Memoirs Books

Book Synopsis'Masterpiece' Evening Standard 'Fascinating' The Economist Best Titles of 2024In this vivid coming-of-age memoir, Rob Henderson recounts growing up in foster care, enlisting in the US Air Force, attending elite universities and what he learnt from seeing life from both sides of the tracks. Rob Henderson was born to a drug-addicted mother and a father he never met, ultimately shuttling between ten different foster homes in California. When he was adopted into a loving family, he hoped that life would finally be stable and safe. He was wrong: tragedy, poverty and violence marked his adolescent years. An unflinching portrait of shattered families, desperation, and determination, Troubled recounts how Henderson eventually managed to find an escape route through the military, which led to an academic career at Yale and Cambridge. As he reflects on the fate of many of his friends drugs, death, prison Henderson never escapes the feeling of being on the outside looking in, or a sense that his academic achievements are hollow compared to the love and protection that comes from stable family life. He dissects the hypocrisies of contemporary social class and shows how the most privileged among us benefit from a set of luxury beliefs' that actively harm the most vulnerable. Rave Reader ReviewsEye-opening and heart-breaking'Inspiring'Incredible'Wow'Powerful and thought-provoking'

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Book SynopsisAnat Levit never considered herself a cat lover, but when her life was thrown into upheaval, she found herself adopting one cat at the suggestion of her daughters, and then six more in quick succession. She recounts how each cat came into her life, their distinct demeanours and curiosities, and their ability to live fully in each moment. Anat falls in love with the furry creatures, whose escapades and tribulations lead her into deep friendships, difficult decisions and unexpected insight into her relationships. The cats love her in the way she wishes she could love others: intensely yet independently, without renouncing their unique personalities. By caring for these cats, Anat comes to a deeper understanding of her connections with former lovers, her daughters and her own body. In Seven Cats I Have Loved, she delves into the feline mind with sensitivity, gentleness and compassion, while also revealing a moving human story.

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Crime Fest HRF Keating Award''Not merely the conclusive homage to a compulsively fascinating character, but an insightful study into the biographical process itself'' Nicholas Shakespeare''Now that he is dead, we can know him better.'' Secrecy came naturally to John le Carré, and there were some secrets that he fought fiercely to keep. Nowhere was this more so than in his private life. Apparently content in his marriage, the novelist conducted a string of love affairs over four decades. To keep these relationships secret, he made use of tradecraft that he had learned as a spy: code names and cover stories, cut outs, safe houses and dead letter boxes. Such affairs introduced both jeopardy and excitement into what was otherwise a quiet, ordered life. Le Carré seemed to require the stimulus they provided in order to write, though this meant deceiving those closest to him. It is no coincidence that betrayal became a recurrent theme in his work. Adam Sisman''s definitive biography, published in 2015, revealed much about the elusive spy-turned-novelist; yet le Carré was adamant that some subjects should remain hidden, at least during his lifetime. The Secret Life of John le Carré is the story of what was left out, and offers reflections on the difficult relationship between biographer and subject. More than that, it adds a necessary coda to the life and work of this complex, driven, restless man. The Secret Life of John le Carré reveals a hitherto-hidden perspective on the life and work of the spy-turned-author and a fascinating meditation on the complex relationship between biographer and subject. ''Now that he is dead,'' Sisman writes, ''we can know him better.''

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Book Synopsis'Full of smugglers tales, childhood memories and the real-life struggles of living on a remote island.' - Touring Tales ***'In the January dark, a young man walks slowly into the sea. He can't see where he is going, but he knows the island is calling...'Mary and Patrick's dream was to live in London, have 2.4 children, the nice house, the successful jobs. But life had other plans, and in one traumatic year that all came crashing down.Bruised and battered, Mary finds herself pulled towards Cornwall and dreams of St George's Island, where she spent halcyon childhood summers. So, when an opportunity arises to become tenants if they renovate the old Island House, they grab it with both hands.Life on the island is hard, especially in winter, the sea and weather, unforgiving. But the rugged natural beauty, the friendly ghosts of previous inhabitants, and the beautiful isolation of island life bring hope and purpose, as they discover a resilience they never knew they had.

