History Books

Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times bestsellerTHE STORY OF BRITAIN during the long reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Find out how Britain changed in this entrancing, lively portrait of Britain's Elizabethan Age by bestselling writer and broadcaster Andrew MarrBritain changed fundamentally during the Queen's long, distinguished reign. So who made modern Britain the country it is today? How do we sum up the kind of people we are? What did it mean to be the new Elizabethans?In this wonderfully told history, spanning back to when Queen Elizabeth became queen in 1953, Andrew Marr traces the people who have made Britain the country it is today. From the activists to the artists, the sports heroes to the innovators, these people pushed us forward, changed the conversation, encouraged us to eat better, to sing, think and to protest. They got things done. How will our generation be remembered in a hundred years' time? And when you look back at Britain's toughest moments in the past seventy years, what do you learn aboTrade Review ‘Like The Crown in book form: a stream of intriguing stories producing a mosaic that the reader, with expert steers from Marr, can glue together’ Guardian Praise for Andrew Marr’s previous books ‘It is the clarity of his judgements, the arresting insights and the irrepressible wit that keep us hanging on to his words. Among his other qualities, Marr is the ideal history teacher that most people never had at school . . . A damned good read . . . This book will be read with pleasure, for Marr's ironic tone and ever-present pleasant presence.’Bernard Crick, Edinburgh Review ‘A fine example of popular history . . . engaging and intelligent.’Financial Times ‘He has the rare gift of being able to explain complex issues in a few crisp sentences.’Sunday Telegraph

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Book SynopsisA riveting tale, brilliantly told'' Philippe SandsThe little-known story of Hitler's war on modern art and the mentally ill.In the first years of the Weimar Republic, the German psychiatrist Hans Prinzhorn gathered a remarkable collection of works byschizophrenic patients that would astonish and delight the world.The Prinzhorn collection, as it was called, inspired a new generation of artists, including Paul Klee, Max Ernst and Salvador Dali. What the doctor could not have known, however, was that these works would later be used to prepare the ground for mass-murder.Soon after his rise to power, Hitlera failed artist of the old schooldeclared war on modern art. The Nazis staged giant Degenerate Art' shows to ridicule the avant-garde, and seized and destroyed the cream of Germany''s modern art collections. This action was mere preparation, however, for the even more sinister campaign Hitler would later wage against so-called degenerate people, and Prinzhorn''s artists were caught upin bTrade Review‘A superbly told story of worlds colliding …There’s so much that’s wonderful about this book; it’s hard to know where to start heaping praise. It is by turns intriguing, tragic, horrifying and occasionally funny’The Times ‘English has written a terrific book, taut and thematic … As beautiful as it is bleak’Guardian ‘Engrossing …The work of these artists, much of which miraculously survived the war, lives on as testament to the variety of human experience, and of ways to communicate what it feels like to be alive’Economist ‘Compelling … The twin strands of Hitler’s thinking on art and racial purity draw remorselessly together … Memorable’Literary Review ‘A riveting tale, brilliantly told'Philippe Sands ‘A fascinating new book’Daily Mail ‘Fascinating … Journalist English unpacks Hitler’s mad campaign against mentally ill artists … English’s story feels strikingly relevant. While shedding new light on this piece of history, English also provides a cautionary tale for the future’Publishers Weekly ‘An extraordinary, deeply researched work which is a testament to the Prinzhorn artists’The Tablet ‘Perhaps only in 1920s Weimar Germany where expressionism and dadaism were exploring the dark sides of sex and fantasy could the art of the mentally ill first get its due. And perhaps only in Germany could the story Charlie English tells so well have ended in such horror. English takes us through uncharted artistic waters in a narrative of great humanity: a gripping journey into art, madness and modern history’Jonathan Jones, author of Sensations ‘Dazzling … This poignant narrative centres on the complicated psychiatrist Hans Prizhorn and the eccentric patient artists whose work helped usher in a new epoch of the modernist avant-garde only to become fodder for Hitler's hateful ideology of “degeneration”. Richly wrought, and deeply researched’Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain on Fire

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Book SynopsisA riveting tale, brilliantly told'' Philippe SandsThe little-known story of Hitler's war on modern art and the mentally ill.In the first years of the Weimar Republic, the German psychiatrist Hans Prinzhorn gathered a remarkable collection of works byschizophrenic patients that would astonish and delight the world.The Prinzhorn collection, as it was called, inspired a new generation of artists, including Paul Klee, Max Ernst and Salvador Dali. What the doctor could not have known, however, was that these works would later be used to prepare the ground for mass-murder.Soon after his rise to power, Hitlera failed artist of the old schooldeclared war on modern art. The Nazis staged giant Degenerate Art' shows to ridicule the avant-garde, and seized and destroyed the cream of Germany''s modern art collections. This action was mere preparation, however, for the even more sinister campaign Hitler would later wage against so-called degenerate people, and Prinzhorn''s artists were caught upin bTrade Review‘A superbly told story of worlds colliding …There’s so much that’s wonderful about this book; it’s hard to know where to start heaping praise. It is by turns intriguing, tragic, horrifying and occasionally funny’The Times ‘English has written a terrific book, taut and thematic … As beautiful as it is bleak’Guardian ‘Engrossing …The work of these artists, much of which miraculously survived the war, lives on as testament to the variety of human experience, and of ways to communicate what it feels like to be alive’Economist ‘Compelling … The twin strands of Hitler’s thinking on art and racial purity draw remorselessly together … Memorable’Literary Review ‘A riveting tale, brilliantly told'Philippe Sands ‘A fascinating new book’Daily Mail ‘Fascinating … Journalist English unpacks Hitler’s mad campaign against mentally ill artists … English’s story feels strikingly relevant. While shedding new light on this piece of history, English also provides a cautionary tale for the future’Publishers Weekly ‘An extraordinary, deeply researched work which is a testament to the Prinzhorn artists’The Tablet ‘Perhaps only in 1920s Weimar Germany where expressionism and dadaism were exploring the dark sides of sex and fantasy could the art of the mentally ill first get its due. And perhaps only in Germany could the story Charlie English tells so well have ended in such horror. English takes us through uncharted artistic waters in a narrative of great humanity: a gripping journey into art, madness and modern history’Jonathan Jones, author of Sensations ‘Dazzling … This poignant narrative centres on the complicated psychiatrist Hans Prizhorn and the eccentric patient artists whose work helped usher in a new epoch of the modernist avant-garde only to become fodder for Hitler's hateful ideology of “degeneration”. Richly wrought, and deeply researched’Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain on Fire

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Book SynopsisIn the tradition of The Perfect Storm and Into Thin Air, Rachel Slade's Into the Raging Sea is a nail-biting account of the sinking of the container ship El Faro, the crew of thirty-three who perished onboard, and the destructive forces of globalisation that put the ship in harm's way.On October 1, 2015, Hurricane Joaquin barreled into the Bermuda Triangle and swallowed the container ship El Faro whole, resulting in one of the worst shipping disasters in decades. No one could fathom how a vessel equipped with satellite communications, a sophisticated navigation system, and cutting-edge weather forecasting could suddenly vanish until now.Relying on hundreds of exclusive interviews with family members and maritime experts, as well as the words of the crew members themselves whose conversations were captured by the ship's data recorder journalist Rachel Slade unravels the mystery of the sinking of El Faro. As she recounts the final twenty-four hours onboard, Slade vividly depicts the oTrade Review‘An extraordinary piece of reporting. Slade has accomplished what very few authors ever attempt: to explain the loss of a ship with no survivors. I tore through it like a novel but with the inside knowledge of how insulated the shipping industry is, how well it protects secrets and of the countless nets it deploys to entangle journalists. Slade pushes through the waves, heavy seas, and military court imbroglio in the same way El Faro faced hurricane Joaquin – dead on at Full Speed Ahead’ John Konrad, author of Fire on the Horizon: The Untold Story Of Deepwater Horizon Disaster “The one account I’ve read that solves the riddle of El Faro convincingly and thoroughly. Rachel Slade mashes up The Perfect Storm with a suspenseful, page-turning thriller, cutting through the corporate double-speak to shine a light on how it was that thirty-three men and women sailed into Hurricane Joaquin. Superbly written, this deserves a place on the bookshelf of modern maritime classics. Even those who have followed El Faro closely will find major surprises here’ Robert Frump, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Until the Sea Shall Free Them: Life, Death, and Survival in the Merchant Marine

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Book SynopsisA gripping memoir written by a 96-year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor about his escape from Nazi-occupied Poland in the 1930''s and his adventures with the French Resistance during World War IIIn 1937, as the Nazi Party tightened its grip on the city of Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland), Justus Rosenberg's parents made the wrenching decision to send their son to Paris, where he would have the hope of finishing high school and going on to university in safety. He was sixteen years old, and he would not see his family again for sixteen years more.Even after war broke out in 1939, life in France was peaceful for a timebut when the Nazis pushed toward Paris in the spring of 1940, Justus was forced to flee south to Toulouse. There, a chance meeting put Justus in contact with Varian Fry, the American journalist who ran a refugee network that aided several thousand Jews in escaping Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. With his German background, understanding of French cultural, and fluency in several laTrade Review‘A natural raconteur, with a pleasing conversational style. What shines through this engaging book is his evident desire to be helpful and responsible and his acute consciousness of how extraordinarily lucky he was’ Times ‘Gripping … Fearless … Recalls imprisonments, escapes from confinement, and successful missions against the Nazis … A welcome addition to the World War II memoir shelf.’ Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

