Biography Books

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Winner of the Stowe Prize, Harriet Beecher Stowe Center""Longlisted for the Porchlight Business Book Awards, Personal Development & Human Behavior Category""A NationSwell Book of the Year""Finalist for the C. Wright Mills Award, Society for the Study of Social Problems""Shortlisted for the getAbstract International Book Award 2023, Business Impact Category""This is an openhearted, multilayered work that vibrates with ideas on ways to make a new world out of the interlocking crises of COVID-19 and racial capitalism. Progress may be a 'tear-soaked mirage,' as Benjamin writes, yet her book is far from devoid of a sense of humor or hope, full of ways to 'live poetically' while remaking the systems that have failed us."---Rhoda Feng, New York Magazine"Heartbreaking, inspiring, and hopeful. . . . Benjamin’s approach is undoubtedly radical."---James M. Jones, Science"There’s no one better to light the way out and guide us in building a just future than Ruha Benjamin."---Karla J. Strand, Ms. Magazine"Benjamin’s choice to weave personal stories of childhood and motherhood with action and theory made it easier to see how I fit into the narrative she was crafting. . . . In the spirit of activists and writers like Octavia Butler, Benjamin encourages us to dream up a new, more equitable world."---A. Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez, YES! Magazine"A powerful, urgent plea for individual responsibility in an unjust world." * Kirkus Reviews, starred review *"An emotional and thought-provoking wake-up shout to put an end to systemic discrimination. . . . A rich and engaging space for collective healing." * Library Journal *"Compelling . . . . The final pages of Benjamin’s Viral Justice are a testament to human resilience, to finding meaning in little acts, imbuing beauty in the mundane, and growing a garden from a seed."---Mehr Tarar, Stanford Social Innovation Review"I encourage educators across all subject matters to incorporate Benjamin’s Viral Justice framework in the classroom. These lessons ultimately provide students with a toolkit to reimagine justice and redistribute power in their own communities little by little."---Amber Joy Powell, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity"A unique and inspiring intervention, that comes at just the right moment."---Ros Williams, Ethnic and Racial Studies"Benjamin’s work is foundational for understanding society and social change. . . . Viral Justice offers real experiences coupled with theory and practicality to engender change."---Kenya Massey, Symbolic Interaction"[A] brilliant and impassioned book." * Paradigm Explorer *"A salve and a powerful revisiting of movement history. . . . I see Viral Justice as a refreshing reminder of how much we can learn from the analysis and perspective of a brilliant thinker outside our field . . . The book is lyrical and searing in its analysis."---Michelle Morse, The Lancet

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Book SynopsisMaria Callas (1923–77) was the greatest opera diva of all time. Despite a career that remains unmatched by any prima donna, much of her life was overshadowed by her fiery relationship with Aristotle Onassis, who broke her heart when he left her for Jacqueline Kennedy, and her legendary tantrums on and off the stage.However, little is known about the woman behind the diva. She was a girl brought up between New York and Greece, who was forced to sing by her emotionally abusive mother and who left her family behind in Greece for an international career. Feted by royalty and Hollywood stars, she fought sexism to rise to the top, but there was one thing she wanted but could not have – a happy private life.In Cast a Diva, bestselling author Lyndsy Spence draws on previously unseen documents to reveal the raw, tragic story of a true icon.Trade Review"Lyndsy Spence presents an in-depth and sympathetic picture of the woman behind the legend."

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Book Synopsis''A book that''ll change your perspective on life. You''ll not be able to put it down.'' Fearne Cotton''Everyone should read this book. Sophie Morgan is the epitome of grit and determination. Her writing is thought provoking, honest and in parts hilarious.'' Katie Piper OBE''Wrenchingly honest...eye-opening and deeply moving. *****'' Mail on SundayAs seen on ''Living Wild; How to Change your Life'' a two-part prime-time series on Channel 4, Loose Women and The Great Celebrity Bake Off for SU2COn the precipice of starting her adult life, aged eighteen, Sophie, a rebellious and incorrigible wild child, crashed her car and was instantly paralysed from the chest down. Rushed to hospital, everything she had dreamed for her life was instantly forgotten and her journey to rediscover herself and build a different life began. But being told she would never walk again would come to be the least of her concerns.Over the next eighteen years, as she strived to come to terms with the change in her body, her relationships were put to the test; she has had to learn to cope with the many unexpected and unpredictable setbacks of living with paralysis; she has had to overcome her own and other people''s perceptions of disability and explore the limits of her abilities, all whilst searching for love, acceptance, meaning, identity, and purpose.Driving Forwards is a remarkable and powerful memoir, detailing Sophie''s life-changing injury, her recovery, and her life since. Strikingly honest, her story is unusual and yet relatable, inspiring us to see how adversity can be channelled into opportunity and how ongoing resilience can ultimately lead to empowerment.''Raw, life affirming and gorgeously written - this book is filled with extraordinary honesty, courage and warmth. Sophie''s words will make us all braver and more hopeful.'' Daisy Buchanan''A truly astonishing read about the power of never giving up.'' Sun''F***king hell!! This book is absolutely brilliant . . . One of the best memoirs I''ve ever read. Honest and so blooming human, it''s fantastic.'' Kathy BurkeTrade ReviewA book that'll change your perspective on life. You'll not be able to put it down. * Fearne Cotton *What I love about this book is it's not about "overcoming disability". Instead, it's about learning how to live a good disabled life - one full of friends, love, opportunities and fun. Disabled joy is so rarely seen, but Sophie Morgan has it in spades. * Lucy Webster, Political journalist, writer and disability advocate *Wrenchingly honest...inspirational, eye-opening and deeply moving * Mail on Sunday *A searing read * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, THE TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, MAIL ON SUNDAY, FINANCIAL TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, SPECTATOR THE SUNDAY TIMES ART BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020 'Explosively enjoyable, bursting with life and art ... A central figure as wild and beguiling as any character in literature' CRAIG BROWN William Feaver, Lucian Freud’s collaborator, curator and close friend, knew the unknowable artist better than most. Over many years, Freud narrated to him the story of his life, ‘our novel’. Fame follows Freud at the height of his powers, painting the most iconic works of his career in a constant pursuit of perfection, just outrunning his gambling debts and tailor’s bills. Whether tattooing swallows at the base of Kate Moss’s back or exacting a strange revenge on Jerry Hall and Mick Jagger, Freud’s adventures were always perfectly characteristic. An enfant terrible till the end, even as he was commissioned to paint the Queen, what emerges is an artist wilfully oblivious to the glitter of the world around – and focussed instead on painting first and last. ‘A dazzling tour de force’ THE TIMES 'A wonderfully vivid chronicle' OBSERVER ‘Does justice to Freud’s pitiless genius’ DAILY MAIL Trade ReviewFreud’s voice rings out on every page, offering opinions on everything ... There’s plenty of celebrity juice here too * Guardian, Best Art Books of 2020 *The painter emerges as fully three-dimensional in this second part of Feaver’s biography * THE TIMES, Best Paperbacks of 2022 *Huge, gossipy and sometimes shocking … no less breezy and eye-popping than the first * The Times and Sunday Times Best Books of 2020 *The concluding volume of Feaver’s unmissable biography sees the great painter evolving from enfant terrible into Old Devil - although really was a man ever so uncompromisingly himself from cradle to grave? As a life it’s both a horrible warning and a shining example, and Feaver does it justice * Daily Telegraph *Freud was a wonderful painter – a genius – but a frequently awful human being. His endless feuds and fights, his numerous sexual partners, his extraordinary work and his eccentricities are all vividly chronicled in this, the second volume of Fever’s monumental biography * Mail on Sunday, Books of the Year *Lucian Freud wanted William Feaver’s biography of him to be ‘the first funny art book’ … [this is] certainly that, with laughs galore. But it’s also much more, not least a wonderfully vivid chronicle of the interlocking worlds of money, art and bohemia * Observer, Best Books of 2020 *Feaver has collected some fabulous stories * Daily Telegraph, The Best Biographies and Memoirs of 2020 *William Feaver’s biography of Lucian Freud also comes in two parts. I read the second part, Fame: 1968-2011 (Bloomsbury) this year and found it as engrossing and well informed as the first, and as judicious and well written -- Colm Toibin * New Statesman, Books of the Year *[One of] the best things I read this year … crammed with enough jaw-dropping, buttocks-clenching revelations to keep a whole Soho pub entertained for days -- Robert Douglas Fairhurst * Spectator, Books of the Year *Explosively enjoyable, bursting with life and art, and all focused on a central figure as wild and beguiling as any character in literature, real or fictitious ... Feaver is wonderfully deft at interweaving the art and the life in an unshowy manner. Throughout the two volumes he manages to convey Freud’s personal magnetism, and the way he was simultaneously controlled and controlling and out of control. And, rare for a biographer, he shows what it was like to be with his subject from day to day -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *Magnificent ... Reads like the last days of Rome ... Feaver shares his subject’s style and timing. His clipped prose is running commentary and ironic aside; the sentences, bone-dry, have dramatic entrances -- Frances Wilson * Times Literary Supplement *If Freud’s pictures are at heart all about palpable reality, the same is true of Feaver’s daunting enterprise ... David Hockney described Freud’s portraits as being essentially “an account of looking”, and that’s just what Feaver’s book is too * Sunday Times *Does justice to Freud’s pitiless genius as an artist * Daily Mail *An extremely juicy biography … You can hear Freud’s voice on the page, which is thrilling …Bulges with gossipy stuff … He was more vivid than other people ... and Feaver’s great and generous achievement in his book is to enable us to imagine this. Its last lines – Freud tells him, that he’s always liked lipstick on the teeth – are so perfect. Somehow, they say it all. Dress up, go out, get laid. And then try to get it all down in your work: “Tell people you’ve been alive” -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *A biography that is as generous and unsparing as Freud’s own best work. At once personally intimate and critically detached, perceptive on the art ... but never trying to compete with it, Feaver’s biographical portrait is an unforgettable achievement * Prospect *Superb and eye-opening ... A figure who was driven by strong appetites, told the truth when it was uncomfortable or unwanted, and used paint to play a complicated game in which self-revelation was strangely mixed up with self-disguise. * Prospect *A mesmerising picture of a paintaholic who was incorrigibly on the make … Feaver’s vastly detailed biography is the ideal companion to Freud’s work. It resembles nothing so much as a large Freud canvas: hypnotic, occasionally reiterative, quirkily dark in places, proceeding by a process of obsessive accretion -- Elizabeth Lowry * Guardian *Diverting … Freud played the mischievous bar-room raconteur, chuckling over bygone stunts and scrapes, and sticking the knife into old foes with venomous relish * Sunday Telegraph *The latest instalment of the epic biography of Lucian Freud finds him at the height of his fame * The Times *Absorbing in all its darkness and light, a dazzling tour de force … Remarkable … we have to be grateful that his Boswell was there to make a record * Literary Review *The first volume of Feaver’s biography of the artist was highly acclaimed. This second one covers his most productive years * Sunday Times *PRAISE FOR THE LIVES OF LUCIAN FREUD: YOUTH: 'William Feaver has done a brilliant job -- Lynn Barber * Daily Telegraph *Freud emerges, dab by dab, fully three-dimensional from Feaver’s vibrant recitation of dealers and models, works in progress and gambling ... David Hockney, another sitter, described Freud’s portraits as being essentially “an account of looking”, and that’s just what Feaver’s book is too * SUNDAY TIMES *Freud and Feaver seize you by the elbows, bundle you into a Bentley, haul you round the nightclubs, feed you oysters, Guinness and amphetamines and order you Russian tea and eggs the next morning. I didn’t know whether I’d been roughed up or ravished * The Times *This is a tremendous read. Anyone interested in British art needs it … An extraordinary book -- Andrew Marr * New Statesman *A biography that is as entertaining, and full of twists and turns, as a picaresque novel … It has amazing zip and gusto, and leaves you wanting more -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *Sparkling … An extraordinary tranche of anecdote and apercu … Feaver’s wonderful biography comes close to Freud’s own definition of his art: “A picture should be a recreation of an event rather than an illustration of an object” * Sunday Times *Superlative … Every page of this volume affirms his distinction … This is Lucian Freudian biography, packed with stories -- Alexandra Harris * Guardian *Lucian Freud was unique; unique in intensity, in affection, in interest and in fun. This brilliant and compendious biography has the same qualities. It does justice to Lucian -- Frank AuerbachFeaver has filled his book to the brim with the excitement and strangeness of Freud's life -- Colm Toibin * London Review of Books *Mesmerising, almost surreal in its headlong layering of detail, memory and gossip. Propelled by Freud's sardonic recollections, and lit throughout by William Feaver's impeccable, penetrating analysis of the work, this is a monstrously brilliant portrait -- Jenny UglowIn William Feaver’s The Lives of Lucian Freud, based upon decades of conversation with the painter, we hear Freud’s remarkable voice on almost every page. The result is a vivid, intimate biography of one of the 20th century’s most storied artists -- Annalyn Swann and Mark Stevens, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of de Kooning: An American MasterHere, Freud gets to tell his version of events with panache * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2022 Longlisted for the William M B Berger Prize for British Art History 2022 Guardian Art Book of the Year 2021 A dazzling, boldly original work that tells the powerful and passionate stories of a group of extraordinary women as glimpsed through their still life paintings What is contained in a still life – and what falls out of the frame? For women artists in the early twentieth century, such as Dora Carrington, Vanessa Bell and Gwen John, this art form was a conduit for their lives, their rebellions, their quietly subversive loves for men and women. But for every artist whom we remember, there are those whose work is almost forgotten. In This Dark Country, Rebecca Birrell conducts a dazzling fusion of group biography and art criticism, exploring, from the celebrated to the overlooked, the structures of intimacy that make – and dismantle – our worlds. 'A brilliant book ... A truly radical aesthetics fit for the twenty-first century at last!' - Thérèse Oulton '[A] wonderful book. I am impressed and fascinated. It is beautifully written' - Celia PaulTrade ReviewBlending flights of poetic rhapsody with more traditional critical language, This Dark Country is as seductive as it is scholarly ... Riveting * Financial Times *[A] wonderful book. I am impressed and fascinated. It is beautifully written. Each woman artist, in this superb book, addresses the need to transform the confines she inhabits into a space of empowerment. These artists all lived and worked in the first part of the twentieth century yet their legacy continues to be relevant -- Celia PaulA brilliant book ... A truly radical aesthetics fit for the twenty-first century at last! -- Thérèse OultonA beautifully written and important art historical work, This Dark Country is a magnificent debut by one of Britain’s most electrifying new talents. I cannot wait to read what she writes next! -- Camilla Grudova, author of THE DOLL's ALPHABET[An] unusual and refreshing group biography of artists ... I loved Birrell's brilliant re-apprehension of Rodin’s The Thinker through the experience of Gwen John. And her explanation of the magnitude of rooms and importance of room, in these women’s lives -- Leanne Shapton[A] beautiful, bold new book … explores the desires and ambitions of women artists, moving beyond the frame to reflect lives that rarely fit convention -- Chlöe Ashby * Elephant *Birrell’s blend of art criticism and biography works best when it is tethered to real-world calculation. She is particularly good at teasing out the stubborn material facts that underpin the most serene of still lifes -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *Rebecca Birrell urges us to ask new questions about gender and genre, domesticity and work … At its heart is the challenge of understanding the lives and works of women whose desires and ambitions often demanded secrecy, evasion and ambiguity -- Norma Clarke * Literary Review *[I was] captivated by this extraordinary book - stayed up way too late scribbling my astonishment on all the pages -- Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of 'A Ghost in the Throat'This is a bold, unusual book, filled with archival research, exuberant ideas and a determination to counter misogyny -- Diana Souhami * RA Magazine *We have not generally thought of the still life as a radical feminist genre – until now. In This Dark Country, Rebecca Birrell gives a sensitive, deeply researched look at the lives behind the still lives, showing us how for a group of early twentieth-century women artists the home became a radical feminist space in which to redefine domesticity and their relationships to the world outside. There is a calm and companionable stillness to Birrell’s prose, too; I loved seeing these paintings through Birrell’s eyes. -- Lauren Elkin