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Book Synopsis''Few people have shown more commitment to investigative journalism than Patrick Alley. His latest book is a vivid, compelling testament to the importance of revealing corruption and wrong-doing and shining a light into dark places, wherever in the world they are.'' -Peter Geoghegan, author of Democracy for SaleA small number of people, motivated by an insatiable greed for power and wealth, and backed by a pinstripe army of enablers (and sometimes real armies too), have driven the world to the brink of destruction. They are the super-villains of corruption and war, some with a power greater than nation state and the capacity to derail the world order. Propping up their opulent lifestyles is a mess of crime, violence and deception on a monumental scale. But there is a fightback: small but fearless groups of brilliant undercover sleuths closing in on them, one step at a time.In Terrible Humans, Patrick Alley, co-founder of Global Witness and the author of Very Bad People, introduces us to some of the world''s worst warlords, grifters and kleptocrats who can be found everywhere from presidential palaces to the board rooms of some of the world''s best known companies. Pitted against them, the book also follows the people unravelling the deals, tracking the money and going undercover at great risk. From the oligarch charged with ordering the killing of an investigative journalist to the mercenary army seizing the natural resources of an entire African country, this is a whirlwind tour of the dark underbelly of the world''s super powerful and wickedly wealthy, and the daring investigators dragging them into the light.

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Book SynopsisAs seen in The Last Movie Stars documentary - the raw, candid, unvarnished memoir of an icon. The greatest movie star of the past 75 years covers everything: his traumatic childhood, his career, his drinking, his thoughts on Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, his greatest roles, acting, his intimate life with Joanne Woodward, his innermost fears and passions and joys. With thoughts/comments throughout from Joanne Woodward, Tom Cruise and many others.In 1986, Paul Newman and his closest friend, screenwriter Stewart Stern, began an extraordinary project. Stuart was to compile an oral history, to have Newman's family and friends and those who worked closely with him, talk about the actor's life. And then Newman would work with Stewart and give his side of the story. The only stipulation was that anyone who spoke on the record had to be completely honest. That same stipulation applied to Newman himself. The project lasted five years.The result is an extraordinary memoir, culled from thousands of pages of transcripts. The book is insightful, revealing, surprising. Newman's voice is powerful, sometimes funny, sometimes painful, always meeting that high standard of searing honesty. The additional voices - from childhood friends and Navy buddies, from family members and film and theater collaborators such as Tom Cruise, George Roy Hill, Martin Ritt, and John Huston - that run throughout add richness and color and context to the story Newman is telling.Newman's often traumatic childhood is brilliantly detailed. He talks about his teenage insecurities, his early failures with women, his rise to stardom, his early rivals (Brando and Dean), his first marriage, his drinking, his philanthropy, the death of his son Scott, his strong desire for his daughters to know and understand the truth about their father. Perhaps the most moving material in the book centers around his relationship with Joanne Woodward - their love for each other, his dependence on her, the way she shaped him intellectually, emotionally and sexually.THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF AN ORDINARY MAN is revelatory and introspective, personal and analytical, loving and tender in some places, always complex and profound.Praise for Paul Newman'One of the greatest screen actors of all time and a beautiful man.' Daniel Craig'He set the bar too high for the rest of us. Not just actors, but all of us.' George Clooney''He was my hero.' Julia Roberts'Paul was an American Icon.' President Bill Clinton'The ultimate cool guy, who men wanted to be like and women adored. He was an American icon, a brilliant actor, a Renaissance man and a generous but modest philanthropist ... Newman entertained millions in some of Hollywood's most memorable roles ever, and brightened the lives of amny more, especially seriously ill children, through his charitable works.' Arnold Schwarzenegger'Sometimes God makes perfect people and Paul Newman was one of them.' Sally Field'One of the very finest screen actors of our time. Newman spanned the gap between the golden days of Hollywood, the 40s and 50s with actors like Cary Grant and James Stewart and Clark Gable, and the present lot represented by Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise' Sir Michael Parkinson'Newman was a fine driver, who was famous in Hollywood for doing his own stunt driving as often as not.' Ron Dennis, Formula 1's McLaren Chief'To say he was an extraordinary man would be an understatement. he saw himself as a working actor, not a movie star, and insisted that everyone else did the same. There was no ego, no entourage, no hangers on. Only Paul, his script and his incredible spirit. One can say this about very few people, but he was a truly great man. It seems to me to be one of the great 20th-century lives: he was famously generous, with his extraordinary and unstinting work for his charities, he was a shining example of how to use global fame for the greater good, and most of all he was one of the great movie actors of this or any other age. [Directing Newman] was the highlight of my professional life.' Sam MendesTrade ReviewEye-popping...Astonishing naked honesty * Telegraph *Newman at his best...Twice the book one could have dared to hope for, a narrative that is astute, introspective and surprisingly graceful. * Wall Street Journal *A stunning memoir...stuns with brutal honesty...smolders with introspection * Daily Mail *It's never not psychologically fascinating - a compelling insight into how profoundly right Philip Larkin was about the power of bad parents * The Times *Paul Newman is worthy of canonisation * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisAnything Goes at Sea explores gay life aboard British ships from 1969 to 1990. It chronicles a tender, enduring love story that survived a turbulent beginning and spans 50 years.