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Book SynopsisIn a world divided by the ideological struggles of the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement, more than one-fifth of the people on the planet paused to watch the live transmission of the Apollo 11 mission. To watch as humanity took a giant leap forward. A companion book to the landmark documentary series on BBC TV.Trade Review‘If you think you know all that is important about the Apollo moon landings, you would be wrong. In Chasing the Moon, Robert Stone and Alan Andres offer scintillating stories both great and small.’ Roger D. Launius, former chief historian of NASA ‘[The Moon Landing] was one of the most amazing achievements in human history. And now we have a book worthy of the grand endeavor.’ William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Cape Cod and Bound for Gold ‘Chasing the Moon is rich, lively, and deeply human’ Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–winning author of Energy: A Human History ‘Chasing the Moon tells the story I've lived for most of my life. From my testing of the lunar module on Apollo 9 to my hopes for the future as we celebrate Apollo’s fiftieth anniversary, it’s all there, and told through the personal experiences of the people who lived it. Some of it familiar, some never told before, this is a very human account of a truly historic moment as humankind emerges into the larger cosmos.’ Russell ‘Rusty’ Schweickart, astronaut, Apollo 9 ‘A fascinating and enjoyable read … Meticulously researched and definitively detailed, this book is a must-have for anyone who wants to understand why and how Apollo happened.’ James Burke, former BBC-TV science correspondent ‘Engaging’ The Space Review ‘Breathtaking … A brisk narrative, deft anecdotes, and abundant illustrations enliven a well-researched history’ Kirkus ‘Chasing the Moon’s novel approach to its topic – telling the story of Apollo against a rich backdrop of diverse characters – helps it stand out head and shoulders above the rest’ National Space Society ‘Makes the tale of Apollo 11 seem richer and more relevant than ever’ The Washington Post

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Book SynopsisImpossible to summarise and delightfully absorbing, Hadley's book is comfortably the most unexpected history book of the year'Sunday TimesA luminous journey through a thousand years of folklore and English history.Once upon a time in a Hertfordshire field, an ancient yew tree hid a dragon hunted by a giant named Piers Shonks. Today, the dragon and its slayer are the survivors of an 800-year battle between rural legend and national record, storytellers and sceptics.In this brilliant and lyrical history, Christopher Hadley journeys from churches to tombs to manuscript margins, to explore history, memory and legend, and the magical spaces where all three meet.Trade Review‘Impossible to summarise and delightfully absorbing, Hadley’s book is comfortably the most unexpected history book of the year’ Sunday Times ‘A sensitively intelligent excavation into Hertfordshire history, the English imagination and omnipresent myth’ Country Life ‘Christopher Hadley’s celebration of English folklore across 800 years delights in these imaginative tales which have shaped and coloured the cultural landscape of the nation …Enriching and at times surprising … Anchored by memorable tales, the narrative over-turns long-held historical beliefs as it goes … Hollow Places has an innate charm … The book’s real success lies in being alert to what makes these superstitions and rituals special – the understanding that imagination trumps truth’ TLS ‘Hadley wears his scholarship lightly but at the heart of this antiquarian wild goose chase is an ingenious meditation on what history, in all its complexity and unevenness, really is.’ Guardian ‘Enthralling’ The Oldie ‘This meditation on the power of folk myth lives up to its billing as an ‘unusual history’. It’s also engaging, wide-ranging stuff, exploring how stories become ties that bind’ BBC History Magazine ‘The past is animated with imagination and knowledge … Shonks and his story, the tomb and the now vanished yew are a starting point for a digressive and affectionate exploration of a local tradition that has survived for 800 years … Authoritative and well-researched.’ Spectator ‘Both the piercing dissection of a folktale and a thrilling delve into the thickets of the English imagination. In fluid and satisfying prose, Hadley succeeds in transforming the most outwardly parochial of subjects into a means of illuminating the tangled roots of storytelling … there are few subjects more compelling.’ Thomas Williams

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Book SynopsisA Spectator Book of the Year 2020A Times and Sunday Times Best Book of 2020A Mail on Sunday Book of the Year 2020Inspired Lowe's sensitive, disturbing book should be compulsory reading for both statue builders and statue topplers' MAX HASTINGS, SUNDAY TIMESWhat happens when our values change, but what we have set in stone does not?Humankind has always had the urge to memorialise, to make physical testaments to the past. There's just one problem: when we carve a statue or put up a monument, it can wind up holding us hostage to bad history.In this extraordinary history book, Keith Lowe uses monuments from around the world to show how different countries have attempted to sculpt their history in the wake of the Second World War, and what these memorials reveal about their politics and national identity today.Amongst many questions, the book asks: What does Germany signal to today's far right by choosing not to disclose the exact resting place of Hitler? How can a bronze statue of a youngTrade Review‘[An] inspired idea … Always thoughtful and evocative, sometimes controversial … Lowe’s sensitive, disturbing book should be compulsory reading for both statue builders and statue topplers. Too many memorials of all kinds seek to promote deceits or half-truths.’MAX HASTINGS, THE SUNDAY TIMES ‘[A] brilliantly researched and timely book … Lowe is not afraid to tread on sensitive ground, but he does so with the integrity that comes from really knowing his material’THE DAILY MAIL, FIVE STARS ‘Such a provocative perspective makes Lowe’s choice of monuments important. The well-balanced range here enables the retelling of some remarkable war stories, while also providing fascinating insights into the ways different nations have remembered or denied issues around national identity and the glory and horrors of war … this is some of the most thought-provoking writing about the Second World War that I have read for a long while’SPECTATOR ‘In this timely book, which neatly combines history, art criticism and travelogue, Lowe examines 25 monuments to the Second World War spread across three continents … Lowe is a fine guide to these monuments because he feels the moral force — for good or bad — of each site he visits’THE TIMES, BOOK OF THE WEEK ‘Time after time throughout Prisoners of History, Keith Lowe’s commentaries are more articulate and supple than the monuments they describe, interpret and criticise’THE LITERARY REVIEW ‘Keith Lowe’s book could not be more timely … his observations seem uncannily prescient … he is sharp on cultural and national differences in perceptions of the war’STANDPOINT MAGAZINE

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Book SynopsisA Spectator Book of the Year 2020A Times and Sunday Times Best Book of 2020A Mail on Sunday Book of the Year 2020Inspired Lowe's sensitive, disturbing book should be compulsory reading for both statue builders and statue topplers' MAX HASTINGS, SUNDAY TIMESWhat happens when our values change, but what we have set in stone does not?Humankind has always had the urge to memorialise, to make physical testaments to the past. There's just one problem: when we carve a statue or put up a monument, it can wind up holding us hostage to bad history.In this extraordinary history book, Keith Lowe uses monuments from around the world to show how different countries have attempted to sculpt their history in the wake of the Second World War, and what these memorials reveal about their politics and national identity today.Amongst many questions, the book asks: What does Germany signal to today's far right by choosing not to disclose the exact resting place of Hitler? How can a bronze statue of a youngTrade Review‘[An] inspired idea … Always thoughtful and evocative, sometimes controversial … Lowe’s sensitive, disturbing book should be compulsory reading for both statue builders and statue topplers. Too many memorials of all kinds seek to promote deceits or half-truths.’MAX HASTINGS, THE SUNDAY TIMES ‘[A] brilliantly researched and timely book … Lowe is not afraid to tread on sensitive ground, but he does so with the integrity that comes from really knowing his material’THE DAILY MAIL, FIVE STARS ‘Such a provocative perspective makes Lowe’s choice of monuments important. The well-balanced range here enables the retelling of some remarkable war stories, while also providing fascinating insights into the ways different nations have remembered or denied issues around national identity and the glory and horrors of war … this is some of the most thought-provoking writing about the Second World War that I have read for a long while’SPECTATOR ‘In this timely book, which neatly combines history, art criticism and travelogue, Lowe examines 25 monuments to the Second World War spread across three continents … Lowe is a fine guide to these monuments because he feels the moral force — for good or bad — of each site he visits’THE TIMES, BOOK OF THE WEEK ‘Time after time throughout Prisoners of History, Keith Lowe’s commentaries are more articulate and supple than the monuments they describe, interpret and criticise’THE LITERARY REVIEW ‘Keith Lowe’s book could not be more timely … his observations seem uncannily prescient … he is sharp on cultural and national differences in perceptions of the war’STANDPOINT MAGAZINE

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Book SynopsisExcellent' Antony BeevorSaul David is a brilliant historian In shocking and jaw-dropping detail, he brings a battle that deserves far greater prominence and understanding vividly back to life' James HollandFrom award-winning historian Saul David, an action-packed and powerful new narrative of the Battle of Okinawa the last great clash of the Second World War, and one that had profound consequences for the modern world. For eighty-three blood-soaked days, the fighting on the island of Okinawa plumbed depths of savagery as bad as anything seen on the Eastern Front. When it was over, almost a quarter of a million people had lost their lives, making it by far the bloodiest US battle of the Pacific. In Okinawa, the death toll included thousands of civilians lost to mass suicide, convinced by Japanese propaganda that they would otherwise be raped and murdered by the enemy. On the US side, David argues that the horror of the battle ultimately determined President Truman's choice to use atomTrade Review Shortlisted for the 2021 British Army Military Book of the Year Longlisted for the 2021 HWA Non-fiction Crown Awards A BBC History Magazine Best Book of the Year 2020 An Amazon.com History Book of the Month A The Times Best Book of 2020 A Telegraph Best Book of 2020 ‘Gripping, even gruesome, yet deeply moving … Sweeps us masterfully from a coral charnel house in the Pacific to the mushroom cloud over Hiroshima’ David Reynolds ‘The best book I’ve read on the Battle of Okinawa. Finally a military historian has written a book which gives humanity to the Japanese, without taking anything away from what the Americans endured and achieved on that island … David fits perfectly into the fine tradition of war books by Max Hastings and Antony Beevor. It’s war at its most beautiful and most horrible’ Gerard deGroot ‘A superb soldier’s-eye history of Okinawa, the Second World War’s ghastliest battle … The meticulousness of his research really starts to display itself … A highly readable and informative book that often reads like a screenplay, but depicts suffering that was all too real … [David] is peerless now among our military historians’Daily Telegraph ‘David restores a human dimension to this battle – both sides are brave, stoic, frightened, barbaric and occasionally cowardly. This is narrative history at its most visceral as battles unfold almost in real time … A gripping reconstruction of the action’ Times 'Graphic and compelling … Written with style and verve … David brings the ghastly mayhem of war to life in a vivid way’ Literary Review 'Superbly researched, well-written … Reminds us that the defining characteristic of war is the mass destruction of individuals, both physically and psychologically’Spectator ‘Brilliant … harrowing. The attention to detail is exemplary: we see the conflict from just about every angle’Keith Lowe, BBC History Magazine