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Book SynopsisA CUNNING CHRONICLE OF THE 50 CODES THAT ALTERED THE COURSE OF HISTORY AND CHANGED THE WORLDFrom the bestselling author of Bletchley Park Brainteasers and The Scotland Yard Puzzle Book. There have been secret codes since before the Old Testament, and there were secret codes in the Old Testament too. Almost as soon as writing was invented, so too were the devious means to hide messages and keep them under the wraps of secrecy.In 50 Codes that Changed the World, Sinclair McKay explores these uncrackable codes, secret cyphers and hidden messages from across time to tell a new history of a secret world. From the temples of Ancient Greece to the court of Elizabeth I; from antique manuscripts whose codes might hold prophecies of doom to the modern realm of quantum mechanics, you will see how a few concealed words could help to win wars, spark revolutions and even change the faces of great nations.<Trade ReviewThis book [The Secret Life of Bletchley Park] seems a remarkably faithful account of what we did, why it mattered, and how it all felt at the time by someone who couldn't possibly have been born then. * The Guardian *[Bletchley Park Brainteasers] is outrageously difficult but utterly fascinating. * The Express *Disturbing and compelling in equal measure. Sinclair McKay brings a dark subject vividly to life in [The Fire and the Darkness]. * Keith Lowe, author of Savage Continent and The Fear and the Freedom *Engrossing . . . well-researched, powerfully written, and balanced. For all interested in military history and World War II. * Library Journal *Sinclair McKay's account of this secret war of the airwaves in [Secret Listeners] is as painstakingly researched and fascinating as his bestselling The Secret Life Of Bletchley Park, and an essential companion to it. * Daily Mail *Powerful . . . there is rage in his ink. McKay's book [Dresden] grips by its passion and originality. Some 25,000 people perished in the firestorm that raged through the city. I have never seen it better described' -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisJames VI & I, the namesake of the King James Version of the Bible, had a series of notorious male favourites. No one denies that these relationships were amorous, but were they sexual? Michael B. Young merges political history with recent scholarship in the history of sexuality to answer that question. More broadly, he shows that James's favourites had a negative impact within the royal family, at court, in Parliament, and in the nation at large. Contemporaries raised the spectre of a sodomitical court and an effeminized nation; some urged James to engage in a more virile foreign policy by embarking on war. Queen Anne encouraged a martial spirit and moulded her oldest son to be more manly than his father. Repercussions continued after James's death, detracting from the majesty of the monarchy and contributing to the outbreak of the Civil War. Persons acquainted with the history of sexuality will find surprising premonitions here of modern homosexuality and homophobia. General readers will find a world of political intrigue coloured by sodomy, pederasty, and gender instability. For readers new to the subject, the book begins with a helpful overview of King James's life.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY TRIVEDI SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2024''Fascinating, witty and perspective-shifting . . . I finished it not only better informed about a captivating branch of mathematics, but with an invigorating sense of greater purchase on the world'' OLIVER BURKEMANThomas Bayes was an eighteenth-century Presbyterian minister and amateur mathematician whose obscure life belied the profound impact of his work. Fusing biography, razor-sharp science communication and intellectual history, Everything Is Predictable is a captivating tour of Bayes'' theorem and its impact on modern life. From medical testing to artificial intelligence, Tom Chivers shows how a single compelling idea can have far-reaching consequences.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the True Crime Awards 2023 Best New True Crime Author The murder of Sarah Payne, Adam the Thames Torso, the London bombings, the Night Stalker and the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko... The solving of all these cases can be linked to one man: Ray Fysh, a Charlton Athletic fan from Woolwich, a natural raconteur and also one of the finest forensic detectives the country has ever seen.Ray began work for the Met Police in the 1970s when forensic investigation was seen as little more than a geeky side show, only in existence to confirm or eliminate evidence. But by the mid 90s Ray and his team had made huge progress in their field, contributing to the UK becoming a world-leading innovator in forensic techniques, with Ray himself being named as Special Adviser to the Forensic Science Service. As the SA, Ray worked alongside Senior Investigating Officers from day one of a case, directing his team to identify forensic opportunities and harvest case-cracking clues.As Ray looks back over his career at the cases he worked on, the reader is given unparalleled insight into the highs and lows of an astonishing career, the historic classist snobbery of the Met and the stunning realities of crime and forensics

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Book SynopsisBobby Womack was born on 4 March 1944, and died on 27 June 2014, aged 70. In a career that spanned two centuries and seven decades, the soul singer, songwriter and guitarist carved a niche for himself that has rarely been equalled, and never surpassed. He is, quite simply, irreplaceable. A phenomenally gifted musician, his incredible talent helped him to escape the ghetto and become a star, with 30 million record sales to his name. Yet behind his beautiful music lay a life scorched by tragedy. Having trod the harsh edge of the music business for decades, he finally told his explosive story in Midnight Mover. From finding success with his family gospel group The Valentinos and being whipped into shape by James Brown and Jimi Hendrix on the chitlin circuit , to recording with Wilson Pickett, Eric Clapton and Elvis Presley, Womack s stellar career wove a colourful path through the history of soul, rock and R&B music. His collaborations with other musicians read like a roll of honour, from Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles to The Rolling Stones and Damon Albarn. Success came at a price, however. Womack lost his friend and mentor Sam Cooke when the soul star was gunned down in a motel. A doomed marriage to Cooke s widow followed, which severely damaged his reputation in the music business. Tragically, he lost two sons, one to suicide, as well as his brother Harry to a brutal murder. His escape was to turn to drugs. Years of riotous abuse took their toll on Womack and those closest to him including Janis Joplin, who spent her last night drinking with the singer. But Womack s talent, searing guitar and soulful voice always survived. Cited as an influence by myriad musicians, even in death he remains the epitome of cool. Honest, insightful and unflinching, this is the authentic voice of the Midnight Mover, a supremely talented legend of music whose every day was lived to the full.