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Book SynopsisThis memoir likely explores Paul Wilson's journey as a doctor, focusing on his experiences in emergency medicine, trauma, and orthopaedics. It details his commitment to improving patient care in peripheral hospitals and also provides insights into the challenges and rewards of a medical career, particularly in high-pressure environments.

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Book SynopsisIn 2008 two ordinary people were invited to Jordan and decided to visit Israel/Palestine as well. Their trip had anything but ordinary consequences.Knowing very little about the history and politics of Israel and Palestine, Monica and Roger found themselves face to face with the realities of the legacy of Britain's colonial rule.This book charts their journey of discovery on five visits to Israel and Palestine and tells the stories of the people they met along the way and the mission they embarked on when they returned home. It describes how they developed the Balfour Project to enlighten the British people about the impact of our colonial duplicity in the Middle East, and to ask if there is any solution to this entrenched injustice. Is there anything Britain can do now to make amends for its legacy of deceit? An effective solution has never been more urgent.Why didn't I know? Britain's Legacy in Palestine is an eye opening, moving and personal story that encourages the reader to believe that they too can find a meaningful purpose which gives hope in a world so short of hope.

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Book SynopsisJanuary 31, 2009 - The Vulcan Creedlers, a recently formed, middle-aged, rock-covers band, is backstage on the brink of its debut gig. How on earth had they got into this predicament? Why hadnât they made their midlife challenges more manageable?

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Book SynopsisWhether you dabble or are a devoted drinker, if you''ve ever worried about the negative effects of alcohol, this book is for you. From boozy benders to finding the joy of sobriety, Sober Mama tells the story of one woman''s rollercoaster ride to abstinence and how it transformed her lifeRegular hangovers, bad decisions and crippling anxiety were the norm for single mum Rachael Shephard. Every day she would relentlessly drag herself through the never-ending list of chores and a full-time job, trying to hold it all together while she was secretly falling apart. Her beloved Pinot Grigio was destroying her life one glass at a time, until one unassuming Thursday, when she finally broke free from the bottle.Now, Rachael is a sober coach and happily navigating an alcohol-free life for the first time in twenty-five years. Through honest, relatable and outrageously funny anecdotes, Rachael shares her personal journey to sobriety and offers practical guidance for