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Book SynopsisHumans are the only mammals to walk on two, rather than four, legs. From an evolutionary perspective, this is an illogical development, as it slows us down. But here we are, suggesting there must have been something tremendous to gain from bipedalism.First Steps takes our ordinary, everyday walking experience and reveals how unusual and extraordinary it truly is. The seven-million-year-long journey through the origins of upright walking shows how it was in fact a gateway to many of the other attributes that make us humanfrom our technological skills and sociality to our thirst for exploration.DeSilva uses early human evolution to explain the instinct that propels a crawling infant to toddle onto two feet, differences between how men and women tend to walk, physical costs of upright walking, including hernias, varicose veins and backache, and the challenges of childbirth imposed by a bipedal pelvis. And he theorises that upright walking may have laid the foundation for the traits of comTrade Review‘A book that strides confidently across complex terrain, laying out what we know about how walking works, who started doing it and when … DeSilva is a genial companion on this stroll through the deep origins of walking … Illuminating’ New York Times ‘This is breezy popular science at its best, interweaving anecdotes from the field and lab with scientific findings and the occasional pop culture reference … compelling’ Science News ‘Before our ancestors thought symbolically, before they used fire, before they made stone tools, or even entered the open savanna, our ancestors walked upright. In one way or another, this odd locomotory style has underwritten the whole spectrum of our vaunted human uniquenesses, from our manual dexterity to our hairless bodies, and our large brains. In the modern world it even influences the way other people recognise us at a distance, and it is crucial to our individual viability. In this authoritative but charmingly discursive and accessible book, Jeremy DeSilva lucidly explains how and why.’ Ian Tattersall, author of Masters of the Planet and The Strange Case of the Rickety Cossack ‘Master anatomist and paleontologist Jeremy DeSilva makes no bones about the fact that when looking at fossils “I let myself be emotional …” Thus does this world expert and gifted story teller take us on a tour through the sprawling, complicated, saga of human origins. Drawing on his personal knowledge of topics ranging from sports medicine to childcare and his acquaintance with a host of colourful characters –whether lying inert in museum drawer, sitting behind microscopes or feuding with one other – DeSilva adds flesh and projects feelings onto the bones he studies, a tour de force of empathic understanding.’ Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, author of Mother Nature and Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding

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Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MARK HADDONIn Postcard From The Past, Tom Jackson has gathered a collection of the funniest, weirdest and most moving real messages from the backs of old postcards.Sublimely funny' Jason Hazeley, author of the Ladybird Books for Grown UpsMy favourite Twitter account is now my favourite book. Irresistible!' Jill MansellThis book is an absolute treat' Holly WalshTransfixing, beguiling, warmly haunting. These are the ghosts of a childhood' Robin InceA hilarious and occasionally disturbing look at how the British remain resolutely small-minded wherever they go' Charlie HigsonSix by four inch portions of pure heaven' Rachel JohnsonSomehow both poignant and deeply creepy' Samira AhmedOne of Twitter's most nourishing concepts each one arriving like a bonsai Alan Bennett play' Danny BakerBeautiful. Inspiring. Educational. Hilarious' Emma FreudOne of the saddest and funniest picture books you''re ever likely to read' Owen Hatherley, author of The Ministry of NostalgiaHiTrade Review‘Resurrecting these postcards, relics of forgotten times and forgotten holidays, was the simplest and most brilliant idea. Tom Jackson combines the images with just a few of the words scribbled on the back, and his eye for the choice sentence, the perfect phrase, is miraculous. Thanks to his assiduous, obsessive work as collector and curator, each one of these postcards becomes a poem, a short story, an elegy for lost England, a work of art’ Jonathan Coe ‘What a funny, clever, poignant idea. Postcard From The Past contains not just 150 very short stories, each one of which bears comparison with the work of Alan Bennett, Stevie Smith and Marcel Proust, but also lovely, picturesque views of coves, chines, promenades, escarpments and the Museum and Art Gallery, Doncaster. You will wish you were there’ Andy Miller, author of The Year of Reading Dangerously ‘A deadpan miscellany of wan nostalgia, profound melancholy, stoic humour and inexplicable dread. The necessary survival text for post-Brexit Britain’ Andrew Male 'I loved this book so very much. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, this is a beautiful collection of tiny windows into the stories of other people's lives’ Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep ‘Brilliant and hilarious’ Jeremy Dyson, The League of Gentlemen ‘The most addictively British Twitter feed ever has become a book. I may never leave the house again’ Viv Groskop ‘Each card is like an unfinished one act play. I find myself filling in the blanks’ Adrian Edmondson ‘The bleak yet beautiful poetry of people at their leisure is a joy to read’ Phill Jupitus ‘A gorgeous pre-Twitter look at life through a holiday lens’ Jenny Éclair ‘Are there awards for Most Hilarious Yet Touching Yet Profound Bathroom/Coffee Table/Gift Book of the Year? If so, this book wins HANDS DOWN’ Amanda Palmer

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Book SynopsisImpressive Fascinating' Sunday TimesAn authoritative history' Financial TimesGripping and richly researched' Rana MitterA superb new history of the rise of China and the fall of Hong Kong to authoritarian rule.The rise of China and the fall of Hong Kong to authoritarian rule are told with unique insight in this new history by Michael Sheridan, drawing on eyewitness reporting over three decades, interviews with key figures and documents from archives in China and the West.The story sweeps the reader from the earliest days of trade through the Opium Wars of the 19th century to the age of globalisation and the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China. It ends with the battle for democracy on the city's streets and the ultimate victory of the Chinese Communist Party.How did it come to this? We learn from private papers that Margaret Thatcher anguished over the fate of Hong Kong, sought secret American briefings on how to handle China and put her trust in an adviser who was torn betweenTrade Review‘You can understand a lot about China’s relations with the rest of the world … by looking at how the leadership in Beijing has dealt with Hong Kong …The Gate to China meticulously details why this is so … in this very readable book Sheridantakes the reader through the tortuous Sino-British negotiations that led to the handover … impressive … fascinating’Sunday Times ‘Highly readable … Sheridan covers the Sino-British negotiations over Hong Kong’s future in engaging detail…he adds colour to existing accounts … provides a welcome contrast to many of the existing histories of the period’Literary Review ‘An authoritative history of Hong Kong and its relations with the UK and China … even-handed … Analyses with a wealth of documentary evidence the motivations of Chinese leaders in seeking to reverse historical humiliation’Financial Times ‘Sheridan’s gripping and richly researched history sheds a highly critical light on those British officials of the Thatcher era who seemed to favour Beijing’s autocracy over the promotion of liberal values and movingly recounts the brief hopes of Hong Kong’s reformers whose democratic enlightenment has turned to darkness’Rana Mitter, BBC History Magazine ‘Authoritative … Hong Kong’s story is full of drama, politics and personalities and Sheridan tells it well, drawing from a wide variety of Chinese and British sources’Observer ‘Sheridan’s account testifies to the Western dreams about China and to the ways they are shattered … The Gate to China details the regime’s use of its cyber-capabilities to monitor dissent, block communications and even interfere with efforts to measure public sentiment in Hong Kong’Washington Post ‘A delightful piece of writing and research’Jasper Becker ‘Deeply researched and beautifully written … Essential reading for anyone interested in the saga of a city whose fate has dominated the headlines’Mike Chinoy

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Book SynopsisA TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARAn absolute joy to read and an early contender for every list of History Books of the Year' Sunday TelegraphOn nearly every page a random passage takes one's breath away' The TimesHave you ever heard the march of legions on a lonely country road? For two thousand years, the roads the Romans built have determined the flow of ideas and folktales, where battles were fought and where pilgrims trod. Almost everyone in Britain lives close to a Roman road, if only we knew where to look.In the beginning was Watling Street, the first road scored on the land when the invading Romans arrived on a cold and alien Kentish shore in 43 CE. Campaign roads rolled out to all points of the compass, forcing their way inland and as the Britons fell back, the roads pursued them relentlessly, carrying troops, supplies and military despatches. In the years of fighting that followed, as the legions pushed onwards across what is now England, into Wales and north into Scotland in search ofTrade Review A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘There’s something beguilingly mysterious about these ancient roads . . . When searching for his road, Hadley makes full use of his senses. . . the breadth of his knowledge . . . the beauty of his prose. This book deserves to be read at least twice, first to appreciate what it reveals and then to luxuriate in its effervescent voice. On nearly every page a random passage takes one’s breath away’ The Times, Gerard DeGroot ‘Magnificent . . . exciting . . . This is no dry and prosaic history, but a work of imagination and a deeply literary book… wonderful prose . . . striking images and lapidary sentences… enthralling. It’s an absolute joy to read and an early contender for every list of History Books of the Year’ Sunday Telegraph, Harry Sidebottom ‘In this magnificent book. . . Hadley takes us down a different way, looking through a gentler window on that road's long lost days. He reveals The Road's own intimate knowledge of the land it knew and the folk it's known, turning the tables on what we think we're reading; because The Road is not really about it, it's about us’ Mythical Britain, Michael Smith author of King Arthur's Death ‘Loving The Road, [it’s] about a Roman road but also a rumination on the past and our relationship with it. [An] excellent companion piece to his previous book about a dragon slayer’s tomb. The pair offer a whole new and very exciting model for how to do local history. Highly recommend’ Dr Kelcey Wilson-Lee author of Daughters of Chivalry ‘Ingeniously constructed…scholarly…wears its learning lightly… is engagingly written…and always a pleasure to read’ Country Life ‘The book offers a wealth of historical knowledge in a fashion which is entertaining and readable… combines scholarly depth with wonderfully lyrical depictions of the English landscape’Literary Review