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Book SynopsisXuela Claudette Richardson is recalling the last seventy years of her life, and so she must begin with her birth, and the accompanying death of her mother.Xuela’s vivid, visceral recollections of the lonely, unsettled life that follows the trauma of her arrival include that of her distant father, who sends her away to another household at the earliest opportunity; of her passion for the stevedore Roland, who fulfils her sexually but not intellectually; and of her husband, who provides her with status and a wealthy lifestyle but whom she is incapable of loving.Poetic and disturbing, The Autobiography of My Mother is one of Kincaid’s most powerful statements of Afro-Caribbean women’s struggle for identity and independence, against a hostile backdrop of sexism and colonialism.Part of the Picador Collection, a new series showcasing the best of modern literature. Trade ReviewFierce, incantory. . . lyrical. . . powerful and disturbing -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *Kincaid, always an elegant stylist, makes this story of a simple woman extraordinary...filling her prose with rich, poetic detail. . . An unforgettable account of singular survival * San Francisco Chronicle Book Review *A book that comes both to haunt and to dazzle us . . . [Kincaid] writes like an angel: with enviable lucidity and precision and a lyric touch that frequently aspires to the condition of poetry * Boston Sunday Globe *What a writer – elegant, uncompromising, simultaneously direct and layered and complex. * Ali Smith *

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Book SynopsisIn the summer of 1869, John Muir set out from California's Central Valley with a flock of sheep and trekked into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. His journals describe the summer he spent in what would become Yosemite National Park. Celebrating the Sierra's lizards and mountain lions, tall trees and waterfalls, fierce thunderstorms and bears, Muir raises an awareness of nature to a spiritual dimension.John Muir is internationally acknowledged as one of the founding fathers of modern conservation and his vision, passion and integrity continue to inspire readers today - particularly in this, his best-loved book.Trade ReviewMuir's prose is a miracle of immediacy. His books are illuminated by sunshine and starlight. The cold mineral air of the mountains and the resiny reek of coniferous forests lift bracingly off his pages. No other writer is so ceaselessly astonished by the natural world as Muir, or communicates that astonishment more urgently. Muir lived "in an infinite storm of beauty", and his readers live in it with him -- Robert MacfarlaneAn inspirational figure for modern environmentalism . . . his enthusiasm and heart-felt love of nature is immensely impressive. Thankfully the wilderness blooms again in Muir's evocative prose * * Guardian * *Brilliant description is the currency of My First Summer in the Sierra . . . Religious awe and powerful terrestrial awareness mark [Muir's] prose in what is essentially a song to nature's marvels and to our humanness of being * * Scotsman * *The richness of Muir's writing roots deeper into the terrain than any other wilderness writer known to me * * Los Angeles Times * *Muir was a geologist, an explorer, philosopher, artist, author, and editor, and to each of his avocations he devoted that deep insight and conscientious devotion which made him its master * * New York Times * *The great mountain man . . . [John Muir] remains a towering presence in American cultural life, and is internationally acknowledged as one of the founding fathers of modern conservation -- Mark Cocker, author of Crow CountryAs more and more of us grow aghast at what we have done to the world we started with, Muir's reverence and devotion will seem keenly germane, and our regret may be transmuted into a fight for the future -- Edward Hoagland

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Book SynopsisTHE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEEL TRULY ALIVE?Aged 24, Matt Haig's world caved in. He could see no way to go on living. This is the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again.A moving, funny and joyous exploration of how to live better, love better and feel more alive, Reasons to Stay Alive is more than a memoir. It is a book about making the most of your time on earth.'I wrote this book because the oldest clichés remain the truest. Time heals. The bottom of the valley never provides the clearest view. The tunnel does have light at the end of it, even if we haven't been able to see it . . . Words, just sometimes, really can set you free.'Trade ReviewMaybe the most important book I've read this year -- SIMON MAYOA life-saving book -- AMANDA CRAIGBrings a difficult and sensitive subject out of the darkness and into the light -- MICHAEL PALINFull of wisdoms and warmth -- NATHAN FILERMatt Haig is a marvellous writer: limpid; tender; passionate. In this memoir (and it's short, barely 200 pages long), he manages to articulate, both the bleakness of depression and the means of dealing with it, little by little, day by day, without ever sounding maudlin, or self-indulgent, or preachy. For everyone who has ever felt the snap of the black dog's teeth, this book is wise, funny, affirming and redemptive. Sometimes depression can be like falling into a wordless pit. Matt Haig finds the words. And he says them for all of us -- JOANNE HARRISReasons to Stay Alive is wonderful. I read it in one sitting. Touching, funny, thought-provoking, with a huge heart. It should be read by anyone who has suffered, or known someone who has suffered (i.e.. everyone) -- S J WATSONFascinating and beautifully written -- IAN RANKINMatt Haig uses words like a tin-opener. We are the tin -- JEANETTE WINTERSONThoughtful, honest and incredibly insightful -- JENNY COLGANBrilliant and salutary . . . should be on prescription -- REV. RICHARD COLES

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Book Synopsis'A terrific nuts and bolts account of the real business of cooking as told from the trenches. No nonsense. This is what it takes' ANTHONY BOURDAIN'One of the most informative, funny and transparent books about the restaurant biz ever written' BRET EASTON ELLISSous Chef takes you behind the swinging doors of a busy restaurant kitchen, putting you in chef's shoes for an intense, high-octane twenty-four hours. Follow him from the moment he opens the kitchen in the morning, as he guides you through the meticulous preparation, the camaraderie in the hours leading up to service and the adrenalin-rush as the orders start coming in. Thrilling, addictive and bursting with mouth-watering detail, Sous Chef will leave you breathless and awestruck - walking into a restaurant will never be the same again.Trade ReviewA terrific nuts and bolts account of the real business of cooking as told from the trenches. No nonsense. This is what it takes -- ANTHONY BOURDAINOne of the most informative, funny and transparent books about the restaurant biz ever written -- BRET EASTON ELLISA good cook chooses ingredients carefully, just as a writer must select the right words. Michael Gibney is a word cook of the highest order and this book will leave you licking your fingers -- GARY SHTEYNGART * * author of Super Sad True Love Story * *Miraculous . . . Gibney has the soul of the poet and the stamina of a stevedore . . . Tender and profane * * New York Times Book Review * *Gibney's writing is in Anthony Bourdain's league: he puts across both the intense stress and the intense joy of cooking in a professional kitchen * * Time, 15 Best Books of 2014 * *This is excellent writing - excellent! - and it is thrilling to see a debut author who has language and story and craft so well in hand. Though I would never ask my staff to read my own book, I would happily require them to read Michael Gibney's -- GABRIELLE HAMILTON * * author of Blood, Bones and Butter * *Thrillingly crafted * * The Bookseller * *Fascinating and fun * * Boston Globe * *The pace - when you're in the thick of it - is thrilling, and the tension palpable * * Independent * *Compelling . . . a fascinating read * * Herald * *

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Book SynopsisWinter takes us on an intimate tour of the artists, poets, composers, writers, explorers, scientists and thinkers who helped shape a new and modern idea of winter. We learn how literature heralds the arrival of the middle class; how snow science leads to existential questions of God and our place in the world; how the race to the poles marks the human drive to imprint meaning on a blank space. Offering a kaleidoscopic take on the season, Winter is a homage to an idea of a season and a journey through the modern imagination.Trade Review'Gopnik's mind darts about like mercury as he tells his tale' The Times. * The Times *'Often startlingly good ... The perfect fireside companion' Observer. * Observer *'Brilliantly insightful ... Any writer who can take subjects as diverse as Wilson Bentley's snow crystal photographs, Dickens's Christmas stories and the myth that the Inuit have dozens of different words for snow, and find something original and interesting to say about each of them, has to be worth reading' Sunday Times. * Sunday Times *'Makes chilliness worth every minute' The Economist. * Economist *Table of ContentsAuthor's Note. Romantic Winter. Radical Winter. Recuperative Winter. Recreational Winter. Remembering Winter. Bibliography. Permissions. Index.

