out Chicago ".. a fascinating collection of anecdotes... as assembled by his ex-wife, Crystal Zevon. " -- Philadelphia Daily News "[It's] a satisfyingly sordid read that's full of bad behavior..." -- Philadelphia Inquirer "... that's what this book is about-humanizing this mythic character" -- Harp Magazine "... a grisly but fascinating rock 'n' roll journal..." -- Birmingham News "Crystal Zevon succeeds in channeling Warren Zevon, giving us a complete, engrossing picture of a compelling artist." -- Orlando Sentinel "...the book [is] a tender song in itself." -- Seattle Times "It's a lurid, page-turning read, filled with big successes and deep lows." -- Fort Worth Star-Telegram "...packed full of... the cynical humor for which Warren Zevon was so famous." -- Bangor Daily News "This often searing, humorous, and brutally honest book captures him at his best and his worst." -- Booklist "All pop music collections need this book." -- Library Journal "This is an extraordinary book -- unflinchingly honest, scarily funny, relentlessly cynical and always immensely entertaining. Just like Warren Zevon." -- Dave Barry "A moralist in cynic's clothing, Zevon nails a part of the American character rarely captured in pop music." -- Bruce Springsteen "Warren Zevon...was one of the most interesting writers of the era, and certainly ahead of his time. " -- Gore Vidal "A harrowing ride through the backstreets of the L.A. music business with the King of Song Noir." -- Jackson Browne "Zevon...was a brilliant, funny, biting, tender storyteller...and [this] will keep him in your heart." -- Mitch Albom, author of FOR ONE MORE DAY and TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE

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Book SynopsisProviding an insight into the mind of one of the leading intellectuals of the modern age, this title chronicles the cultural, moral, and political journeys of this renowned critic and artist at the height of her powers.Trade ReviewRevelatory in the most profound sense * The Times *Gold dust * Sunday Times *

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Book Synopsis?. . . a human and historical document of compelling interest.? ?The AtlanticPowerful and inspirational,With God in Russiacaptures the heroic patience, endurance, and religious conviction of a man whose life embodied the Christian ideals that sustained him.While ministering in Eastern Europe during World War II, Polish-American priest Walter Ciszek, S.J., was arrested by the NKVD, the Russian secret police, shortly after the war ended. Accused of being an American spy and charged with agitation with intent to subvert, he was held in Moscow?s notorious Lubyanka prison for five years. The Catholic priest was then sentenced without trial to ten more years of hard labor and transported to Siberia, where he would become a prisoner within the forced labor camp system made famous in Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn?s Nobel Prize?winning bookThe Gulag Archipelago.InWith God in Russia, Ciszek reflects on his daily life as a prisoner, the labor he endured while working in the mines and on construction gangs, his unwavering faith in God, and his firm devotion to his vows and vocation. Enduring brutal conditions, Ciszek risked his life to offer spiritual guidance to fellow prisoners who could easily have exposed him for their own gains. He chronicles these experiences with grace, humility, and candor, from his secret work leading mass and hearing confessions within the prison grounds, to his participation in a major gulag uprising, to his own resurrection?his eventual release in a prisoner exchange in October 1963 which astonished all who had feared he was dead.?More than a superbly interesting adventure story,With God in Russiais a moving document of a man?s faith in his God and his God?s goodness in allowing him to live through his ordeal.? ?The Advocate

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Book SynopsisCaitlin Moran is the eldest of eight children, home-educated on a council estate in Wolverhampton, believing that if she were very good and worked very hard, she might one day evolve into Bill Murray.She published a children's novel, The Chronicles of Narmo, at the age of 16, and became a columnist at The Times at 18. She has gone on to be named Columnist of the Year six times. At one point, she was also Interviewer and Critic of the Year - which is good going for someone who still regularly mistypes the' as hte'. Her multi-award-winning bestseller How to Be a Woman has been published in 28 countries, and won the British Book Awards' Book of the Year 2011. Her two volumes of collected journalism, Moranthology and Moranifesto, were Sunday Times bestsellers, and her novel, How to Build a Girl, debuted at Number One, and is currently being adapted as a movie. She co-wrote two series of the Rose d'Or-winning Channel 4 sitcom RaTrade Review"I adore, admire and - more - am addicted to Caitin Moran's writing" Nigella Lawson "I have been waiting for this book my whole life" Claudia Winkleman "This might just be the funniest intelligent book ever written .. Moran's work packs a feminist punch in a way that Germaine Greer and an entire army of female eunuchs could never do, because she writes about things we've all done, thought, and said - but not quite so eloquently...the book everyone will be talking about" Stylist "Moran's writing sparkles with wit and warmth. Like the confidences of your smartest friend" Simon Pegg "It would almost be unkind to call this an important book, because what it mostly is is engaging, brave and consistently, cleverly naughtily funny, but actually it is important that we talk about this stuff" -- Katy Guest Independent on Sunday

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Book SynopsisREBEL GIRLS is a global, multi-platform empowerment brand dedicated to helping raise the most inspired and confident generation of girls through content, experiences, products, and community. Originating from an international best-selling children's book, Rebel Girls amplifies stories of real-life women throughout history, geography, and field of excellence. With a growing community of nearly 20 million self-identified Rebel Girls spanning more than 100 countries, the brand engages with Generation Alpha through its book series, award-winning podcast, events, and merchandise. With the 2021 launch of the Rebel Girls app, the company has created a flagship destination for girls to explore a wondrous world filled with inspiring true stories of extraordinary women.