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Book SynopsisA Times History Book of the Year 2022From the #1 bestselling historian Max Hastings the heart-stopping story of the missile crisis' Daily TelegraphThe 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was the most perilous event in history, when mankind faced a looming nuclear collision between the United States and Soviet Union. During those weeks, the world gazed into the abyss of potential annihilation.Max Hastings's graphic new history tells the story from the viewpoints of national leaders, Russian officers, Cuban peasants, American pilots and British disarmers. Max Hastings deploys his accustomed blend of eye-witness interviews, archive documents and diaries, White House tape recordings, top-down analysis, first to paint word-portraits of the Cold War experiences of Fidel Castro's Cuba, Nikita Khrushchev's Russia and Kennedy's America; then to describe the nail-biting Thirteen Days in which Armageddon beckoned.Hastings began researching this book believing that he was exploring a past event from twentieTrade Review PRAISE FOR ABYSS: ‘Grabs from the get-go… as if this were the very best fiction’ Daily Mail ‘A brilliant, beautifully constructed and thrilling reassessment of the most perilous moment in history’ Daily Telegraph ‘Frightening but hopelessly addictive’ The Times ‘Magisterial… chilling’Daily Express ‘Brilliantly told… compelling… Hastings has cleverly woven the story together from all sides describing them in dramatic, almost hour by hour detail… this is a scary book. Hastings sees little evidence that today’s leaders understand each other any better than they did in 1962’ Sunday Times ‘Deeply researched, incisively intelligent and compulsively readable. Abyss is as tight and smart account as any account and will earn pride of place even on a shelf already packed with books about the crisis’ TLS ‘A gripping retelling of those weeks of brinkmanship, reckless gambles, gung-ho generals and a thuggish USSR leader bullying a ‘weak president’’ Sun ‘Superb… reads like a thriller as the gripping drama of the Cold War power politics plays out behind closed doors in Washington, Moscow and Havana’ Daily Mail ‘Hastings lays bare, with chilling clarity, the ease with which political theatre and bluster could well have escalated into a scenario of mutually assured destruction’ Observer

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Book SynopsisExam Board: SQALevel: HigherSubject: History Two books in one! Combining a revision guide and a full set of practice test papers, this fantastic resource is all you need to revise for the exam.The revision guide Covers all of the topics in the CfE Higher History curriculum, broken down into manageable chunks for easy revision Clearly explains key concepts, research evidence and real-life applications Contains Quick Tests to let students check their knowledge and understanding as they go alongThe practice test papers Are in the format and the style of the SQA exam, giving students an opportunity to practice taking the Higher History examMarking instructions and sample answers are provided online, so students can check their progress.

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Book SynopsisThrilling High-definition history: tight, thrilling and beautifully researched' SUNDAY TIMESThis book is a triumph' DAN SNOW9.07 a.m., April 12, 1961. A top-secret rocket site in the USSR. A young Russian sits inside a tiny capsule on top of the Soviet Union's most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile originally designed to carry a nuclear warhead and blasts into the skies. His name is Yuri Gagarin and he is about to make history.Travelling at almost 18,000 miles per hour ten times faster than a rifle bullet Gagarin circles the globe in just 106 minutes. While his launch begins in total secrecy, within hours of his landing he has become a world celebrity the first human to leave the planet.Beyond tells the thrilling story behind that epic flight on its sixtieth anniversary. It happened at the height of the Cold War as the US and USSR confronted each other across an Iron Curtain. Both superpowers took enormous risks to get a man into space first the Americans in the full gTrade Review‘This book is a triumph’Dan Snow ‘Just a wonderful book, I can’t recommend it enough’Giles Coren ‘The thrilling story … is not the first study of Gagarin and the Vostok missions, still less of Nasa’s “Mercury Seven” astronauts — but bringing the two stories together is a masterstroke … It is high-definition history: tight, thrilling and beautifully researched’Sunday Times ‘Many intriguing revelations [and an] extensive, blow-by-blow account of the race to put a human in space … Tells the full story of the finest two hours of [Gagarin's] tragically short life’Literary Review ‘Thrilling … brings a huge amount that is fresh and new to our understanding of the Space Race’Daily Telegraph ‘Cinematic … Walker develops a colourful sense of the political theatre of space exploration’Spectator ‘Scintillating …The thrilling ride to be the first man in space is vividly captured in this retelling of Russia’s favourite son’Financial Times ‘A gripping story, rich in novelistic detail … Highly recommended’BBC Sky at Night, five stars ‘Brings to life the space race and the extraordinary story of Yuri Gagarin … A history that reads like a thriller’Anne Applebaum ‘The very best account of Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering space mission – vivid, thoughtful, and respectful … A wonderfully rendered story of an epochal event’Asif Siddiqi ‘The exhilaration of a fine thriller’Colin Thubron ‘Suddenly, every previous biography of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and his epic Earth-orbiting flight has been superseded … A spellbinding and completely authoritative account … The finest, best researched book ever written on the subject’Colin Burgess ‘Dramatic and dynamic. Stephen Walker’s passion for his subject along with his exceptional research and attention to detail have brought my father’s extraordinary journey vividly to life’Elena Gagarina, daughter of Yuri Gagarin

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA stunning book, among the most immediate and thrilling works of history I have ever read' At 8:15am on August 6th 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. In an instant, the temperature at its core rose to millions of degrees. Sixty-thousand buildings were obliterated. A third of the city's population died, by heat, by the blast, and by a terrible new weapon in the history of warfare: radiation.In this riveting account, Stephen Walker follows the stories of real people in the extraordinary weeks leading up to the explosion and in its aftermath. From the atomic engineer who armed the bomb in mid-air to the Japanese doctors treating thousands of burnt bodies on the ground. From the flight crews and scientists to world leaders and civilian victims. With intimate testimony and remarkable stories, this is the startling narrative behind the dawn of the atomic age.Trade Review‘Shockwave is a stunning book, among the most immediate and thrilling works of history I have ever read.’ Irish Times ‘This is an utterly gripping work of micro-history … [Walker] proves himself a master of dramatic tension.’Sunday Express ‘The excitement of the time is wonderfully captured in Walker’s Shockwave. Brilliant.’Financial Times ‘Devastating.’Daily Mail ‘Timely and harrowing …succeeds in creating a dramatized documentary of the moment that changed history.’Scotland on Sunday ‘A roller-coaster ride through the memories of American servicemen, Japanese soldiers and civilians…invites comparison with John Hersey’s still-classic Hiroshima.’Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) ‘Superb …Walker writes with a sense of urgency and high drama.’Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) ‘Uniquely readable, immediate and human …an exceptionally taut and revealing chronicle.’Booklist (Starred Review) ‘Dramatic …an important page-turner.’Entertainment Weekly ‘Remarkable. I have been waiting for this book for sixty years.’Gitta Sereny, author of Albert Speer: His Battle with Truth ‘Electrifying …The tension and concentration of Walker’s thriller-like prose elicits a visceral response.’ Chicago Tribune

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Book SynopsisOne of the government's former behavioural scientists reveals how you can do what you want, whilst everybody tries to influence you into doing what they want. Influence makes you think what you think and do as you do. You use it to change the thoughts and behaviours of others just as others use it change yours.We have been perfecting our influence for millions of years, but in the last 20 years digital technologies have revolutionised how influence works. We are now connected to old school friends and niche interest groups but unwittingly also to organised criminals, terrorists and hostile states who infiltrate our societies. The course of history is being shaped: elections have been hijacked, lies spread about pandemics and the rapidly heating climate, and information has become as important as bullets and bombs to winning wars. More than ever, influence has become the crucial currency for commercial and political gain: If you don't understand it, you will likely become its victim.W

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Book SynopsisOne of the government's former behavioural scientists reveals how you can do what you want, whilst everybody tries to influence you into doing what they want.

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Book SynopsisThe story of the Stuart dynasty is a breathless soap opera played out in just a hundred years in an array of buildings that span Europe from Scotland, via Denmark, Holland and Spain to England.Life in the court of the House of Stuart has been shrouded in mystery: the first half of the century overshadowed by the fall and execution of Charles I, the second half in the complete collapse of the House itself. Lost to time is the extraordinary contribution the Stuarts made to the fabric of sovereignty.Every palace they built, painting they commissioned, or artwork they acquired was a direct reflection of the lives that they led and the way that they thought. Palaces of Revolution explores this rich history in graphic detail, giving a unique insight into the lives of this famous dynasty. It takes us from Royston and Newmarket, where James I appropriated most of the town centre as a sort of rough-and-ready royal housing estate, to the steamy Turkish baths at Whitehall where Charles II seducedTrade Review‘Simon Thurley may be congratulated on a splendid achievement, which serves several different branches of history at once, as well as those who appreciate a clear and lively literary style … An important addition to knowledge’ Ronald Hutton, Times Literary Supplement ‘A hugely impressive, readable book that covers its broad canvas with assurance … Thoughtfully illustrated and furnished with plans of the buildings, itself a huge accomplishment.’ John Goodall, Country Life ‘In his admirably readable new book, Simon Thurley, who probably knows more about the palaces of the 16th and 17th centuries than anyone alive, has written a chronological survey of the royal residences of the Stuarts, a period of just over 100 years. You almost can read it as an alternative history of the dynasty … Lively and authoritative’ Andrew Taylor, The Times ‘Palaces of Revolution is far more than just a history book … The author’s knowledge … is unprecedented, elevating the historical survey into an alternative reading of the Stuart Dynasty … one only has to read this book to hear the walls talking. From secret seductions to fierce fighting, Thurley writes with great detail, invigorating the historical narratives we know and presenting new stories’ The Scottish Field ‘There can be few as well-placed to write about the buildings associated with the Stuart monarchy as Simon Thurley … This book – engagingly written and beautifully illustrated – is a comprehensive account of those achievements, and of the role that buildings played in the political life of early modern Britain.’ Historic House magazine ‘The culmination of nearly 30 years of research, [Palaces of Revolution] takes us back in time to bring these “hollow citadels of ceremony” and those who occupied them to life once again.’ Apollo