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Book SynopsisCapture the Japanese-meets-Scandi trend with in-depth practical advice on how to use colour, texture, lighting and more, all accompanied by images of gorgeous interiors and inspirational showpiece homes.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE AND THE BOARDMAN TASKER AWARD FOR MOUNTAIN LITERATUREWith great lyricism, Anna Fleming charts two parallel journeys: learning the craft of traditional rock climbing and the developing appreciation of the natural world it brings her. Through the story of her progress from terrified beginner to confident lead climber, she shows us how placing hand and foot on rock becomes a profound new way into the landscape. Anna takes us from the gritstone rocks of the Peak District and Yorkshire to the gabbro pinnacles of the Cuillin, the slate of North Wales and the high plateau of the Cairngorms. Each landscape, and each type of rock, brings its own challenges and invites us into the history of a place.Trade ReviewRefreshing . . . she writes beautifully about landscape, and her passion for these ancient formations is physical and poetic * * Observer * *Fleming has written a wonderfully intimate account of climbing, filled with the rough texture of rocks and the hard-won elation of reaching for the skies * * Guardian * *Beautifully written. I loved it -- AMY LIPTROTEchoing and honouring some of the classics of climbing literature, the book is a fine introduction to the genre * * Economist * *[Anna Fleming]'s fascination with language infuses her descriptions of the textures of various stones and the mountains they form. In this regard, Time on Rock can take its place next to Nan Shepherd's The Living Mountain . . . Fleming's book is full of awe and wonder . . . Vital * * Spectator * *Engaging . . . Refreshing . . . Anna Fleming immerses herself in the mountains rather than conquering them. Like a climber scanning the crags for the next line, I'm left wanting to read more of her work * * Times Literary Supplement * *Climbing writing is a crowded field, but thanks to its carefully chiselled prose and bright, flinty intelligence, this absolute gem of a book . . . can hold its own against the most famous names in the pantheon * * Scotsman * *A climber's joy of insight and adventure -- ALASTAIR McINTOSHIt reminds me of Nan Shepherd, only the kind of Nan Shepherd I could go for a pint with -- HELEN MORT * * author of Black Car Burning * *Much more than a climbing memoir, Anna Fleming's book is also a fascinating exploration of humanity's timeless relationship with rock . . . both fascinating and beautifully expressed, in a series of glinting, lyrical epiphanies * * Scotsman * *

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Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITINGA WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023: NATURE AND TRAVELWhen Kerri and her partner M moved to a small, remote railway cottage in the heart of Ireland they were looking for a home, somewhere to stay put. What followed was a year unlike any other.Cacophony of Bone maps the circle of that year - a journey from one place to another, field notes of a life - from one winter to the next. It is a telling of a changed life, in a changed world - and it is about all that does not change. All that which simply keeps on - living and breathing, nesting and dying - in spite of it all.This is an ode to a year, a place, and a love, that changed a life.Trade Review[A] generous, glowing book. ní Dochartaigh is on intimate terms with the natural world . . . [and] Cacophony of Bone is distinctly innovative in form. This attention to form is a considerable narrative achievement. It [. . . ] persuades the reader to look, assess and imagine afresh * * Irish Times * *Raw, visionary, lucid and mystical, Cacophony of Bone speaks of the connection between all things, and the magic that can be found in everyday life -- KATHERINE MAYThe delight of ní Dochartaigh's writing is her capacity to measure compassion against observation. Her wisdom is like water - too strong, and too elusive, to be hooked . . . This is the book's power - that it fills the needs of the person who stands before it . . . It is a book that creeps into the reader * * Caught by the River * *This is a brilliant second book from a unique and deeply gifted writer who constantly renews our sense of the natural world and the landscape of the heart -- KEVIN BARRYWhat joy, to find oneself once more in the world of Kerri Ní Dochartaigh, following her through the astonishments of her days, where each moment is deeply felt and each page is written with such nimble meticulousness. Cacophony of Bone is neat as a robin's nest, and just as wondrous -- DOIREANN Ní GHRíOFAA strange and beautiful book - a collage of glittering images, moments, feelings, sensations. A selection of shining objects gathered on windowsill for safekeeping. A careful record of a fulcrum year, with all its joys and pains laid out on the page; Kerri ní Dochartaigh is a prose poet with keen eyes and a huge heart -- CAL FLYNIn Cacophony of Bone as in her previous work, Kerri has a deeply personal voice that feels as if it comes not from her, but from the earth beneath her -- MARC HAMERI am a little in awe of Kerri ní Dochartaigh's work - the clarity and disinhibition of her storytelling; the wild freedom of her prose. Here is a brave and bold book, and one that deserves to be read, then read again -- HELEN JUKESCacophony of Bone is a book that touched me deeply. It's so vital, so brimming with life and love, and ní Dochartaigh's singular, addictive lyricism -- LUCY JONESIn poems and essays, Ní Dochartaigh writes in exquisite detail of the seasons, beginning with the "ghost-trace, moon-white" and silent winter that kicks off a new phase of life * * Los Angeles Times * *