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Book SynopsisBorn at Newport News, Virginia, in 1925, William Styron was educated at Duke University. He served in the Marine Corps during the last war, and was recalled to service during the Korean War. After 1952, he lived mainly in Europe, before settling in a rural part of Connecticut. He died in 2006.Trade ReviewHair-raising in the manner of A Tale of Horror by Edgar Allan Poe * Daily Telegraph *As short as a hangman's rope and nearly as arresting - an essay of great gravity and resonance. Never has Styron used so few words so effectively * Newsweek *

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Book SynopsisOf course I''m a f**king hooligan, you pr**k. I am a hooligan...there I''ve said it...I''m a hooligan. And, do you know why? Because that''s my f**king job. In 1995, a film called I.D., about an ambitious young copper who was sent undercover to track down the generals of a football hooligan gang, achieved cult status for its sheer brutality and unsettling insight into the dark and often bloody side of the so-called beautiful game.The film was so shocking it was hard to believe the mindless events that took place could ever happen in the real world. Well, believe it now... Almost twenty years on, the man behind the film has explosively revealed that the script was largely a true story. That man, James Bannon, was the ambitious young copper. The football club was Millwall F.C., and the gang that he infiltrated was The Bushwackers, among the most brutal and fearless in English football. In Running with the Firm, Bannon shares his intense and dangerous journey into the underworld of football hooliganism where sickening levels of violence prevail over anything else. He introduces you to the hardest thugs from football?s most notorious gangs, tells all about the secret and almost comical police operations that were meant to bring them down, and, how once you?re on the inside, getting out from the mob proves to be the biggest mission of all. A disturbing but compelling read, this is the book that proves fact really is stranger than fiction.Trade ReviewA must-read for fans -- Natasha Harding * The Sun *Brutal and searingly honest * Sunday Express *An entertaining and interesting first-hand account of a key point in British football history * FootyMatters.com *An amazing account of football hooliganism in its height and a brilliant read * sportsvibe.co.uk *Rather interesting book -- Libby Purves * BBC Radio 4, Midweek *

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Book SynopsisWhen a film is not a document, it is a dream. This visual autobiography traces the author's lifelong love affair with film. It looks at his life from a rural Swedish childhood through his work in theater to Hollywood's golden age, and a romantic history that includes five wives and more than a few mistresses.Trade Review"Bergman's minute recall is essentially, astonishingly, visual. Description after description stamp out scenes from his films. The man, his memory, his work are one.... It is wonderfully liberating to be made privy to the tangible relish in his craft.... The Magic Lantern is no conventional autobiography, more a scalding stream of consciousness from the pen of a licentious puritan." - New York Review of Books "[Bergman] has found a way to show the soul's landscape.... Many gripping revelations." - New York Times Book Review "Joan Tate's translation of this book has delicacy and true pitch.... The Magic Lantern is as personal and penetrating as a Bergman film, wry, shadowy, austere." - New Republic "[Bergman] keeps returning to his past, reassessing it, distilling its meaning, offering it to his audiences in dazzling new shapes." - New York Times "What Bergman does relate, particularly his tangled relationships with his parents, is not only illuminating but quite moving. No 'tell-all' book this one, but revealing in ways that much longer and allegedly 'franker' books are not." - Library Journal"

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Book SynopsisFeatures sixty-three short essays. Both a memoir and an exploration of the artistic process, this book not only reveals the author's particular experience as a gay artist captivated by the transience and physicality of his media and his life, but also his thoughts on the more technical aspects of his vocation.Trade Review"A lyrical, elegiac celebration of the medium and its implications-a provocative and highly original investigation." (Kirkus) "Quick, candid, and exquisitely felt." (Publishers Weekly)"

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Book SynopsisAn honest, end-of-career autobiography from widely adored Harlequins and England rugby star Danny CareThey say everything happens for a reason, and I think my life is proof of that. There have been a series of moments, some of them tough setbacks, that have proved over time to be pivotal to the person and player I am today. There was the time when my dreams of a football career came to an abrupt end but opened the door for rugby in my life; the ill-judged sledging outing that may have cost me the opportunity to go on a Lions tour; the times when my name made the headlines for the wrong reasons; the choice I made to miss an England tour, which led to meeting the love of my life on a party island halfway across the world; and the devastating moment when Eddie Jones dropped me from the England squad and I thought my international career was over.I sometimes wondered if it was meant to be but I kept on smiling and I worked hard as I kept my focus on playing the

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Book SynopsisAfter moving from Washington, D.C. to the Jersey Shore, a former speechwriter for President Obama starts surfing at the age of thirty-fivethe rough equivalent of beginning guitar lessons on your deathbedand must turn for help to the only other surfer he knows: a tattooed, truck-driving, Joe Rogan superfan who happens to be his brother-in-law.