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Book SynopsisAn elegant, densely textured work, like a tapestry A welcome contribution to polar studies.' Sara Wheeler, Spectator[MacInness] handles the whole thing with masterly skilltakes us to the heart of the hope, love, anguish and grief' The TimesThe men of Captain Scott's Polar Party were heroes of their age, enduring tremendous hardships to further the reputation of the Empire they served by reaching the South Pole. But they were also husbands, fathers, sons and brothers.For the first time, the story of the race for the South Pole is told from the perspective of the women whose lives would be forever changed by it, five women who offer a window into a lost age and a revealing insight into the thoughts and feelings of the five heroes.Kathleen Scott, the fierce young wife of the expedition leader, campaigned relentlessly for Scott's reputation, but did her ambition for glory drive her husband to take unnecessary risks? Oriana Wilson, a true help-mate and partner to the expedition's doctor, wTrade Review‘A captivating, heartrending, emotionally exhausting, beautifully crafted bloody brilliant book’ Ben Tarring ‘I am reading it with fascination. It’s magnificent. [MacInnes has] an almost supernatural ability to conjure up the past.’ Sue Limb: co-author of Captain Oates: Soldier and Explorer 'The story of the five women waiting at home for Captain Scott and his doomed polar party is naturally occluded in tragedy. In this engaging book Katherine MacInnes for the first time presents them – two mothers at the outset, and three wives – as distinct individuals, separated one from the other by class, education, faith and temperament …An elegant, densely textured work, like a tapestry … A welcome contribution to polar studies.’ Sara Wheeler, Spectator ‘[MacInness] handles the whole thing with masterly skill…takes us to the heart of the hope, love, anguish and grief’ Ysenda Maxtone Graham, The Times ‘A breathless parallel narrative, flipping from the Antarctic horrors to the worried women keeping calm and carrying on … Mesmerising … Movingly done’ Kate Green, Country Life '[MacInnes] relies … deftly on photographs, from which she derives many of her descriptions of precise moments. It is fascinating and impressive to have her prose bring these images to life, as she plausibly recaptures the moments they depict … She show[s] that history in the making is not only experienced but felt, poignantly and painfully.' Stephanie Barczewski, TLS ‘Combining historical research, including access to family archives, with a vivid storytelling style, author Katherine MacInnes presents … the public and private fallout of the tragedy, which reveals much about society at the time. In doing so she presents a fresh and fascinating perspective on a well-worn story, as well as a window onto a lost world.’ This England magazine 'A truly gripping, original and refreshing angle on the history of polar exploration' The Bay magazine ‘Superb’ Bute Museum

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Book SynopsisA Times History Book of the Year 2022From Sunday Times bestselling historian Saul David, the dramatic tale of the first American troops to take the fight to the enemy in the Second World War, and also the last.The Devil Dogs' of K Company, 3/5 Marines, were part of the legendary first Marine Division. They landed on the beaches of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in 1942 the first US ground offensive of the war and were present when Okinawa, Japan's most southerly prefecture, finally fell to American troops after a bitter struggle in June 1945. In between they fought in the Green Hell' of Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain, and across the coral wasteland of Peleliu in the Palau Islands, a campaign described by one K Company veteran as thirty days of the meanest, around-the-clock slaughter that desperate men can inflict on each other.'Ordinary men from very different backgrounds, and drawn from cities, towns, and settlements across America, the Devil Dogs were asked to do Trade Review PRAISE FOR DEVIL DOGS ‘Exquisite detail…subtly textured… the Pacific War is rendered in painful and poignant detail… A narrative that reads like war in real time. It's war unplugged: cruelty, destruction, pain, but also love, kindness and camaraderie. I cried for these men and then thanked God that I will never have to send my son to war.’ Times ‘Brilliant… A chronicle that is part Hollwood film-script, but never less than vigorously researched history. David has a claim to be our finest military historian… Superb’’Daily Telegraph ‘David recounts in this stirring saga the WWII campaigns of Company K, the 1st Marine Division unit … Skillfully plumbing the rich array of firsthand accounts by Company K veterans, David vividly describes pillbox raids, accidental deaths, and hellish jungle conditions, and draws incisive portraits of Marine officers and their command decisions. The result is a captivating chronicle of the war in the Pacific’Publishers Weekly PRAISE FOR SBS: SILENT WARRIORS A SUNDAY TIMES #4 BESTSELLER A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021 ‘This is a terrific book, written with all the gusto, thrills and heady excitement these SBS operations richly deserve. It really is one of the most enjoyable histories I’ve read in many a year’James Holland, Daily Telegraph, five stars ‘It’s an extraordinary trawl through the archives, backed up with diaries and interviews; an accomplished act of storytelling… David has written a book that often gladdens the heart, but also makes you think about the nature of sacrifice’ Times ‘A brilliant account of how the SBS was born from wartime needs, and just how much the organisation and its affiliated units were able to achieve in those early years’Daily Mail

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Book SynopsisI cannot help but see the bodies of my near ancestors in the current caravans of desperate souls fleeing from place to place, chased by famine, war and toxins. Ideas honed in slavery of the otherness, the boorishness, the inferiority of thy neighbour have continued to travel through American society.'The story of slavery in America is not over. It lives on in how we speak to one another, in how we treat one another, in how our societies are organised. In Giving a Damn, the legal scholar Patricia Williams finds that when you begin to unpick current debates around immigration, freedom of speech, the culture wars and wall-building, beneath them lies the unexamined history of enslavement in the West. Our ability to dehumanize one another can be traced all the way from the plantation to the US President's Twitter account.Williams begins in the American South with Gone With the Wind (still the second most popular book in the USA after the Bible), that nostalgic tale full of the myths of th

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Book SynopsisAS SEEN IN THE TIMES AND UPDATED WITH NEW MATERIALThe Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellerTHE ROYAL BOOK OF THE YEAR' Daily MailTHIS CRISIS IS AS BIG AS THE ABDICATION SAYS LACEY, HISTORICAL ADVISOR TO THE CROWN.The world has watched Prince William and Prince Harry since they were born. Raised by Princess Diana to be the closest of brothers, how have the boy princes grown into very different, now distanced men?From royal expert and bestselling author Robert Lacey, this book is an unparalleled insider account of tumult and secrecy revealing the untold details of William and Harry's early closeness then estrangement. It asks what happens when two sons are raised for vastly different futures one burdened with the responsibility of one day becoming king, the other with the knowledge that he will always remain spare.How have William and Harry each formed their idea of a modern royal's duty and how they should behave? Were the seeds of damage sowed as Prince Charles and Diana's marriTrade Review PRAISE FOR BATTLE OF BROTHERS ‘They were dubbed the Fab Four, but with a smitten Harry exploding at perceived slights to Meghan, the Princes were torn apart by anger that survives today, as Robert Lacey reveals in the royal book of the year’Daily Mail ‘You've read Finding Freedom – now discover the whole story’Tatler ‘A riveting, well researched book’Piers Morgan ‘A portrayal of the royal heir and the spare that rebalances our perceptions of both … It may also convince some readers that Harry made the right decision’Sunday Times ‘A poignant account of the princes’ unhappy childhood’The Times PRAISE FOR ROBERT LACEY’S PREVIOUS BOOKS 'Robert Lacey is the King of royal biographers'Kitty Kelley 'A unique insight… Respected for the depth and extend of his research and contacts, Robert Lacey knows arguably more about the Queen than any other commentator writing today'Daily Mail 'Robert Lacey makes you feel like you're right there, in the palace, in the castle’Vanity Fair ‘Lacey has arranged his material beautifully; not one of these 400 pages is tiresome or dull’Evening Standard ‘[Lacey] has an eye for the telling image … Smart, thorough and well crafted, it is absolutely of its time’Scotsman ‘Has bestseller written all over it’Observer ‘Compulsively readable’Sunday Telegraph 'Beautifully written and thought-provoking … Robert Lacey has written a highly accomplished book which should go into the bags of anyone who has to travel to the kingdom'Literary Review 'Incisive … The real triumph of this book … is the way it peels away the layers of mystery that shroud a civil society of which we have almost no knowledge'Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisA wonderfully written and entertaining book which places Britain under the microscope and asks who we are today and how we've changed as a nation.Entertaining and absorbing' The Sunday Times In 1841 there were 734 female midwives working in Britain, along with 9 artificial eye makers, 20 peg makers, 6 stamp makers and 1 bee dealer. Fast forward nearly two centuries and there are 51,000 midwives working in the UK and not an eye maker in sight! For the past two centuries, the National Census has been monitoring the behaviour of the British: our work-lives, homes lives and strange cultural habits. With questions on occupation, housing, religion, travel and family, the Census is a snapshot of a country at any given epoch, and its findings have informed the economy, politics and every other national matter for decades that followed.Now, for the first time ever, the Census findings of the past two centuries are collected in to a wonderfully written and entertaining book which places BritainTrade Review'This book feels like an early stocking filler. It is entertaining and absorbing… the statistical detail can be illuminating.’ The Sunday Times ‘A statistical history of Britain fit for the census year…short, readable and rigorous.’ The Financial Times

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Book SynopsisIn a beautiful literary exploration, Sally Bayley tracks the evolution and the potential twenty first century death of the diary, mourning what it means to lose the art of writing simply for oneself. Diaries hold all manner of things: they allow us a moment to be completely personal, to self-aggrandise, to focus on self-reflection without concern of what someone on the outside might think. Discovered or published diaries of the past have also provided glimpses into history, eras and minds gone by, especially the inner lives otherwise unknown.Tracing the history of the diary from Samuel Pepys, whose record of the Great Plague and Great Fire of London informed history, through the likes of Virginia Woolf's personal confessions in the twentieth century, and up to the age of social media, Sally Bayley explores the beauty and the power of recording one's own life.Taking this thought all the way up to our era of exposure, with confessional journalism and social media barrage, Bayley explorTrade Review‘A masterly study on the 'long historical habit' of diary writing … Bayley's book succeeds brilliantly in merging scholarship with imagination, and emotional depth with writerly flair’Independent ‘An elegant survey of diaries through history and why we keep them … Bayley is splendidly dismissive of blogs – sending boring screeds into "a blank universe" – and when she defined tweeting as "a sort of premature mental ejaculation" I wrote in the margin in Sylvia Plath-size letters with a Magic Marker: Brava, Sally!’Roger Lewis, The Times ‘A delight for fans of Sylvia Plath as well as diary writers everywhere’Woman's Way Ireland