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Book SynopsisLudwig Bemelmans came to the California home of famed interior decorator Elsie de Wolfe, Lady Mendl, for cocktails. By the end of the night, he was firmly established as a member of the family: given a bedroom in their sumptuous house, invitations to the most outrageous parties in Hollywood, and the friendship of the larger-than-life woman known to her closest friends simply as 'Mother'. With hilarity and mischief, Bemelmans lifts the curtain on a bygone world of extravagance and eccentricity, where the parties are held in circus tents and populated by ravishing movie stars. To the One I Love the Best is a luminous painting of life's oddities and a touching tribute to a fabulously funny woman.Trade Review"This book is a must." -- The New York Times"An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein."--Kirkus Reviews“Delightful... It was Bemelmans’ privilege to have known [Lady Mendl] and it’s ours to have his gorgeous recollections.” --Sunday Times “A beautiful, fun and emotion-filled piece of social history.” --Irish Independent “The charm of To the One I Love the Best lies in the peerless combination of author and subject.” --Paris Review "About a third of the way through the book I decided that Lady Mendl, was one of the great comic creations in the history of literature . . . as airy as a soufflé, full of the sun and smells of California . . . Madeline for grown ups."--The Spectator “Reissued treasure.” --The Gloss

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Book SynopsisPulitzer Prize­–winning reporter and dean of Trumpologists David Cay Johnston reveals years of eye-popping financial misdeeds by Donald Trump and his family.While the world watched Donald Trump’s presidency in horror or delight, few noticed that his lifelong grifting quietly continued. Less than forty minutes after taking the oath of office, Trump began turning the White House into a money machine for himself, his family, and his courtiers. More than $1.7 billion flowed into Donald Trump’s bank accounts during his four years as president. Foreign governments rented out whole floors of his hotel five blocks from the White House while lobbyists conducted business in the hotel’s restaurants. Payday lenders and other trade groups moved their annual conventions to Trump golf resorts. And individual favor seekers joined his private Mar-a-Lago club with its $200,000 admission fee in hopes of getting a few minutes with the President. Despite earning more than $1 million every day he was in office, Trump left the White House as he arrived—hard up for cash. More than $400 million in debt comes due by 2024, and Trump still lacks the resources to pay it back. “Few people are as well positioned to write an exposé of the former president as Johnston” (The Washington Post), and The Big Cheat offers a guided tour of how money flowed in and out of Trump’s hundreds of enterprises, showing in simple terms how a corrupt president used our government for his benefit, even putting national security at risk. Johnston details the four most recent years of the corruption that has defined the Trump family since 1885 and reveals the costs of Trump’s extravagant lifestyle for American taxpayers.Trade Review"We know more than ever why Trump should not have been president and why he or any of his minions cannot be president of this democracy again. Johnston’s book is filled with amazing research." * Eugene Weekly *"The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and longtime Trump-watcher Johnston delivers enough charges to fuel a few hundred indictments. . . . Johnston assembles a case that’s full of news and startling incidents. . . . Those inclined to despise Trump and Trumpism will find ample reinforcement." * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *"A devastating roundup of malfeasance." * Publishers Weekly *“Few people are as well positioned to write an exposé of the former president as Johnston. . . . The Big Cheat is a guided tour of the Trump circus in 18 colorful vignettes. . . . A good book, full of old-fashioned reporting based on original sources and primary documents, colorfully written and convincingly argued.” -- James Kwak * The Washington Post *

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Book SynopsisIn 1945, as Allied bombers continued their final pounding of Berlin, the panicking Nazis began moving the assets of the Reichsbank south for safekeeping. Vast trainloads of gold and currency were evacuated from the doomed capital of Hitler's 'Thousand-year Reich'. Nazi Gold is the real-life story of the theft of that fabulous treasure - worth some 2,500,000,000 at the time of the original investigation. It is also the story of a mystery and attempted whitewash in an American scandal that pre-dated Watergate by nearly 30 years. Investigators were impeded at every step as they struggled to uncover the truth and were left fearing for their lives. The authors' quest led them to a murky, dangerous post-war world of racketeering, corruption and gang warfare. Their brilliant reporting, matching eyewitness testimony with declassified Top Secret documents from the US Archives, lays bare this monumental crime in a narrative which throngs with SS desperadoes, a red-headed queen of crime and American military governors living like Kings. Also revealed is the authors' discovery of some of the missing treasure in the Bank of England.Trade ReviewReads like the sleazy world described in Graham Greene's Third Man with several noughts added to the transactions * Daily Express *A major feat of detection . . . a remarkable story . . . the murky post-war world of racketeering and corruption . . . it is all here . . . they have solved the mystery as far as anyone could solve it * Birmingham Post *A riveting thriller-style account of what happened to the Nazi gold hoard * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisBefore Fridtjof Nansen's Greenland expedition of 1888, the vast impenetrable arctic regions exasperated nineteenth-century scientists. The twenty-six-year-old thought he knew better. Convinced that he would succeed by skiing, a sport practically unknown at the time, he put together a group of only six members to cross the arctic interior of Greenland for the first time. They would pull their own sledges and, on a shoe-string, arrange transport to Greenland on two steam liners to drop them off in the icy Arctic sea. They could only afford a basic camera to document their trip. Astonishingly, this audacious but much criticised plan succeeded! Nansen's riveting expedition classic including his diary entries are here republished for the first time in full. His words and captivating expedition photographs caught with a student camera set in motion a golden age of exploration.Trade Review'Nansen was the last of the Nordic gods... Tall, blond, and ridiculously handsome... The First Crossing Of Greenland is a... thrilling account of his earliest adventure... It was a hideous journey... Hair froze fast to headgear, beards solidified so that the lips could not be opened to speak... Polar exploration tends to attract more testosterone than talent... One man towers over the other ice-encrusted sledgers: Fridtjof Nansen, colossus of the glaciers... Of all the frozen beards... only Nansen communicated a sense of the true subjugation of the ego that endeavour can bring. Failure, he acknowledged, would mean "only disappointed human hopes, nothing more".' Sara Wheeler, Guardian; 'Seminal... demythologised the polar environment and revolutionised modern polar travel with the introduction of skis.' Roland Huntford, The Times; 'Nansen defied that conventional wisdom, which dictated explorers proceed from the known to the unknown to maintain a line of retreat, by sailing first to the largely uncharted eastern coast of Greenland.' Times Higher Education; 'The visionary Norse explorer.' Jon KrakauerTable of ContentsMap of Greenland 12 Introduction 13 1. The Equipment 26 2. Skis and Skiing 46 3. Voyage to Iceland 54 4. Cruising the Ice 60 5. Point of No Return 70 6. Danger 76 7. Adrift 87 8. Land in Sight, at Last 101 9. Cape Bille 116 10 An Icy Greenland Idyll 134 11. Rapid Progress 148 12. Glaciers and “Nunataks” 163 13. The Conquest of the Inland Ice 174 14. 7930 Feet above Sea Level 190 15. Snowstorms of the Interior 205 16. Shipwreck on the Icy Plains 216 17. Water, but no Land 226 18. Rocks and Land 236 19. Splitting Up 247 20. A Change in Fortune 253 21. Ny Herrnhut 261 22. Civilisation 270 23. Winter Quarters 275 24. The Hvidbjörnen 282

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Book SynopsisPaul Darrow's career has encompassed theatre, television and film. Famed for his portrayal of Kerr Avon, a ruthless and calculating computer expert, in Terry Nation's science fiction series Blake's 7, Darrow has also appeared in Coronation Street, Emergency Ward 10 and many other productions - including two guest appearances in Doctor Who. Populated by familiar names and productions, You're Him, Aren't You? is Paul's own story of his life and career. It tells of his association with Blake's 7 - how he was cast, his experiences of making the show, what has happened since and his memories of Terry Nation, the cast and the crew. It also tells of his childhood, his time playing Elvis Presley and his near miss with James Bond.

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Book SynopsisThere will be an avalanche of books about the pandemic. None will be as eye-opening or humane or moving as Lamb's' DAILY TELEGRAPHA story of poverty, generosity and worlds colliding in modern BritainWhen Covid-19 hit the UK and lockdown was declared, Mike Matthews wondered how his four-star hotel would survive. Then the council called. The British government had launched a programme called Everyone In ' and 33 rough sleepers many of whom had spent decades on the street needed beds.The Prince Rupert Hotel would go on to welcome well over 100 people from this community, offering them shelter, good food and a comfy bed during the pandemic.This is the story of how that luxury hotel spent months locked down with their new guests, many of them traumatised, addicts or suffering from mental illness. As a world-leading foreign correspondent turning her attention to her own country for the first time, Christina Lamb chronicles how extreme situations were handled and how shocking losses were sTrade Review Praise for The Prince Rupert Hotel For the Homeless ‘A remarkable story… The virtue of this book is the time it takes to listen to and tell the stories of these guests, mostly in their words’ The Spectator ‘‘A story of extraordinary compassion in a difficult time’ The New Statesman ‘The hotel’s year of living compassionately is told with fleetness and gusto by Christina Lamb. Grounded by the pandemic, the Sunday Times chief foreign correspondent chanced upon the story while attending (via Zoom) a Woman of the Year lunch. Her byline usually pops up in the hottest of hotspots – Kabul or Aleppo or Dnipro. Shrewsbury looks like a bathetic entry on that list but, as she outlines in a blistering coda, the UK is far from free of problems that afflict the developing world. Her book is both journal and manifesto. There will be an avalanche of books about the pandemic. None will be as eye-opening or humane or moving as Lamb’s latest dispatch from the front line’Daily Telegraph ‘This insightful account of a four-star establishment taking in rough sleepers amid the pandemic finds grounds for real if slender hope … [a] humane, humble book … a work of scrupulous reportage that offers no easy fixes, dispensing with sentimentality as it chronicles brutal backstories, tender dreams and profoundly disheartening patterns of behaviour while somehow finding grounds for real if slender hope. There is also farce and frustration, all of it building to a rallying cry for more investment in services and social housing’Observer, Book of the Day ‘Inspirational … Lamb has interviewed many of the guests and fills us in on their often harrowing backgrounds, as well as what happened to them once lockdown ended … This moving and often very funny book suggests we could take a more imaginative general approach to helping the homeless – without waiting for another pandemic to galvanise us’Daily Mirror

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Book SynopsisI was only sixteen when I bought an electric guitar and joined a band. A year later, I formed an all-girl band called the Marine Girls and played gigs, and signed to an indie label, and started releasing records. Then, for eighteen years, between 1982 and 2000, I was one half of the group Everything But the Girl. In that time, we released nine albums and sold nine million records. We went on countless tours, had hit singles and flop singles, were reviewed and interviewed to within an inch of our lives. I've been in the charts, out of them, back in. I've seen myself described as an indie darling, a middle-of-the-road nobody and a disco diva. I haven't always fitted in, you see, and that's made me face up to the realities of a pop career - there are thrills and wonders to be experienced, yes, but also moments of doubt, mistakes, violent lifestyle changes from luxury to squalor and back again, sometimes within minutes.Trade ReviewThe Alan Bennett of pop memoirists. I loved her book so much I wanted to form a band, too. Preferably with Thorn -- Caitlin Moran, bestselling author of How to be a Woman As distinctive and lovely as its author's singing voice, Bedsit Disco Queen isn't just a wry and wise memoir of a unique career: it acts as a kind of eulogy for a forgotten era of British pop -- Alexis Petridis As a witty and wise chronicle of a life spent dipping in and out of the limelight, this is second to none -- Fiona Sturges Independent on Sunday Beautifully written, dryly funny and searingly honest Sunday Times