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Book SynopsisDavid Sedaris''s remarkable ability to uncover the hilarious absurdity teeming just below the surface of everyday life is elevated to wilder and more entertaining heights than ever in this new book of stories.Sedaris proceeds from bizarre conundrums of daily life - the etiquette of having a lozenge fall from your mouth into the lap of a fellow passenger or how to soundproof your windows with LP covers against neurotic songbirds - to the most deeply resonant human truths. Taking in the parasitic worm that once lived in his mother-in-law''s leg, an encounter with a dingo and the purchase of a human skeleton, and culminating in a brilliant account of his attempt to quit smoking - in Tokyo - David Sedaris''s sixth story collection is a fresh masterpiece of comic writing.Trade ReviewA virtual Klondike of darkly glittering anecdotes. * Adam Mars-Jones, Observer *'Sedari s' anecdotes play off his sublime talent for turning the absurdly neurotic into the hilariously funny. * GQ *Howlingly funny, jaw-snappingly honest and endlessly perceptive... Sedari s' wellspring of quirky yet strangely universal comic experiences show no sign of drying up. * Tom Cox, Daily Mail *The most popular American humorist since Woody Allen... As a prose stylist he is often compared to that other great New Yorker writer James Thurber - dry, mordant, pitch perfect. As a human being, the most obvious comparison is with the comedian Larry Davi * Ngel Farndale, Sunday Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisAulus Hirtius, friend of and military subordinate to Caesar (100–44 BC), may have written the Alexandrian War. African War and Spanish War are detailed accounts clearly by officers who had shared in the campaigns. All three works provide important information about Caesar’s career.

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Book SynopsisGerald Durrell, director and owner of Jersey Zoo, was internationally famous for his amusing books about collecting wild animals. The Overloaded Ark, his first, remains his funniest book. It describes an expedition to the remote territory of the Cameroons in West Africa, before independence.''A delightful book . . . You can feel his bush-shirt sticking to his back . . . Bagging a monitor, smoking out a Pangolin (scaly anteater), celebrating the capture of the rare Angwantibo (small lemur), bird liming for Giant Kingfishers on the warm, milky waters of Lake Soden: he communicates every detail of his experiences with just the right degree of zest.'' New Statesman

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Book Synopsis''Brilliant and epoch-making.'' Times Literary SupplementThe Classical Style is an established classic which has remained in print since its first publication in 1971. With his experience as a world-class pianist as well as as teacher at Harvard and Oxford, Charles Rosen produced the definitive survey of the language of the music of the classical period. In the book, Rosen concentrates on the three major figures of the time - Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven - because ''it is in terms of their achievements that the musical vernacular can best be defined''.In this expanded edition, Rosen follows the development of each composer''s best known genres: for Haydn, the symphony and string quartet; for Mozart, the concerto, string quintet and comic opera; for Beethoven, the piano sonata. In addition, the author ranges widely through the material of classical music which falls outside these categories. ''The word masterpiece should be used rTrade Review"'Brilliant and epoch-making.' Times Literary Supplement 'The word "masterpiece" should be used rarely if at all. But it applies to Charles Rosen's The Classical Style... This book sets new standards for the application of language to music' George Steiner"

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Book SynopsisOutspoken writings by the founder of modern nursing record fundamentals in the needs of the sick that must be provided in all nursing. Covers such timeless topics as ventilation, noise, food, bed and bedding, light, cleanliness, and observation of the sick. Still the finest book on nursing. Co-Evolution Quarterly.

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Book Synopsis'Totally absorbing and highly readable account of a remarkable life . . . genuinely revelatory' The Times'A colossal book about a colossal life, a spectacular journey across the entire twentieth century' Daily MailWritten with complete access to the Queen Mother’s personal letters and diaries, William Shawcross's riveting biography is the truly definitive account of this remarkable woman, whose life spanned the twentieth century. Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes Lyon, the youngest daughter of the Earl of Strathmore, was born on 4 August 1900. Drawing on her private correspondence and other unpublished material from the Royal Archives, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother vividly reveals the witty girl who endeared herself to soldiers convalescing at Glamis in the First World War; the assured young Duchess of York; the Queen, at last feeling able to look the East End in the face at the height of the Blitz; the QueeTrade ReviewThis splendid biograpy captures something of the warm glow that she brought to every event and encounter. It also reveals a deeper and more interesting character, forged by good sense, love of country, duty, humour and an instinct for what is right. This is a wonderful book, authoritative, frank and entertaining * Daily Telegraph *A totally absorbing and highly readable account of a remarkable life . . . Shawcross's book is genuinely revelatory -- The TimesA colossal book about a colossal life, a spectacular journey across the entire twentieth century through the eyes of a thoughtful woman who took the hand of a shy royal understudy and was propelled through modern history -- Daily MailLively and elegantly written . . . A rich portrait -- The EconomistImpressively researched . . . Shawcross avoids the traps [of] hagiography . . . He succeeds in the difficult task of keeping his subject resolutely centre-stage in an elegant account -- Independent

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