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Book SynopsisA WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023: BIOGRAPHYThis Ragged Grace tells the story of Octavia''s journey through recovery from alcohol addiction, and the parallel story of her father''s descent into Alzheimer''s. Over the course of seven years life continues to unfold. Paths are abandoned, people fall ill, waters get choppy, seemingly impossible things are navigated without the old fixes. As Octavia moves between London, Stromboli, New York, Cornwall and Margate, each place offers something new but ultimately always delivers the same message: that wherever you go, you take yourself with you.

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Book SynopsisMy mind is full of scorpions. A cerebral itch, impossible to scratch. I know these creatures well, but they know me better. They answer to another name, this nest of scorpions, the writhing black mass that lives inside my headFor as long as Tuppence Middleton can remember, she has struggled with obsessive thoughts and compulsions. She visualises her OCD as scorpions inhabiting her mind, something to be hidden that impacts her life daily:Have I killed my cat?When was the last time that person in front of me vomited?How many people have touched this door handle since it was cleaned?Should I tap the outside of the airplane to save my loved ones from harm?Often used as a shorthand for tidiness or as the punchline of a joke, OCD is one of society's most misunderstood disorders and it's rarely spoken about with such honesty and openness. Beautifully written, moving and often darkly funny, Tuppence recounts what it feels like to share your mind with a nest of scorpions.

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Book SynopsisKapka Kassabova first set foot in a tango studio ten years ago and, from that moment, she was hooked. With the beat of tango driving her on and the music filling her head, she's danced across the world, from Auckland to Edinburgh, from Berlin to Buenos Aires, putting in hours of practice for fleeting moments of dance-floor ecstasy, suffering blisters and heart-break along the way. Here, in sparkling, spring-heeled prose, Kapka takes us inside the esoteric world of tango to tell the story of the dance, from its Afro roots to its sequined stars and back. Twelve Minutes of Love is a timeless tale of exile and longing, death and desire, love and belonging.

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Book SynopsisCaroline Lucas is an outsider, inside, fighting for parliamentary reform and for the interests of her constituents. She is a politician with a radical mission and a clear vision of how change can be achieved. From the NHS to corporate tax evasion, from climate change to immigration, Honourable Friends? tells the story of 5 years in Westminster and offers bold and practical suggestions for a fairer British political system. It is a unique book by a unique politician and activist.

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Book SynopsisWild Life in a Southern County traces the course of a spring which rises on an Iron Age hillfort and gradually broadens into a brook, flows through a nearby village and hamlet, skirts a solitary farmhouse and its orchard, before draining into water meadows and a lake where the wildfowl nest. Immersed in the detail of this ancient landscape, its people and the habitats of its wildlife, what emerges from Jefferies' dazzling prose is his sense of perpetual wonder and the deep affection he felt for his homeland, from the clatter of a milkmaid's boots to a pike lying in ambush.

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Book SynopsisTo celebrate Richard Mabey's 80th birthday, a reissue of the seminal Nature Cure, originally published in 2005 to great acclaim. At the height of his career, having recently published Flora Britannica, the author and naturalist fell in to a deep and all consuming depression. Unable to rise from his bed, his face turned to the wall, Richard Mabey found that the touchstones of his life - his love for nature and the land - could no longer offer him solace. But over time, with help from friends and a move to East Anglia, he slowly recovered, finding a new partner, and a new relationship with landscape. Nature Cure, full of nuance and energy, was a pioneering book in the genre that has since become known as New Nature Writing, and received many plaudits on publication. For this new hardback edition Richard has written a new foreword and Little Toller has commissioned a new jacket by the celebrated artist Michael Kirkman.Trade Review'Mabey's memoir on his recovery from crippling depression through a rediscovery of his love for nature is quite remarkable both for its honesty and its total lack of ego. He has much to say on Man's relationship with nature and the prose is both warm and fiercely intelligent.' The Judges, Whitbread Book Awards, 2005.