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Book Synopsis'A fine biography...Rogers has done a wonderful job' Daily Telegraph J. L. Carr was the most English of Englishmen: headmaster of a Northamptonshire school, cricket enthusiast and campaigner for the conservation of country churches. But he was also the author of half a dozen utterly unique novels, including his masterpiece, A Month in the Country, and a publisher of some of the most eccentric - and smallest - books ever printed. Byron Roger's acclaimed biography reveals an elusive, quixotic and civic-minded individual with an unswerving sympathy for the underdog, who led his schoolchildren through the streets to hymn the beauty of the cherry trees and paved his garden path with the printing plates for his hand-drawn maps, and whose fiction is quite remarkably autobiographical. Much more than the life of a thoroughly decent man, The Last Englishman is a comic and touching anatomy of the best kind of Englishness. 'Conveying the significance of the author of Carr's Dictionary of Extraordinary Cricketers to anyone unfamiliar with his books, or what may now fairly be called his myth, was always going to be difficult. Somehow, Roger's has managed it' D. J. Taylor, Sunday Times 'A great success, and more life-affirming than F. R. Leavis's entire output' Independent on Sunday

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Book SynopsisA tour de force of investigative journalism, Killing Pablo tells the story of the violent rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, the head of the Colombian Medellin cocaine cartel. Escobar's criminal empire held a nation of thirty million hostage in a reign of terror that would only end with his death. In an intense, up-close account, award-winning journalist Mark Bowden exposes details never before revealed about the covert sixteen-month manhunt that was led by US Special Forces and intelligence services. With unprecedented access to important players - including Colombian president Cisar Gaviria and the incorruptible head of the special police unit that pursued Escobar, Colonel Hugo Martinez - as well as top-secret documents and transcripts of Escobar's intercepted phone conversations, Bowden has produced a gripping narrative that is a stark portrayal of rough justice in the real world.Trade ReviewVivid, fast-paced and well researched * Sunday Times *A remarkable opus of investigative journalism * The Times *Mark Bowden's thrilling, completely engrossing book brings the man and his bloody times to vivid life. I couldn't put it down. -- Howard MarksPowerfully written and well researched * Independent on Sunday *A psychotic safari * Daily Mail *A master of narrative journalism, Bowden employs the same techniques of reconstructing scenes and dialogue that made his bestselling Black Hawk Down gripping reading. * New York Times *A well researched and staggering account. * Time Out *A brilliant reconstruction... Clear and gripping * Evening Standard *Reads like a Clancyesque thriller, it's fast-paced, full of page-turning intrigue, corruption, and thwarted pursuit. * San Francisco Chronicle *A compelling, almost Shakespearean tale * Los Angeles Times *If ever there was a real-life James Bond villain, Pablo Escobar was it... 10 times better than any fictional crime story * Uncut *

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Book SynopsisAn amazing portrait of how grifters came to be called visionaries and high finance lost its mind.' Charles Duhigg, bestselling author ofThe Power of HabitThe definitive inside story of WeWork, its audacious founder, and the company''s epic unravelling from the journalists who first broke the story wide open.In 2001, Adam Neumann arrived in New York after five years as a conscript in the Israeli navy. Just over fifteen years later, he had transformed himself into the charismatic CEO of a company worth $47 billion. With his long hair and feel-good mantras, the six-foot-five Neumann looked the part of a messianic Silicon Valley entrepreneur. The vision he offered was mesmerizing: a radical reimagining of work space for a new generation. He called it WeWork.As billions of funding dollars poured in, Neumann''s ambitions grew limitless. WeWork wasn''t just an office space provider; it would build schools, create cities, even colonize Mars. In pursuit of its founder's vision, the company spenTrade Review“Only a handful of books capture the zeitgeist of a business era. Add this one, a wild saga that caps a decade when founder-worshiping investors threw billions at well-spun visions—even those of a megalomaniac whose new-age real estate enterprise’s losses piled up as fast as its valuation climbed. The duo who broke the story of WeWork’s rise and fall have now artfully fleshed it out in a book whose colourful narrative is undergirded by deep context about the times, and enablers, that made Adam Neumann possible. John Helyar, #1 New York Times-bestselling co-author of Barbarians at the Gate “Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell owned the WeWork story as it was unfolding. And now, with The Cult of We, we finally get the chronicle we deserve of a madness that consumed venture capital, corporate America and the world. It's an amazing portrait of how grifters came to be called visionaries, billions of dollars were bestowed on bong-hit ideas and high finance lost its mind.” —Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit “Whether you know a lot or a little about the fall of WeWork, you won’t be able to put down The Cult of We by Wall Street Journal reporters Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell. Their book is teeming with incredible details. While heroes are in short supply, the schadenfreude you’ll feel about the spectacular downfall of those who deserve it is delightful.’ Bethany McLean, bestselling co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room ‘The lines between vision, bullshit, and fraud are narrow, and if you tell a thirty-year-old male that he is Jesus Christ, he’s inclined to believe you. The idolatry of founders in Silicon Valley will rage until the music stops playing. The Cult of We is a cautionary tale and a crisp page-turner.’ Scott Galloway, New York Times bestselling author of The Four

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Book Synopsis'Wishful Drinking is a touching and incisive account of bipolarity, addiction and motherhood.' Independent ‘No motive is pure. No one is good or bad – but a hearty mix of both. And sometimes life actually gives to you by taking away.' Carrie Fisher in Wishful DrinkingIn Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher told the true and intoxicating story of her life with inimitable wit. Born to celebrity parents, she was picked to play a princess in a little movie called Star Wars when only 19 years old. "But it isn't all sweetness and light sabres." Alas, aside from a demanding career and her role as a single mother (not to mention the hyperspace hairdo), Carrie also spends her free time battling addiction and weathering the wild ride of manic depression. It's an incredible tale: from having Elizabeth Taylor as a stepmother, to marrying (and divorcing) Paul Simon, and from having the father of her daughter leave her for a man, to ultimately waking up one morning and finding a friend dead beside her in bed. Carrie Fisher's star-studded career included roles in numerous films such as The Blues Brothers and When Harry Met Sally. She was the author of four bestselling novels, Surrender in the Pink, Delusions of Grandma, The Best Awful and Postcards from the Edge, which was made into a hit film starring Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep. Carrie's experience with addiction and mental illness – and her willingness to talk honestly about them – made her a sought-after speaker and respected advocate. She was truly one of the most magical people to walk among us.Further praise for Carrie Fisher:-[Shockaholic] is the finest, funniest chronicler of the maddest celebrity mores.' Sunday Times'Fisher has a talent for lacerating insight that masquerades as carefree self-deprecation' Los Angeles Times'She is one of the rare inhabitants of La-La Land who can actually write' New York Times

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Book SynopsisIn The Four Elements, poet and philosopher John O'Donohue draws upon his Celtic heritage and the love of his native landscape, the west of Ireland, to weave together a tapestry of beautifully evoked images of nature. As John explores a range of themes relating to the way we live our lives today, he reveals how the energy and rhythm of the natural world - its innocence and creativity, its power and splendour - hold profound lessons for us all. With a foreword written by his beloved brother Pat, this illuminating treasury is a unique collection of reflections inspired by the ancient wisdom of this earth.Trade ReviewThere are certain threads that run through the work of John O'Donohue. They manifest themselves with different colours and textures. The form may change for different purposes of rhythm and resonance, but the intention remains constant. It is grounded in human vulnerability and the desire, the longing, for a connection to the wonder of the divine in nature, and human life within it. -- Michael D Higgins, politician and broadcaster

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Book Synopsis'Inspirational ... I can't recommend this book highly enough' Bill Gates Profound and powerful, Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba and Russia, as the charismatic but flawed genius Dr Paul Farmer challenges widely-held preconceptions about poverty and healthcare. As a medical student, Farmer found his life's calling: to cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine - so readily available in the developed world - to those who need them most. Beginning in Haiti, he tackles the conditions that contribute to so many unnecessary deaths with his trademark combination of world-class expertise, unlimited compassion, and the unstinting dedication of friends and colleagues. Tracy Kidder's magnificent and moving account shows how, from achieving this modest dream, one person can make a difference in solving global problems through a clear-eyed understanding of the interaction of politics, wealth, social systems and medicine.Trade ReviewThere aren't many real heroes, where the purity of their commitment and the way they articulate those values inspires millions of people ... I can't recommend this book highly enough -- Bill GatesAffecting...at one the story of an epic battle against poverty and a finely balanced character study -- Wendell Steavenson * Sunday Times *Quite simply, Mountains Beyond Mountains is a book you should read. It's not smug and self-satisfied, it's not poverty and suffering porn, it's not predictable. It's genuinely touching, inspiring and excellently written. Highly recommended -- Keith Dudhnath * The Bookbag *An absorbing read -- Julian Fleming * Sunday Business Post *Inspiring, disturbing, daring and completely absorbing * New York Times Book Review *A masterpiece that will leave you questioning your own life and political views. It's the perfect testament to a man who continues to reshape medicine and who has become, undoubtedly, an uncommon saviour to a country that desperately needed one * USA Today *A true-to-life fairytale ... Its stark sense of reality comes as much from the grit between the pages as from the pure gold those pages spin * Boston Sunday Globe *It'll fill you equally with wonder and hope * People *