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Book Synopsis'You never knew what you were going to be confronted with when you went on Later' Nick CaveLater is a voyage of discovery for us as well as the viewers' Dave GrohlDave Grohl and Alicia Keys loved it, Björk treasured it, Ed Sheeran's life was changed by it, Kano felt at home while Nick Cave was horrified but inspired, and they all kept coming back.This first-hand account of the BBC's Later with Jools Holland takes you behind the scenes of one of the world's great musical meeting places. Legends including Sir Paul McCartney, Mary J. Blige and David Bowie found a regular welcome, alongside the next generation of superstars including Adele, Ed Sheeran and Amy Winehouse. Part of what has made the show so special is the format all those bands, singers, stars and newbies brought together to listen as well as to perform in Jools' circle of dreams. But there's always been plenty of mayhem alongside the magic of convening a room full of musicians hosted by one of their own.Written by the show's co-creator and 26-year showrunner, music journalist Mark Cooper, this is the story of how Later grew into a musical and TV institution. It was Mark who had to explain to Jay-Z why he couldn't just do his numbers and split, who told Seasick Steve why he had to play Dog House Boogie' on the Hootenanny and persuaded Johnny Cash that he simply had to come in, even when The Man in Black wasn't feeling well.From Stormzy to Björk, from Smokey Robinson to Norah Jones, from Britpop to trip hop, here is the word on how Later began, evolved and has endured, accompanied by exclusive interviews with some of the show's regular stars as well as the unique pictorial record of Andre Csillag who photographed the show for over 20 years. A must-read for music fans everywhere, Later with Jools Hollandpulls back the curtain on classic performances to reveal that the show is just as magical, if even more chaotic, than you imagined.Trade Review‘Excellent’ Jools Holland

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Book SynopsisA lyrical investigation both powerful and transcendent' CHIGOZIE OBIOMAAcutely observed, hauntingly rendered and deeply affecting' AMINATTA FORNABoth epic and intimate' MARGO JEFFERSONAn astonishing search for a missing person, the hidden tragedies of war and the truth of Nigeria's history.Emmanuel Iduma never met his uncle, his father's favourite brother and the man for whom he is named. The elder Emmanuel left home in 1967 to fight in the Biafran War and was not seen again. The war lasted for three years, with young Igbo men volunteering to fight for a breakaway republic in the chaotic wake of British decolonization. Around one hundred thousand others who fought in the war share a fate like Emmanuel's uncle, though there are no official records of these losses. The tensions that gave rise to the conflict remain live, threatening sometimes to bubble over. In this landscape, there are no monuments or graves. Instead, a collective remembering that remains, for the most part, silent.I ATrade Review‘A thorough and thoughtful reporter, Iduma explains how it has become taboo in Nigerian culture to discuss the war, and uses his family’s own tragedy to tell the devastating story of a country that has not been allowed to properly mourn its dead. I Am Still With You is a deeply felt eulogy for those who were lost and a sobering reflection on the shame that comes with silence’ Time Magazine, The 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 ‘A lyrical investigation into the nature of being, history, the collective memory of Biafra – a dark chapter in world history. Iduma writes with such startling clarity that the book ultimately becomes both powerful and transcendent’ Chigozie Obioma, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of The Fishermen and An Orchestra of Minorities ‘A genre-defying work, I Am Still with You is a quest, both spiritual and real, a travelogue, a memoir, and a history of Biafra … Acutely observed, hauntingly rendered, and deeply affecting – a masterful achievement’ Aminatta Forna, author of The Devil That Danced on the Water ‘Iduma confronts and contemplates the wounds left by the Biafran war: death on a mass scale; deaths in his family; griefs, angers and questions that still plague the living. I Am Still With You is both epic and intimate. It gives us the beauties and consolations of an ethnical imagination’ Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland ‘In clear, elegiac prose, Iduma’s search leads to an affecting conclusion’ New Statesman ‘Iduma’s quietly brilliant new book … blends travelogue, reportage, criticism, memoir, and history in a hypnotic tale’ Vulture, Best Books of 2023 ‘An immersive memoir … Iduma’s unraveling of the past is bound to leave readers eager to uncover their own family secrets’ Publishers Weekly

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Book Synopsis''If a house could gossip, this is the book that Hampton Court would whisper. An enjoyable and readable stroll through 500 years of Hampton Court history: royal residents, common visitors, thieves, invaders and ghosts' PHILIPPA GREGORYFor centuries, Hampton Court has been a place of power, scandal and intrigue: a stage for events that shaped the nation. The Palace raises the curtain on 500 years of British history with royals, politicians, criminals, and geniuses all playing their parts.Hampton Court has been an arc of monarchy, revolution, religious fundamentalism, sexual scandals, and military coups. In this rich and vivid history, Gareth Russell moves through the rooms and the decades, each time focusing on a different person who called Hampton Court their home.Beginning with the Tudors, Russell takes the reader from the kitchens of Henry VII and the dreams of Anne Boleyn to Elizabeth I's brush with death and the staging of Shakespeare's plays. To the commissioning of the King JamesTrade Review A BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF 2023 ‘A fascinating chronicle … brilliantly researched…a history of the British monarchy seen through the prism of Hampton Court’ THE TIMES ‘Riotously readable … Russell gives a tender and affectionate account of a royal palace that is less about bricks and mortar than the men and women who down the centuries have breathed it into glamorous, scandalous and tragic life’ MAIL ON SUNDAY ‘Scintillating…it’s hard to imagine anyone writing a better version of the book Russell sets out to write than the racy delight we have here’ SPECTATOR ‘A serious, densely researched and fascinating portrait of Hampton Court Palace, focusing on the people who lived and loved there. His historical narrative, continental in its political scope, ranges from the Tudors to the Windsors and is informed by lively social history… he is an engaging storyteller’ COUNTRY LIFE 'If a house could gossip, this is the book that Hampton Court would whisper. An enjoyable and readable stroll through 500 years of Hampton Court history: royal residents, common visitors, thieves, invaders and ghosts’ PHILIPPA GREGORY 'Rollicking, gossipy and effortlessly learned, The Palace is what Hampton Court would say if its walls could talk. Gareth Russell is a born storyteller and this is a wonderful human history of one of Britain’s most captivating buildings.' DAN JONES ‘Vibrant, exciting, enthralling a superb panoramic history, bursting with scholarship, wit and riveting detail. A beautifully written, fascinating book about those who have lived and loved at Hampton Court’ KATE WILLIAMS ‘With scholarly accuracy but also a novelist’s eye for a telling detail or anecdote, he shows how the palace constitutes a long, broad and golden thread running through over half a millennium of British history’ ANDREW ROBERTS

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Book SynopsisThe way Robert Peal describes Georgian England, you'd be mad not to want to live there yourself' GUARDIANAnne Bonny and Mary Read, pirate queens of the CaribbeanTipu Sultan, the Indian ruler who kept the British at bayOlaudah Equiano, the former slave whose story shocked the worldMary Wollstonecraft, the feminist who fought for women's rightsLadies of Llangollen, the lovers who built paradise in a Welsh valleyMad, bad and dangerous to know' is how Lord Byron, the poet who drank wine from a monk's skull and slept with his half-sister, was described by one of his many lovers. But mad, bad and dangerous' serves as a good description for the entire Georgian period: often neglected, the hundred or so years between the coronation of George I in 1714 and the death of George IV in 1830 were years when the modern world was formed, and changes came thick and fast.Across this century, new foods pineapples, coffee and pepper suddenly became available in the shops. Fashion exploded into a riot of colour, frilly shirts and wigs. Gin was drunk like it was water. Demands for women's rights were heard, and it became possible to question the existence of God without fear of prompt execution.These exciting new developments came, of course, from the expanding British Empire. Britain's wealth and its sudden access to chocolate, chillies and spices, was entirely bound up with the conquest of overseas territories and the miserable suffering of enslaved workers.This is the backdrop to Robert Peal's new book, which introduces the Georgian era through the diverse lives of twelve magnificent if not moral' people who defined it.Trade Review‘The way Robert Peal describes Georgian England, you’d be mad not to want to live there yourself … He does make us think about the extraordinary breadth of experience on show in a period that tends to get written off in popular history … Peal has a sharp awareness of the best scholarly work on the subject and where to find it … An excellent entry point’KATHRYN HUGHES, GUARDIAN ‘[A] lively portrait of 12 notable Georgians … This book will keep you awake. Steering clear of pompous, soporific vocabulary … There are some good life stories here, gutsily told’DAILY MAIL ‘Peal brings the era to vivid, outrageous life, writing chattily, with a scattering of slang that wouldn’t have made the Georgians turn a hair’CAMDEN NEW JOURNAL ‘This is a form of history book that I very, very much enjoy … A really good, fun, interesting read. It’s very accessible. It’s very irreverent and witty, laughing at the madness of the Georgian period … I would definitely recommend it’BOOKS AND THINGS ‘I wish Robert Peal had been around when I did A-level history … I feel that Peal would have inspired me to achieve grade A stardom. The sheer energy and enthusiasm he brings to his subject is thrilling … Meet the Georgians uncovered in a wild and witty romp through the long 18th century’JANE AUSTEN’S REGENCY WORLD ‘Really interesting … I learnt some interesting facts I didn't already know, and enjoyed the way the author told the stories of their lives. I would recommend, and hope the author considers writing more like this, but set in other eras also’NETGALLEY REVIEWER, 5/5 STARS ‘A most enjoyable, witty and let's not forget educational read! I think this book can be a great way to attract teens to history. But it is definitely not only a read for teens … I would love to see this made into a series(patiently waiting for 'Meet the Victorians' to be made a reality)’NETGALLEY REVIEWER, 4/5 STARS