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Book SynopsisWhen Covid struck in early 2020, librarian Stu Hennigan volunteered to deliver food parcels to vulnerable people in Leeds who were self-isolating and had no other access to food during the savage days of the first lockdown; but when word got out that the council were giving away food, people on low incomes struggling to feed themselves and their families were quick to accept the offer of help and it became immediately apparent that the pandemic was not the whole story. Ghost Signs is Stu's account of the scandalous deprivation he encountered during that time, and shows up close how a decade of Austerity has ravaged our most vulnerable communities and left local authorities financially unable to cope with a crisis of this magnitude. It's also a day-to-day diary of the earliest months of the pandemic which holds up a mirror to the trauma inflicted by lockdown on the national psyche while the Prime Minister and his government partied in Downing Street in flagrant breach of their own draconian rules.Trade ReviewGhost Signs is a damning indictment of Conservative austerity and the government's contemptuous response to the pandemic. New Statesman

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Book Synopsis "I have never read anything that so fully and perfectly captured the personal experience and the personal aftermath of war" P. J. O'RourkeA young, devil-may-care Englishman reporting on the Soviet war makes a fateful commitment to a swashbuckling Afghan guerrilla commander. Not only will he go inside the capital secretly and live in the network of safe houses run by the resistance, he will travel around the city in a Soviet Army jeep, dressed as a Russian officer. Waiting in the mountain camp, from where Niazuldin's band of fighters lived and planned their hit-and-run attacks on Soviet troops, Ed Gorman discovers what it means to experience combat with men whose only interest is to be killed or martyred.After that summer in Kabul province the young freelancer became a staff reporter for The Times, covering conflicts in Northern Ireland, the Gulf, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Balkans, but Afghanistan never let him go. Death of a Translator is a searingly honest description of a mind haunted and eventually paralysed by the terror of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."Death of a Translator is a powerful and personal read. Ed Gorman discusses his experiences in an incredibly open and moving way. His story is an example to us all" - Brigadier Ed Butler CBE, DSOWith a new preface by Ed GormanTrade ReviewI have never read anything that so fully and perfectly captured the personal experience and the personal aftermath of war. This is a brave book. Ed Gorman has a lonely struggle, but, excellent reporter that he is, he shows us how the struggle is not his alone.By turns gripping, enlightening and deeply moving, Ed Gorman's story should be required reading for any editor in charge of sending journalists into harm's way. * author of AFTERSHOCK *Few autobiographies are page-turners. Ed Gorman's is. I cannot recommend this well crafted, exciting yet moving book too much. * author of TAKING COMMAND *

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Book SynopsisFathom, an experimental memoir, explores the hinterland of the narrator’s mind. The narrative of Fathom focuses on a tantalising fragment from the past. `I think I saw a lot of blood’ and other odd surfacings from memory are explored through the work of psychoanalysis. Much like a kind of detective work to begin with, the narrative unravels the depths that appear in psychotic breakdown. Identity is evoked through three personas of the self: the puppet, the puppet-master and She-who-knows. Poetic in style, though something of a detective story, the first-person narrative is richly layered — Plath, Shakespeare, Sophocles and pop songs all have their place. Highly concentrated, structured in three parts, non-linear in chronology and highly metaphoric, Fathom appeals to those with a deep interest in mental health and all types of therapy.

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Book SynopsisHas the legacy of the asylum era impacted on the thinking that underpins health policy today? Evidence gathered here from a number of people who worked in an asylum 50 years ago suggests that there is considerable inheritance from the institutional times that reinforce current mental health policy and mode of provision.

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Book SynopsisThe colorful "Punk Professor", new-wave musician, and critic/filmmaker spins a dazzling survey of women in punk, from the genre's inception in 1970s London to the current voices making waves around the globe. As an industry insider and pioneering post-punk musician, Vivien Goldman's perspective on music journalism is unusually well-rounded. In Revenge of the She-Punks, she probes four themes-identity, money, love, and protest-to explore what makes punk such a liberating art form for women. With her visceral style, Goldman blends interviews, history, and her personal experience as one of Britain's first female music writers in a book that reads like a vivid documentary of a genre defined by dismantling boundaries. A discussion of the Patti Smith song "Free Money," for example, opens with Goldman on a shopping spree with Smith. Tamar-Kali, whose name pays homage to a Hindu goddess, describes the influence of her Gullah ancestors on her music, while the late Poly Styrene's daughter reflects on why her Somali-Scots-Irish mother wrote the 1978 punk anthem "Identity," with the refrain "Identity is the crisis you can't see." Other strands feature artists from farther afield (including in Colombia and Indonesia) and genre-busting revolutionaries such as Grace Jones, who wasn't exclusively punk but clearly influenced the movement while absorbing its liberating audacity. From punk's Euro origins to its international reach, this is an exhilarating world tour.