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Book SynopsisAn exploration of the visual corollary to Didion’s life and work and the feeling that each generates in her admirers, detractors and critics—including artists from Helen Lundeberg to Diane Arbus, Betye Saar to Maren Hassinger, Vija Celmins and Andy Warhol In Joan Didion: What She Means, the writer and curator Hilton Als creates a mosaic that explores Didion's life and work and the feeling each generates in her admirers, detractors and critics. Arranged chronologically, the book highlights Didion's fascination with the two coasts that made her. As a Westerner transplanted to New York, Didion was able to look at her native land, its mores and fixed rules of behavior, with the loving and critical eyes of a daughter who got out and went back. (Didion and her late husband moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1964, where they worked as highly successful screenwriters, producing scripts for 1971's The Panic in Needle Park and 1976's A Star Is Born, among other works, before returning to New York 20 years later.) And from her New York perch, Didion was able to observe the political scene more closely, writing trenchant pieces about Clinton, El Salvador and most searingly the Central Park Five. The book includes more than 50 artists ranging from Brice Marden and Ed Ruscha to Betye Saar, Vija Clemins and many others, with works in all mediums including painting, ephemera, photography, sculpture, video and film. Also included are three previously uncollected texts by Didion: “In Praise of Unhung Wreaths and Love” (1969); a much-excerpted 1975 commencement address at UC Riverside; and “The Year of Hoping for Stage Magic” (2007).Trade ReviewA cross dialogue between Didion’s ephemera and the artworks to create a syncopated cacophony of voices that attempt to get at the complex web of culture and politics that the author sought to distill throughout her work. -- Olivia Gauthier * Brooklyn Rail *This chronologically arranged visual exploration of the late author’s origins, writing and cultural impact includes work from more than 50 artists as well as three previously uncollected texts. * The New York Times Book Review *Part of what made Didion extraordinary is how she appealed to so many different audiences, and that extended beyond geography. -- Adam Nagourney * New York Times: Arts *The range of artworks presented here is impressive, and the depth of Als’s friendship with Didion is evident in his curation and in his introductory essay, in which he writes, “Didion always admired those artists who representedor tried to understand that which could not be understood.” -- Fran Bigman * Bookforum *

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Book SynopsisA glorious treasury of literary curiosities for every night of the year. Bedside Companion for Book Lovers contains an eclectic mix of fact and fiction, letters, diaries, essays and dedications, all suffused with the joys of books and reading. The perfect gift for the bibliophile in your life, it contains snippets from some of the greatest writers and book collectors from throughout history, including: Charles Dickens on the smell of books Maya Angelou on the pleasures of reading aloud Virginia Woolf on finding space for writing Nick Hornby on reading for pure enjoyment and much more. Along the way, you’ll find advice on how to look after your most precious volumes, what to do when books start taking over your home, and where to find the most atmospheric libraries and bookshops around the world. Keep this beautifully illustrated book by your bedside and wander into a magical world of books every night of the year.Trade Review‘This would be a much-loved and treasured gift for bookworms! From fact and fiction, to letters and diaries, be greeted by the beauty of the written word’ Love Reading ‘The perfect gift for any book lover, with a mix of letters and diaries, both fact and fiction’ Prima ‘This is the perfect book for any bookworm… a real classic in the making’ Miranda Mills YouTubeTable of ContentsJanuary: An Illimitable Choice 10February: Frivolous and Idle Books 46March: A Stroke of the Pen 78April: Something Sensational to Read 112May: Encouraging Early Bookishness 146June: The Poet and the Dreamer 182July: I Always Took a Book 216August: Bibliomania, or Book-madness 252September: In an Elbow-chair at Ease 288October: The Art of Bookbinding 324November: An Abundant Library 358December: The Craft of Genius 394Index: 430Acknowledgements 444

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Book SynopsisBorn in 1904, von Mellenthin joined the Seventh Cavalry Regiment in 1924. In 1935, he began his general staff training and in 1939 was an intelligence officer. By the end of the war, he had risen in rank to Major General and was Chief of General Staff, Fifth Panzer Army, on the Western Front. Active in the Polish campaign of 1939, the conquest of France, the Balkans, the desert with Rommel, as well as in Russia, at Stalingrad and Kursk, he was in a unique position to write Panzer Battles, having been present at every major panzer campaign. In 1944, he was moved to the Western Front under Field Marshall von Rundstedt. Captured in 1945 by the Americans, he moved to South Africa after the war and became an executive for a major German airline.

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Book SynopsisHis first new collection of short humor in fifteen years is classic Woody Allen. Zero Gravity is the fifth collection of comic pieces by Woody Allen, a hilarious prose stylist whose enduring appeal readers have savored since his classics Getting Even, Without Feathers, Side Effects, and Mere Anarchy. This new work combines pieces that have appeared in The New Yorker along with ten written exclusively for this book, each a comic inspiration. Whether he’s writing about horses that paint, cars that think, the sex lives of celebrities, or how General Tso’s Chicken got its name, he is always totally original, broad yet sophisticated, acutely observant, and most important, relentlessly funny. Along with titles like “Buffalo Wings Woncha Come Out Tonight” and “When Your Hood Ornament Is Nietzsche,” included in this collection is his poignant but very funny short story, "Growing Up in Manhattan.”Zero Gravity implies writing not to be taken seriously, but, as with any true humor, not all the laughs are weightlessTrade ReviewPraise for Mere Anarchy, Woody Allen's previous collection of his short humor pieces:“The stories in Mere Anarchy deliver the same joys and foibles that have been with its author from the start.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times“Uproarious . . . In each story the ornate and the vulgate slam together and make it rain polysyllabic absurdity.”—Wall Street Journal“Like the Carnegie’s one-pound sandwiches, Allen’s literary slapstick is . . . comedy on wry.”—USA Today“Brilliant neurotica . . . Unfailingly entertaining . . . [An] obsessive and seriously funny book.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review“Will put a rictus on your kisser. . . . The animating comedy is part S. J. Perelman and part borscht belt: Allen piles the ludicrous on top of the ridiculous and tops it with an acidic lemon squeeze, and then just keeps the jokes coming.”—Publishers Weekly"The topsy-turvy literary allusions pour from Allen's pen like bullets from a Gatling gun (an appropriately obscure simile), exposing the intellectual pretensions of a ragtag assortment of Allenesque everymen—endearingly unkempt nebbishes who, despite knowing their Dostoevsky, can't quite deal with the absurdities of daily life."—Booklist

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER''The book is meant to spread joy, personal acceptance, and most of all understanding. Each of us is living our own private journey, and the more we know about each other, the healthier and happier the world will be.''Growing up gay in a traditional South Asian family in South Yorkshire, Tan France could never have imagined he'd become part of a worldwide phenomenon. One of the few people of colour at his school, he experienced racist bullies, found solace at his grandad's denim factory and eventually discovered his true calling at fashion college. Told with his trademark humour, for the first time Tan reveals the experiences that have made him the witty, compassionate man he is today.From meeting the love of his life Rob (a Mormon cowboy from Salt Lake City) to juggling three demanding businesses, Tan charts the highs and lows on his path to Queer Eye. And of course he can't help but pepper this bTrade ReviewSo good and moving. Great advice about marriage, faith and jeans * Zadie Smith *Frank and courageous ... blazes with light and honesty * The i *One of the few books I've read and thought “I get that”. Honest, joyful and relatable * Nadiya Hussain *Who hasn’t tried the French tuck? Peppered with fashion dos and don’t s, the memoir of arguably Doncaster’s most famous TV export is a must for any Queer Eye fan. * Evening Standard *Tan's book is moving, insightful, and hilare. Any bad stories about me are totally untrue, but the rest is brilliant. Best book of the millennium! * Jonathan Van Ness *

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**OUT NOW: WHAT LIES BURIED. THE SENSATIONAL NEW BOOK BY KERRY DAYNES**'Enthralling and terrifying. The Dark Side of the Mind is a chilling glimpse into a world of miscreants, monsters and the misunderstood.' Professor Dame Sue Black, author of the Sunday Times bestseller All That Remains'A stunning, insightful, provocative piece of work. Wonderfully written and full of honesty. A powerful excavation of the world of a forensic psychologist.' Barbara Machin, creator and writer of Waking The Dead 'Kerry Daynes delves into the minds of psychopaths in a fascinating memoir.' Katya Edwards, Daily Mail 'Daynes offers fascinating insights into what makes criminals tick and how they might be more effectively treated. Her book is funny, wise and thoroughly gripping.' Jake Kerridge, writer and critic 'Grimly fascinating - a timely and gripping exploration of mental health issues in the criminal justice system from an author intimately acquainted with its dark heart.' Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange 'Kerry Daynes writes with knowledgeable insight on a side of people - and the criminal system that purports to treat them - that many would prefer to leave alone. The humour and psychological skills that have enabled her survival shine through.' Jessica Fellowes, author of The Mitford Murders Welcome to the world of the forensic psychologist, where the people you meet are wildly unpredictable and often frightening. The job: to delve into the psyche of convicted men and women to try to understand what lies behind their often brutal actions. Follow in the footsteps of Kerry Daynes, one of the most sought-after forensic psychologists in the business and consultant on major police investigations. Kerry's job has taken her to the cells of maximum-security prisons, police interview rooms, the wards of secure hospitals and the witness box of the court room. Her work has helped solve a cold case, convict the guilty and prevent a vicious attack. Spending every moment of your life staring into the darker side of life comes with a price. Kerry's frank memoir gives an unforgettable insight into the personal and professional dangers in store for a female psychologist working with some of the most disturbing men and women. If you enjoyed Unnatural Causes, When the Dogs Don't Bark and Prison Doctor you'll love Kerry's gripping account of her experience as a forensic psychologist.Trade ReviewGrimly fascinating - a timely and gripping exploration of mental health issues in the criminal justice system from an author intimately acquainted with its dark heart. * Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange *Kerry Daynes writes with knowledgeable insight, lending her personal and professional experience to a side of people - and the criminal system that purports to treat them - that many would prefer to leave alone. The humour and psychological skills that have enabled her survival shine through, showing us not only the desperate need for a humane response to crime and criminals but also how urgently the governance around them must be rehabilitated. * Jessica Fellowes, author of The Mitford Murders *A most complete account of the experience of working with others as a forensic psychologist. It's written with compassion and the unavoidable self-discovery of professional and personal development . A powerful book that would be useful to anyone who regularly encounters other people in their lives. * Dr Emma Short, Director of the National Centre for Cyberstalking Research *