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Book SynopsisA TELEGRAPH BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2023A highly imaginative and thought-provoking way of exploring the personality of a man who, like him or loathe him, left an indelible mark on our age' ADAM ZAMOYSKIWinston Churchill followed his own star. He yearned to be great', to gain historical immortality. And he did so through deeds and words: his actions as a soldier and politician, gilded by his writings as a journalist and historian. But Churchill's path to greatness was also defined by the leaders he encountered along the way friends and foes, at home and abroad. Men of power such as Hitler and Mussolini, Roosevelt and Stalin, David Lloyd George, Neville Chamberlain and Charles de Gaulle. And the haunting presence of the adored father who had seen nothing of merit in his troublesome son. In these men Churchill discerned greatness, or its absence, in ways that influenced his own career.This book includes some whom Churchill would not have deemed great', but who in our own day offer alternaTrade Review A TELEGRAPH BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2023 ‘This book, by a Cambridge academic who has studied his subject over a lifetime perhaps more closely and shrewdly than any other writer, is not a collection of Churchill’s biggest clangers. Instead, it is almost a second volume that Churchill himself never wrote, of his 1937 Great Contemporaries…always shrewd and sometimes brilliant…It includes wonderful anecdotes, some unfamiliar. Even the stories that we know bear retelling’ The Times, Max Hastings ‘A brilliant new portrait of the man who is, for many, still the Greatest Briton … wonderfully illuminating’ Daily Mail ‘A highly imaginative and thought-provoking way of exploring the personality of a man who, like him or loathe him, left an indelible mark on our age’ Adam Zamoyski ‘Winston Churchill was unique—but that does not mean that he was alone. David Reynolds’ insightful work illuminates much about those towering figures who shaped not only the politics of the first half of the twentieth century, but also helped form the man who was, in the end, the greatest of them all’ Eliot A. Cohen, author of The Hollow Crown 'Erudite. Authoritative. Compellingly written, and with pace and verve. Reynolds reveals much that is new in a gripping narrative history of the Great Man, one that will have you turning the pages into the early hours. It certainly did me. Like all good books, I shall return to this again and again’ Damien Lewis ‘Who inspired Churchill as he rose to the pinnacle of power? And how did he himself seek to mold how history would view him? No one is better placed to address these deceptively simple questions than David Reynolds, and he succeeds splendidly in this magnificent book’ Fredrik Logevall, author of JFK

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Book SynopsisImportant, comprehensive, and superbly researched. All the more urgent at the present time' BART VAN ES''A terrific, clear-eyed and balanced history that cuts through today's toxic debates'' DAILY TELEGRAPHHow have those who arrived on Britain's shores shaped its history?Refugees seeking to reach Britain today often face perilous journeys, impossible bureaucracy and acidic public opinion. But this hasn't always been the way. For most of our history, Great Britain cherished its outward image as a safe haven for those displaced by religious persecution, political violence or economic crisis an island of stability in the midst of a violent world.In This Land of Promise, migration scholar Matthew Lockwood overturns many popular modern-day misconceptions about Britain's history of immigration. Exiles and refugees have been not only a constant presence in Britain across the centuries but also intrinsic to shaping Britain as it is today. This is a profoundly moving and illuminating history,

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Book SynopsisA New York Times Notable BookBest Books of 2021: TIME, SmithsonianNew York Times Book Review Editors'' ChoiceA radical reckoning with the racial inequality of America's past and present, by one of the country's leading scholars of policing and mass incarcerationBetween 1964 and 1972, the United States endured domestic violence on a scale not seen since the Civil War. During these eight years, Black residents responded to police brutality and systemic racism by throwing punches and Molotov cocktails at police officers, plundering local businesses and vandalizing exploitative institutions. Ever since, Americans have been living in a nation and national culture created, in part, by the extreme violence of this period.In America on Fire, acclaimed professor Elizabeth Hinton draws on previously untapped sources to unravel this extraordinary history for the first time, arguing that we cannot understand the civil rights struggle without coming to terms with the astonishing violence, and hugeTrade Review‘[A] groundbreaking, deeply researched and profoundly heart-rending account of the origins of our national crisis of police violence against Black America … America on Fire is more than a brilliant guided tour through our nation’s morally ruinous past. It reveals the deep roots of the current movement to reject a system of law enforcement that defines as the problem the very people who continue to seek to liberate themselves from racial oppression.’Peniel E. Joseph, New York Times ‘Hinton compiles a breathtaking list of more than a thousand uprisings, far beyond those with which we are most familiar . . . Hinton is not just recovering Black resistance; she is also exposing a long, and ignored, history of white political violence, used to maintain the subordinated status of Black communities . . . Hinton systematically unravels the failures of police reform’Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor, The New Yorker ‘Not since Angela Davis’s 2003 book, Are Prisons Obsolete?, has a scholar so persuasively challenged our conventional understanding of the criminal legal system … Hinton tells this story with clarity, and her conclusions should serve as a wake-up call to policymakers’Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., Washington Post ‘[A] trenchant study … Illustrate[s] the origins and legacies of the rebellions that sprang from police incursions in Black life’Boston Globe ‘Hinton’s passionate, occasionally gritty approach is the opposite of a gauzy PBS series: she drills down into the granular, highlighting the courageous men and women who stood tall in a hail of bullets.’Oprah Daily, ‘Best Books to Pick Up This May’ ‘Indispensable … Essential to any understanding of the state of the nation, and the way from here.’Jill Lepore, bestselling author of These Truths: A History of the United States

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Book SynopsisA TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEARA diligent historian and a superb writer'THE TIMESA gripping new history of the making of England as a nation.In December 1642, during the Civil War, Parliamentarian troops stormed Winchester Cathedral and smashed ten beautifully decorated wooden chests to the ground, using the bones inside as missiles to shatter the cathedral's stained glass windows. Afterwards, the clergy scrambled to collect the scattered remains: the bones of ancient kings, bishops and one formidable queen.Bestselling historian Cat Jarman builds on the ground-breaking work of forensic archaeologists to lead us through more than a millennium of history. Alongside the cutting-edge investigation to unlock the bones'' secrets, this is a thrilling and sometimes tragic tale. It tells the story of both the seekers and the sought, of those who protected the bones and those who spurned them.Trade Review A TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘Beguiling . . . I adored [River Kings] so felt like a young boy on Christmas morning when I first opened The Bone Chests . . . Jarman’s investigation has something of a Dan Brown quest to it . . . she’s a diligent historian and a superb writer’ Times, Book of the Week 'This is the best kind of popular history, retelling the story of early medieval England with an equally good grasp of textual sources, archaeology and forensic analysis, and a love of Winchester’ Ronald Hutton ‘Through their story, we can recapture the spirit of the Anglo-Saxon age and, as Jarman writes, learn about the ‘past lives of people who were a little bit like us, who lived, loved, and left an imprint on the generations that came after them’, and who in their vexing anonymity encourage us to find out more’ Literary Review ‘An engaging account of England’s pre-Conquest monarchs, from famous figured such as Alfred the Great to long-forgotten kings Cynegils and Centwine’ i News PRAISE FOR RIVER KINGS: A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER (September 2021) Waterstones Book of the Month (October 2021) ‘A masterly history … River Kings is a mystery and an adventure, the tale of a quest that took Jarman from Repton to Scandinavia, across the Baltic Sea, over to Baghdad and finally to India. I was held captive … In addition to being a wonderful writer, Jarman is a skilled bioarchaeologist … River Kings is like a classical symphony, perfectly composed and exquisitely performed. Tiny trills of detail give way to pounding drums of drama’ Gerard deGroot, Times ‘Cat Jarman will transform the way you think about the Vikings’ Dan Snow

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Book SynopsisCollins Big Cat supports every primary child on their reading journey from phonics to fluency. Top authors and illustrators have created fiction and non-fiction books that children love to read. Book banded for guided and independent reading, there are reading notes in the back, comprehensive teaching and assessment support and ebooks available.Part of the Shinoy and the Chaos Crew non-fiction series, this information book ties into The Day of Time Travel.Find out the answers to questions you''ve always wanted to know about what life was like in the past.Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the past? Find out where you'd sleep, what you'd eat and how you'd have fun in Stone Age, Roman and Viking times.Lime/Band 11 books have longer sentence structures and a greater use of literary language.Ideas for reading in the back of the book provide practical support and stimulating activities.

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Book SynopsisExam board: Edexcel Level & Subject: AS and A Level English Literature First teaching: September 2015 Next exams: 2025Trade Review“The new Collins Classroom Classic editions are perfect for schools – clear text, bright covers, a good size for pockets and bags, and a great price that makes buying new class or cohort sets very attractive in these budget-conscious times.” de Stafford School

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Book SynopsisThe perfect gift for every railway enthusiast.The history of Britain's railways is a long and fascinating one, filled with stories of grand endeavours, noted figures and record-breaking feats. Julian Holland brings together a unique miscellany of intriguing tales and engaging trivia the perfect collection for every railway enthusiast.Stories range from Bulleid's ''Chinese Laundries'', trainspotting trips in Wales and Scotland and Liverpool's Dockers' Umbrella'' to railway artists and clergy, a railway-owned airline and railways that were never built.Find out about The Royal Scot's 11,000-mile journey in the USA and Canada A narrow gauge island railway in the middle of the Bristol Channel How the London & South Western Railway saved the British Empire Mallard's unbeaten world speed record of 1938 How to fly by Great Western Railway from Cardiff to Plymouth The 75-mile network of narrow gauge railways on the Isle of Skye How another 4,500 miles of railway escaped closure by Dr BeechingATrade Review“If the author is Julian Holland, and the subject is railways, you know you’re going to be in for a treat” Cotswold Life

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Book SynopsisFrom best-selling railway expert, Julian Holland, explore Britain's historical railways in All Aboard.The history of Britain's railways is a long and fascinating one, filled with stories of grand endeavours, noted figures and record-breaking feats.Julian Holland brings together a unique miscellany of intriguing tales and engaging trivia the perfect collection for every railway enthusiast.Stories range from Bulleid's ''Chinese Laundries'', trainspotting trips in Wales and Scotland and Liverpool's Dockers' Umbrella'' to railway artists and clergy, a railway-owned airline and railways that were never built.Find out about The Royal Scot's 11,000-mile journey in the USA and Canada A narrow gauge island railway in the middle of the Bristol Channel How the London & South Western Railway saved the British Empire Mallard's unbeaten world speed record of 1938 How to fly by Great Western Railway from Cardiff to Plymouth The 75-mile network of narrow gauge railways on the Isle of Skye How anotherTrade Review“If the author is Julian Holland, and the subject is railways, you know you’re going to be in for a treat” Cotswold Life