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Book SynopsisFifty Forgotten Books is a very special sort of book about books, by a great bookman and for book-people of all ages and levels of experience. Not quite literary criticism, not quite an autobiography, it is at once a guided tour through the dusty backrooms of long vanished used bookstores, a love letter to bookshops and bookselling, and a browser's dream wish list of often overlooked and unloved novels, short story collections, poetry collections and works of nonfiction. In these pages, R. B. Russell, publisher of Tartarus Press, doesn't only discuss the books of his life, but explains what they have meant to him over time, charting his progress as a writer and publisher for over thirty years . . . and a bibliophile for many more. Here is living proof of how literature, books, and book collecting can be an intrinsic part of one's personal, professional and imaginative life, and as not only a solitary act, but a social one, resulting in treasured friendships, experiences, and loves one might never, otherwise, have enjoyed. Filled with a lively nostalgia for the era when finding strange new books meant pounding the pavement and not just filling in search engines, Fifty Forgotten Books is for anyone who wishes they could still browse the dusty bookshelves of their youth, and who can't wait to get back out into the world in quest of the next text liable to change their life.Trade Review‘A groovy and delicious and intimate jigsaw of memories and passions and books, and schisms and oddities and books – Ray Russell is a bibliomaniac that it is a delight to spend time with. Falling in love with books voraciously, whilst growing up ferociously, has never been so beautifully described – a memoir that is as accurate and enthralling as it is dreamlike – just like the books about which he writes with such love!’ David Tibet ---- ‘R. B. Russell’s beautifully told part-memoir gives us the story of a life lived alongside books, and the joyous way in which those dusty first editions often reverberate throughout our lives.’ Ed Parnell ---- ‘A compelling celebration of reading, writing, publishing and the unexpected treasures to be found in second hand bookshops. Ray Russell writes so eloquently about his deep love of books as things in themselves but also his joy of discovering the new, the strange – those books that act as life’s waymarkers.’ Andrew Michael Hurley ---- ‘This is a book to send you scurrying to the dusty mote-filled light of the secondhand book shop, to the chilliness of the jumble sale, to late nights at the blue screen of the laptop, seeking out the books you don’t know and can’t wait to know, and to renew old acquaintances. A memoir and commonplace book as delicate, suggestive and enchanting as the books themselves.’ Stuart Maconie ---- ‘Absolutely wonderful. A unique and enchanting memoir like no other. A book lover’s paean to the volumes that made him, which also opens a window on his soul. Charming, vivid and singularly evocative.’ Jeremy Dyson ---- ‘Decadents, bohemians, cult musicians, the odd (very odd) spy, shady publishers, backstreet booksellers, writers of the weird and wayward, they’re all here. R. B. Russell’s memoir gives us literature on the edge, in all its wonderful strangeness.’ Mark Valentine ---- ‘Whether Russell is remembering his discovery of Arthur Machen, chronicling his sometimes comic negotiations with the crafty bookdealer George Locke, or reflecting on his own personal library of tatty paperbacks, signed firsts and rare association copies, he makes clear that a bookish life can be an enviably rewarding one, replete with the quiet satisfactions of the study, the rowdy pleasures of the literary conference, and warm friendships with the learned, the widely read and, not least, the winningly eccentric.’ Michael Dirda

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Book SynopsisFootball attracts people from all walks of life - but very few can match the story of Paul Montgomery, the flamboyant Geordie who went from running a floating nightclub to spotting some of the greatest British footballing talent of the last 40 years.