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Book SynopsisDiagnosed with Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) at aged 12 and writing this memoir at age 37, Julia Daunt depicts the ins and out of PDA and its symptoms, while maintaining a positive outlook on what is possible to achieve. Co-written with professional specialist Ruth Fidler, it covers how PDA impacts Julia's life, including meltdowns, sensory issues and communication in relationships.Including examples of school reports and handwritten letters, a chapter written from Julia's partner's perspective and even an example of Julia's favourite recipe, this warm and personal look at living and thriving with PDA is informative and inspiring.Trade ReviewThis is a unique personal insight into PDA, following Julia and her family from early childhood to present day adulthood and relationship with her partner Paul. Julia is honest about the challenges throughout, with the benefits of a positive approach and acceptance shining through. PDA individuals, family members and professionals will all benefit from reading this book. -- The PDA Society trusteesBeing Julia is a hugely insightful and eye-opening account of living with PDA. Honest, from the heart and with humour, this book is very informative and will give hope to parents who are wondering what happens when their children become adults. Being Julia is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand more about PDA. -- Steph Curtis, parent of a PDA girl and blog writer at www.stephstwogirls.co.ukThis biography has been put together so it describes PDA like a text book whilst simultaneously telling Julia's individual story, making clear that it's her personal experience, and other PDA experiences will be different. Being a fellow adult PDAer, I had been excited to read Julia's biography, and quickly discovered astounding similarities between us, as well as differences, revealed in her honest account. I think this is what makes Being Julia so important: it shines a clear light, from the inside outwards, onto what PDA is. -- Sally Cat, adult PDAer author and illustratorTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. What is PDA?; 2. Childhood - the younger years; 3.Childhood: Growing up; 4. Making sense of my PDA; 5. My avoidance; 6. Sensory differences; 7. Language and communication; 8. Friendships and relationships; 9. Meltdowns; 10. Events and Appointments; 11. Julia through Paul's lens; 12. Now and next; References

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR. FROM THE JUDGES:''Rick Reilly lets Donald''s Trump relationship with his favourite sport speak for itself. Commander in Cheat is full of astonishing ''you could not make it up'' detail delivered in full knowledge that nothing revealed would embarrass the President one jot. You will be howling with laughter and gasping in disbelief in equal measure so be careful when reading this fascinating book in public.''SHORTLISTED FOR THE GENERAL OUTSTANDING SPORTS WRITING AWARD AT THE 2020 TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS.THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER.''An eye-watering account of the president''s abuse of the rules of golf'' The Sunday Times''Reilly pokes more holes in Trump''s claims than there are sand traps on all his courses combined. It is by turns amusing and alarming'' The New YorkerCommander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trade ReviewAn eye-watering account of the president's abuse of the rules of golf - The Sunday TimesReilly pokes more holes in Trump's claims than there are sand traps on all his courses combined. It is by turns amusing and alarming' - The New Yorker[Rick Reilly] is the closest thing sportswriting ever had to a rock star - USA Today[Rick Reilly] is one of the funniest humans on the planet - New York Daily News

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Book Synopsis'Someone has written that all art aspires to the condition of music. My experience is that all art, including all music, aspires to the condition of horse-racing.' This collection of essays leads the reader into the searching and wildly fertile imagination of Gerald Murnane, one of the masters of contemporary Australian writing, author of the classics Border Districts and Tamarisk Row, and winner of the Patrick White Literary Award. He writes of himself: as a boy making racehorses of his marbles, an obsession shared with Jack Kerouac; as a writer, working his first ten years in secret; as a reader, trying to understand the mystery of the right sentence by way of Virginia Woolf and Robert Frost; as a teacher, exploring the endless ways in which words can express the contours of our thoughts. From these vantage points Murnane sees the worlds of significance that lie within, or just beyond, the everyday details of Australian life. Carrying the reader with him across the valleys, plains and grasslands of his mind, this singular author creates an immersive landscape in which every word has its own space, shape and weight.Trade Review`As a writer, Murnane is [thus] a radical idealist' J.M. Coetzee ----`Strange and wonderful and nearly impossible to describe.' New York Times ---- `Murnane, a genius, is a worthy heir to Beckett.' Teju Cole

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Book SynopsisThe story behind the hit Netflix documentary: The bestselling account of the bond between brothers and the shocking legacy of a dangerous mother.Imagine waking up one day to discover that you have forgotten everything about your life. Your only link with the past, your only hope for the future, is your identical twin.Now imagine, years later, discovering that your twin had not told you the whole truth about your childhood, your family, and the forces that had shaped you. Why the secrets? Why the silences? You have no choice but to begin again.This has been Alex's reality: a world where memories are just the stories people tell you, where fact and fiction are impossible to distinguish. With dogged courage he has spent years hunting for the truth about his hidden past and his remarkable family. His quest to understand his true identity has revealed shocking betrayals and a secret tragedy, extraordinary triumph over crippling adversity and, above all, redemption founded on brotherly love.Marcus his twin brother has sometimes been a reluctant companion on this journey, but for him too it has led to staggering revelations and ultimately the shedding of impossible burdens. Their story spans continents and eras, from 1950s debutantes and high society in the Home Counties to a remote island in the Pacific and 90s raves. Disturbing, funny, heart-breaking and affirming, Alex and Marcus's determination to rebuild their lives makes us look afresh at how we choose to tell our stories.Trade ReviewA relevatory memoir http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/31/tell-me-who-am-lewis-review * Guardian *'Beautifully written, it poses key questions about selfhood and honesty'. * Daily Express *

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Book Synopsis''More than just a memoir. A manifesto for a whole way of thinking'' Daily Mail''An idiosyncratic and gripping memoir about his life and the indomitable career of the Cube'' Observer''The rise and enduring power of the world''s most popular puzzle toy . . . Cubed is less a memoir than a chronicle of Rubik''s evolving relationship with his creation'' Financial Times***As a child, Erno Rubik became obsessed with puzzles of all kinds. To him, they weren''t just games - they were challenges that captured his imagination, creativity and perseverance. Rubik''s own puzzle went on to be solved by millions worldwide, becoming one of the bestselling toys of all time. In Cubed, he tells us the story of the unexpected and unprecedented rise of the Cube for the very first time - and makes a case for why rediscovering our playfulness and inner curiosity holds the key to creative thinking.Trade ReviewThe inventor of the Rubik's Cube on what life and his beloved puzzle have taught him . . . An idiosyncratic and gripping memoir about his life and the indomitable career of the Cube * Observer *Rubik's book is more than just a memoir. It's a manifesto for a whole way of thinking, for the need to retain your childhood playfulness into adulthood if you wish to create anything of worth * Daily Mail *The rise and enduring power of the world's most popular puzzle toy . . . CUBED is less a memoir than a chronicle of Rubik's evolving relationship with his creation * Financial Times *As a school maths teacher and a puzzle writer, I encourage all curious people to open their minds to the words on these pages. This is in part a manifesto for anyone wishing to become a creator. Unleash your creativity with Mr Rubik as your guide -- Bobby SeagullWhile the book tells the story of how Rubik, a Hungarian architect and professor of design, invented the Cube as a way to demonstrate a geometric problem, it also is laced with his thoughts about curiosity, change and the meaning of life * Forbes *A rewarding, idiosyncratic autobiography * Nature *In CUBED, the Hungarian inventor and architect goes into detail explaining how a bold thirst for knowledge has animated his life. He tells the story of how he invented the toy which bears his name, and how his childhood helped turn him into the man he is today. Going one step beyond this, Rubik uses his cube as an allegory for the nature of knowledge itself * Salon *

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Book SynopsisAs read on BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week'Shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year AwardLonglisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize'Sherman’s is a special book. Every sentence, every thought she has, every question she asks, every detail she notices, offers something. The Bells of Old Tokyo is a gift . . . It is a masterpiece.' - The SpectatorA hauntingly original book about Tokyo and the Japanese relationship to time, memory and history.For over 300 years, Japan closed itself to outsiders, developing a remarkable and unique culture. During its period of isolation, the inhabitants of the city of Edo, later known as Tokyo, relied on its public bells to tell the time.In her remarkable book, Anna Sherman tells of her search for the bells of Edo, exploring the city of Tokyo and its inhabitants and the individual and particular relationship of Japanese culture - and the Japanese language - to time, tradition, memory, impermanence and history.Through Sherman’s journeys around the city, The Bells of Old Tokyo presents a series of hauntingly memorable voices in the labyrinth of the Japanese capital: An aristocrat plays in the sea of ashes left by the Allied firebombing of 1945. A scientist builds the most accurate clock in the world, a clock that will not lose a second in five billion years. A sculptor eats his father’s ashes while the head of the house of Tokugawa reflects on the destruction of his grandfather’s city.'This mesmerising cultural history explores the neighbourhoods where Tokyo's bells once rang . . . As our own locked-down days squeeze and elongate, Tokyo time feels strangely familiar.’ - Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewSherman’s is a special book. Every sentence, every thought she has, every question she asks, every detail she notices, offers something. The Bells of Old Tokyo is a gift . . . It is a masterpiece. * Spectator *[Sherman's] perambulations around the bells yield fascinating, frequently moving narratives . . . In Tokyo's every nook and cranny, she finds the possibility of something profound, something elevating. * New Statesman *A subtle, beautifully written meditation . . . Profoundly moving . . . The bells of old Tokyo are no longer heard, but this lyrical yet serious work deserves ringing endorsement. * Literary Review *A completely extraordinary book, unlike anything I have read before. At once modest in tone and vast in scale and ambition . . . Delicately wrought, precise, lucid and strange as a dream. -- Olivia LaingBeautifully written, surprising, original and humane . . . A truly stunning debut. -- Joanna KavennaThe Bells of Old Tokyo is part personal memoir, part cultural history, but wholly unique . . . It is the best book I have read about Tokyo written this century, and deserves to take its place alongside the works of Donald Richie, Edward Seidensticker and Paul Waley as one of the great interpretations of this great city. -- David PeaceDelightful . . . Bells is unknowable, but brilliantly so. * Japan Times *Good travel writing is often hard to come by - it’s a delicate balance of bringing a destination to life while also informing of its noteworthy aspects, but Anna Sherman does so flawlessly. * Japan Today *In her haunting, beautiful debut travel narrative, Anna Sherman takes the reader along on her quest to find the bells of old Tokyo, illuminating a lost world hidden in plain sight . . . The Bells of Old Tokyo paints an intricate, rich portrait of this labyrinthine city . . . as much a history of Japan as it is a travelogue. * South China Morning Post *Only a handful could match Sherman for respectful curiosity, detailed knowledge and sensitivity to her surroundings. * Canberra Times *It is very possible – refreshingly, exhilaratingly, possible – for a great book to exist that is all at once a memoir, a travelogue, a history book, and an examination of what defines a culture and its people: their customs, arts, architecture, habits, and priorities. That is what The Bells of Old Tokyo is. It is also a masterwork. * Books and Bao *A staggering reassembling of an ancient city turned neon metropolis . . . An exceptional and exceptionally original piece of writing. * The Big Smoke *A fascinating portrait of a city and its people, epic and intimate at the same time * The Weekly Times *A reading treasure . . . A work of literary art . . . Magnificent both in its content and in the exquisite, lyrical writing of its author. * Cape Times *Sherman’s writing is elegant and accessible, and the story of Tokyo quickly becomes the story of time itself. -- Best Books of Summer 2019 * Uproxx *A beautifully written evocation of a place and a philosophical inquiry into the nature of time itself. An astonishing gift. * Shelf Awareness *A tour-de-force mapping, in four dimensions, of the amazing place we call “Tokyo.” I realized I barely know the city . . . So much is dealt with so beautifully – Mishima, the 1945 firebombs, the tangle that is Shinjuku . . . Wonderful . . . -- Liza DalbyAn enchanting read, drawing you into Sherman’s Tokyo world in a way that makes you wonder why you shouldn’t fly there right this minute, with her book as the only guide you’ll ever need. -- Xu Xi