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Book SynopsisFrom rebels to writers, athletes to astronauts, join Kate Fox takes on an entertaining and eye-opening journey through the lives of these extraordinary women whose lives and achievements have too long been hidden. From Cartimandua, the forgotten Iron Age Queen of the North, to Woodbine-smoking football player Lily Parr, Kate with her trademark wit and sense of fun, shows how these astonishing trailblazers laid the ground for modern stars from Victoria Wood to Little Mix. Nicola Adams, Betty Boothroyd and Helen Sharman all have these unsung northern champions to thank for paving their way.Funny, enlightening and a call to arms, it's perfect for a nation ready to rediscover its hidden heroes.Trade Review‘Kate Fox is funny, quirky and a wonderful writer’ Sarah Millican

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Book SynopsisDiscover hidden gems around Birmingham with 20 walking routes.Featuring 20 walks in and around the city, including lesser-known circuits and details on popular walks. Accompanied by guided walking instructions and written by local experts, A-Z Birmingham Hidden Walks is the perfect way to explore the city in a new light.Small enough to fit in a bag or pocket, this handy guidebook is ideal for tourists or locals looking to discover more about the city. Each route varies in length from 1 to 6 miles (1.6 to 9.6 km), and is clearly outlined on detailed A-Z street mapping. 20 walking routes with instructions and maps Full-colour photographs of hidden gems and city attractions Key sights and locations clearly marked on map Information such as start/finish points, nearest postcodes, distance and terrain includedMore from the A-Z Hidden Walks series:A-Z Birmingham Hidden WalksA-Z Bristol & Bath Hidden WalksA-Z Edinburgh Hidden WalksA-Z London Hidden WalksA-Z Oxford Hidden WalksA-Z York Hidden

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Book SynopsisDiscover hidden gems around London with 20 walking routes.Featuring 20 walks in and around the city, including lesser-known circuits and details on popular walks. Accompanied by guided walking instructions and written by a local expert, A-Z London Hidden Walks is the perfect way to explore the city in a new light.Small enough to fit in a bag or pocket, this handy guidebook is ideal for tourists or locals looking to discover more about the city. Each route varies in length from 1 to 6 miles (1.6 to 9.6 km), and is clearly outlined on detailed A-Z street mapping. 20 walking routes with instructions and maps Full-colour photographs of hidden gems and city attractions Key sights and locations clearly marked on map Information such as start/finish points, nearest postcodes, distance and terrain includedMore from the A-Z Hidden Walks series:A-Z Birmingham Hidden WalksA-Z Bristol & Bath Hidden WalksA-Z Edinburgh Hidden WalksA-Z London Hidden WalksA-Z Oxford Hidden WalksA-Z York Hidden WalksA-

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Book Synopsis'Anyone interested in the future of autocracy should buy it' Anne Applebaum, author of Twilight of Demoracy**Winner of the Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing**A devastating account of China's genocide of the Uyghurs, by a leading Uyghur activist and Time #100 nomineeNury Turkel was born in a re-education' camp in China at the height of the Cultural Revolution. He spent the first several months of his life in captivity with his mother, who was beaten and starved while pregnant with him, whilst his father served a penal sentence in an agricultural labour camp. Following this traumatic start and not without a heavy dose of good fortune he was later able to travel to the US for his undergraduate studies in 1995 and was granted asylum in the country in 1998 where, as a lawyer, he is now a tireless and renowned activist for the plight of his people.Part memoir, part call-to-action, No Escape will be the first major book to tell the story of the Chinese government's terrible oppression ofTrade Review‘No Escape is a heart-rending and deeply shocking account of the Chinese Communist Party’s systematic persecution of the Uyghur people and their unique, ancient culture … I urge everybody, regardless of political affiliation, to please, read this book’Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, author of The Enemy Within: A Tale of Muslim Britain ‘The genocide in China needed this book for us to demand international action. It is painful but essential reading’Nazir Afzal, former Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England ‘Nury Turkel is a giant of our generation … No Escape is required reading for anyone hoping for a better world’Luke de Pulford, co-founder and director of Arise Foundation and coordinator of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China ‘Vital … No Escape is an important testimony to one of the greatest humanitarian outrages of our time’Irish Times

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Book Synopsis'Anyone interested in the future of autocracy should buy it' Anne Applebaum, author of Twilight of Demoracy**Shortlisted for the Moore Prize for Human Rights Literature**A devastating account of China's genocide of the Uyghurs, by a leading Uyghur activist and Time #100 nominee Nury Turkel was born in a re-education' camp in China at the height of the Cultural Revolution. He spent the first several months of his life in captivity with his mother, who was beaten and starved while pregnant with him, whilst his father served a penal sentence in an agricultural labour camp. Following this traumatic start and not without a heavy dose of good fortune he was later able to travel to the US for his undergraduate studies in 1995 and was granted asylum in the country in 1998 where, as a lawyer, he is now a tireless and renowned activist for the plight of his people. Part memoir, part call-to-action, No Escape will be the first major book to tell the story of the Chinese government's terrible

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE ELIZABETH LONGFORD PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHYA narrative of startling originality As discussions of Britain's colonial legacy become increasingly polarised, we are in ever more need of nuanced books like this one' SAM DALRYMPLE, SPECTATORRebels Against the Raj tells the little-known story of seven people who chose to struggle for a country other than their own: foreigners to India who across the late 19th to late 20th century arrived to join the freedom movement fighting for independence.Of the seven, four were British, two American, and one Irish. Four men, three women. Before and after being jailed or deported they did remarkable and pioneering work in a variety of fields: journalism, social reform, education, organic agriculture, environmentalism.This book tells their stories, each renegade motivated by idealism and genuine sacrifice; each connected to Gandhi, though some as acolytes where others found endless infuriation in his views; each understanding they woulTrade Review‘A narrative of startling originality … his excitement at discovering a forgotten chapter of Indian history is contagious … As discussions of Britain’s colonial legacy become increasingly polarised, we are in ever more need of nuanced books like this one’Sam Dalrymple, Spectator ‘Fascinating and provocative … Guha organises his material expertly and presents it clearly and stylishly, illuminating an aspect of Raj history which is often forgotten or neglected but which is nonetheless crucial for an understanding both of present-day India and of Britons’ complex and ambivalent past relationship to this ‘jewel’ in their collective crown. This superb book does them justice, as well as adding a new dimension to the histories both of subject India and of imperial Britain – and being a thoroughly good read’Literary Review ‘Guha has done well to remind us of these forgotten stories, all the more as India, like much of the world, is becoming more xenophobic and intolerant, believing all the virtues lie in national frontiers’Irish Times ‘Illuminating and engaging … Guha’s wide-ranging research and lucid narration brings to life these men and women … Rebels Against the Raj, however, makes a larger, more important and incisive point. Guha calls the lives and work of these rebels a morality tale for the world we now inhabit – a world incandescent with xenophobia and jingoism, and full of contempt for thoughts and ideas that a culture can imbibe from outside its borders’New Statesman ‘Eminently readable and dazzling … Painstakingly researched, this is history writing at its best. It is indeed a masterly study of hitherto neglected western figures of modern India and opens a new way of engaging with the complex fault-lines between nationalism and imperialism, between India and the West … Guha’s outstanding work … couldn’t be more relevant. Every Indian should read this book’The Tribune

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Book SynopsisGrimly fascinating engrossing' Daily Mail NINE HISTORIC CRIMES. ONE FAMILIAR OBSESSION.In early modern England, murder truly was most foul. Trials were gossipy events packed to the rafters with noisome spectators. Executions were public proceedings which promised not only gore, but desperate confessions and the grandest, most righteous human drama. Bookshops saw grisly stories of crime and death sell like hot cakes.This history unfolds the true stories of murder, criminal investigation, early forensic techniques, high court trials and so much more.In thrilling narrative, we follow a fugitive killer through the streets of London, citizen detectives clamouring to help officials close the net. We untangle the mystery of a suspected staged suicide through the newly emerging science of forensic pathology. We see a mother trying to clear her dead daughter's name while other women faced the accusations sometimes true and sometimes not of murdering their own children.These stories are pieceTrade Review Praise for Great and Horrible News: ‘Grimly fascinating…vivid detail… The early moderns were obsessed by stories of death, crime and justice,’ Adams states in her introduction. Her book, which covers the two centuries between 1500 and 1700, proves her point with a succession of grisly but engrossing cases’ Daily Mail ‘A true crime treat from former police officer Blessin Adams. Great and Horrible News looks at what we can learn from early modern Britain when it comes to justice and criminality’ Janice Hallett ‘Bleakly fascinating . . . police investigator turned academic Blessin Adams explores nine historic crimes . . . stimulating non-fiction’ Independent, BEST BOOKS OF MARCH ‘This gory history of crime shows that our obsession with lurid podcasts is nothing new . . . Adams, a police officer turned historian, has poured over coroners’ inquest records, court documents, pamphlets, newspaper articles, parish archives, ballads, wills, letters and diaries to restage nine grim stories of crime in England between 1500 and 1700. As an ex-copper, Adams is greatly interested in developments in forensic pathology in this period, which are superbly reconstructed from the sources’ The Times ‘Perfect for fans of true-crime, this is a bone-chilling and brilliantly researched account of murder, cruelty, and scandal in Tudor and Stuart Britain. I couldn’t put it down, but I sincerely regret reading it alone in the countryside. A fantastic debut’ Gareth Russell, author of Young and Damned and Fair ‘At once an intriguing true crime examination of historical crime and a sociological dive into Britain’s history, Adams does a stellar job of introducing a nonet of little-known crimes, running the gamut from suicide to child abuse to murder, that while not for the faint of heart, quickly become engrossing to read’ Set the Tape

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Book Synopsis

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