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Book Synopsis'Just incredible' Naomi Klein'Gripping and shocking...with the pace of a thriller' The TimesA New York Times bestseller, The Outlaw Ocean is a riveting, adrenalin-fuelled tour of a vast, lawless and rampantly criminal world that few have ever seen: the high seas.The oceans are some of the last untamed frontiers on our planet.Too big to police, and under no clear international authority, these treacherous waters play host to the extremes of human behaviour and activity.From traffickers, smugglers and pirates to vigilante conservationists, stowaways and seabound abortion-providers, Ian Urbina introduces us to the inhabitants of this hidden world and their risk-fraught lives. Through their extraordinary stories, he uncovers a globe-spanning network of crime and exploitation that emanates from the fishing, oil and shipping industries - but to which all of us are connected.LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2019'An astonishing book about a world most of us don't even know exists' Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland'An outstanding investigation of a global criminal culture on the high seas' Guardian'Truly important... A complex portrait of an unseen and disturbing world' New York TimesTrade ReviewGripping and shocking by turns … Most of the book clips along with the pace of a thriller … stomach-churningly tense … as outlandish and as thrilling as a heist film * The Times *Just incredible -- Naomi KleinUrbina has written an astonishing book about a world most of us don't even know exists. These are dispatches from the lawless ocean - of traffickers, slaves, heroes, gangsters, crooks and scoundrels - which will amaze, enthral and appal you -- Oliver Bullough, author of MoneylandA riveting, terrifying, thrilling story of a netherworld that few people know about, and fewer will ever see. As Ian Urbina ventures into the darkest folds of the high seas, his courage—and his prose—are breathtaking' SUSAN CASEY, author of The Wave -- Susan Casey, author of The WaveAn outstanding investigation of a global criminal culture on the high seas … His rendezvous with contacts on at least one occasion was arranged for 100 miles offshore through mountainous waves … Little wonder the stories he tells have not been told before * Guardian *Not just a stunning read, this book is a gripping chronicle of the watery wild west and it shows us—frankly unlike anything I've read before—how the vast ocean has become a danger zone, and ultimately how we all pay a price for this mayhem and mistreatment' JOHN KERRY, former Secretary of State and founder of the Our Ocean Conference -- John Kerry, former Secretary of State and founder of the Our Ocean ConferenceTranscendent, rendering a complex portrait of an unseen and disturbing world. Urbina pursues a depth of reportage that’s rare because of the guts and diligence it requires ... The result is not just a fascinating read, but a truly important document. It is also a master class in journalism" New York Times * New York Times *Revelatory … there is no lack of danger in Urbina’s travels; impressively, he never shies away from it … gripping … this drama is riveting, but so is the endemic abuse Urbina finds … if you want to be a crook, there is no better place to do it than at sea … the laxness of enforcement makes Urbina’s investigations essential -- Rose George * New Statesman *Incredible, readable, riveting -- Sam Walker * Wall Street Journal *It’s this kind of hard-assed reporting that can ultimately change the world for the better -- Chris Dixon * Scuttlefish *You simply have to read this -- Karen Tumulty * Washington Post *Staggering -- Oliver Franklin-Walles * Wired *

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times bestseller, revised and updated for the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth. ---- As heard throughout 2020 on Classic FM ---- You know the music... but do you know the man? ---- Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the world's best loved and most influential composers. His life - its dramas, conflicts, loves and losses - is played out in his music. ---- In this special edition to mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth - with a new section featuring his most celebrated pieces - John Suchet shows us the man behind the music. He reveals a difficult and complex character, struggling to continue his profession as musician despite increasing deafness, alienating friends with unprovoked outbursts of anger one moment, overwhelming them with excessive kindness and generosity the next, living in a city in almost constant disarray because of war with France. ---- This is the real Beethoven, and Suchet brings him faithfully and vividly to life. ---- This updated edition of Suchet's acclaimed biography contains new material, including a detailed guide to Beethoven's most important compositions, family tree and timeline.Table of ContentsContents; Note on this Edition ... xi; Preface ... xv; Prologue ... xviii; 1. The Spaniard ... 1; 2. The Right Teacher ... 23; 3. Meeting Mozart ... 42; 4. Word Spreads ... 61; 5. Impressing the Viennese ... 88; 6. My Poor Hearing Haunts Me ... 105; 7. Only My Art Held Me Back ... 121; 8. Egyptian Hieroglyphics ... 134; 9. O, Beloved J! ... 151; 10. A Deeply Immoral Woman ... 168; 11. Under Cannon Fire ... 188; 12. Immortal Beloved ... 202; 13. An Utterly Untamed Personality ... 216; 14. Into the Witness Box ... 235; 15. A Musical Gift from London ... 252; 16. 'I Want to Be a Soldier' ... 273; 17. Two Pistols and Gunpowder ... 291; 18. Frightening the Oxen ... 307; 19. Terminally Ill ... 323; 20. The Last Master ... 339; Postscript ... 346; Beethoven's Music ... 351; Cast of Characters ... 407; Timeline ... 419; Acknowledgements ... 431; About Classic FM ... 433; Index ... 435; About the Author ... 443

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Book SynopsisMonk's House in Sussex is the former home of Leonard and Virginia Woolf. It was bought by them in 1919 as a country retreat, somewhere they came to read, write and work in the garden. From the overgrown land behind the house they created a brilliant patchwork of garden rooms, linked by brick paths, secluded behind flint walls and yew hedges. The story of this magical garden is the subject of this book and the author has selected quotations from the writings of the Woolfs which reveal how important a role the garden played in their lives, as a source of both pleasure and inspiration. Virginia wrote most of her major novels at Monk's House, at first in a converted tool shed, and later in her purpose-built wooden writing lodge tucked into a corner of the orchard. Caroline Zoob lived with her husband, Jonathan, at Monk's House for over a decade as tenants of the National Trust, and has an intimate knowledge of the garden they tended and planted. The photographer, Caroline Arber, was a frequent visitor to the house during their tenancy and her spectacular photographs, published here for the first time, often reveal the garden as it is never seen by the public: at dawn, in the depths of winter, at dusk. The photographs and text, enriched with rare archive images and embroidered garden plans, take the reader on a journey through the various garden 'rooms', (including the Italian Garden, the Fishpond Garden, the Millstone Terrace and the Walled Garden). Each garden room is presented in the context of the lives of the Woolfs, with fascinating glimpses into their daily routines at Rodmell. This beautiful book is an absorbing account of the creation of a garden which will appeal equally to gardeners and those with an interest in Virginia and Leonard Woolf.Trade Review"a thoughtful, intelligent account of restoring the garden at Rodmell as the tenant of the National Trust." Literary Review 'this book about a gifted amateur's garden has immense charm' Country Life 'Lovely book celebrates the Woolfs' garden - the first (large picture book) about Monk's House' Virginia Woolf's Bulletin 'A portrait of their life ... a delightfully layered garden history.' Garden Design Journal "Rich with Caroline Arber's photography (and atmospheric sepia snaps of the Woolfs) the book documents the garden's developments from the Woolfs' time, through the Second World War, Virginia's death and Caroline's own decade-long tenancy. It remains a place of beauty and solace." The Simple Things "The book has great charm and terrific photographs, is packed with horticultural information, and gives a delightful account of the domestic life of the Woolfs." -- Annabel Freyberg The World of Interiors 'touching account' The Sunday Times 'Zoob's admirably passionate approach to the house and garden as an artistic whole has produced an extraordinary book, full of quiet images that exactly capture the beauty of the place...Buy it!' The Independent on Sunday 'Zoob's book is enchanting and full of excellent excerpts from the Woolfs' letters and diaries' -- Anna Pavord The Independent "a beautifully presented book ... visual pleasure ... uses [language] engagingly. Gardeners and Woolf readers will much enjoy her book" -- Robin Lane Fox Financial Times 'a glorious amalgam of biography and gardening' The Independent 'an unusual and affecting book' The Lady "an indispensable treasure for any Woolf fan, Anglophile, or gardener" Blogging Woolf 'takes the reader on a visually sumptuous tour of the property's famous grounds, uncovering its enchanting patchwork of 'rooms' and offering a fascinating glimpse into the Woolfs' daily lives.' Landscape 'her embroidered plans of the gardens add a delightful extra dimension to the book.' House & Garden

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Book SynopsisThe hysterical, shocking and incredibly intimate memoir from one of the most original and unique comedians alive today.Hello! I'm Brian Limond, aka Limmy. You might know me from Limmy's Show. Or you might not know me at all. Don't worry if you don't.They asked me to write a book about mental health, because I sometimes talk about my mental health in tweets and interviews, like suicidal thoughts and anxiety, and what I've done to try and deal with it.I said to them, oh, I don't know if I could fill a whole book with just that. But how's about I write a general autobiography type of thing, and all the mental health stuff will naturally appear along the way? I could talk about growing up and slashing my wrist and taking acid all the time and getting done for car theft and feeling like a mad freak that would never amount to anything.And then how I made my own sketch show. I directed it and everything. Plus I'm a dad. I'm an adult. But I still feel like that mad freak from years ago. I stilTrade Review‘One of the most innovative and fearless comedians on the block’ -The Guardian ‘One of the most idiosyncratic and original comics working today’ -The Independent

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