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Book SynopsisIn It’s Not a Proper Job, TV legend Chris Tarrant regales the reader with hilarious and heart-warming stories from his stellar 50-year career in television and radio. With trademark wit and self-mockery, Chris not only recalls his behind-the-scenes capers with fellow celebrities, but also shows us how, as a man of the people, he has relished rubbing shoulders with ordinary folk on his way to becoming one of the nation’s favourite TV faces. A former teacher and ATV newsreader, Chris soon established himself at the forefront of trailblazing telly as the host of Tiswas, and here recounts this 1970s, anarchic, flan-flinging children’s show that spearheaded a fresh format and a new era for Saturday morning TV packed with pranks, full of fun, and which remains a benchmark to this day. For later audiences, Chris will be more familiar as the face of yet another groundbreaking show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? which he presented for sixteen gripping years, and which grew into a global phenomenon exported to over one hundred countries. Here Chris remembers the joyous highs of contestants’ life-changing winnings, the frustrating lows of loss, the cringing embarrassment of ignorance, and the infamous cheating of the ‘Coughing Major’. Spanning five decades, Chris’s television credits are the envy of aspirational TV stars, but reading his laugh-out-loud anecdotes – akin to having a chat with the man himself over a pint, or listening to one of his entertaining, after-dinner speeches – reveals a man still amused by life, by the people he meets, and by his own humble assertion that none of his glittering career can, in any way, be called ‘a proper job’.

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Book Synopsis14 Nights is a timely and essential conversation about how we understand homelessness in the UK. Compiled by The Archer Project – a charity based in Sheffield who have been providing support for the homeless community for over 30 years – the book is based on a blog documenting the CEO’s two-week sleepout to raise awareness of the challenges surrounding rough sleeping. It also features reflections shared by those with lived experience of homelessness, offering a vital insight to help us translate statistics into the stories of individuals with desires and difficulties not so very far from our own. Every copy of this book will support the charity’s essential work and also aims to change our perception of homelessness, helping those most in need to rebuild their lives.

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Book SynopsisThe vivid and authoritative story of the Western and Sherpa adventurers who invented and refined one of the least likely industries on earth: guided climbing on Mount Everest.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*''Bryony Gordon is a terrific, compassionate writer'' Elizabeth Day''A deeply reassuring essential read'' Sunday Independent''Visceral and honest'' Telegraph''Bryony writes with such entertaining and brazen candour about mental illness...she really helps people tackle their own stuff. Her writing has helped me before and this will be another hit'' Matt Haig''A startlingly candid book'' Daily Mail''Gordon injects lightness into the darkness as she recounts her relapse into OCD and subsequent steps to recovery'' Red MagazineTHE HOTLY ANTICIPATED FOLLOW-UP TO SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*, MAD GIRL''We shouldn''t forget that the most common eating disorder in the UK and US is actually binge eating disorder.''Ten years on from first writing about her own experiences of mental illness, Bryony Gordon still receives messages about the effect it has on people. Now perimenopausal and well into the next stage of her life, parenting an almost-adolescent, just what has that help - and that connection with other unwell people - taught Bryony about herself, and the society we live in? What has she learned, and why have her views on mental health changed so radically? After coming out the other side of the biggest trauma of our living memory - a global pandemic - existing in a state of perma-crisis has now become our new normal.From burnout and binge eating, to living with fluctuating hormones and the endless battle to stay sober, Bryony begins to question whether she got mental illness wrong in the first place. Is it simply a chemical imbalance, or rather a normal response from your brain telling you that something isn''t right? Mad Woman explores the most difficult of all the lessons she''s learned over the last decade - that our notion of what makes a happy life is the very thing that''s making us so sad.Bestselling author Bryony Gordon is unafraid to write with her trademark blend of compassion, honesty and humour about her personal challenges and demons, which means her books and journalism have had profound impact on readers. She founded the mental health charity, Mental Health Mates, which has become a vast online community.*Bryony Gordon''s Mad Woman was a Sunday Times bestseller on 18th Feb 2024.*Bryony Gordon''s Mad Girl was a number one Sunday Times bestseller on 12th June 2016.

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Book SynopsisIn January 2015 Dick and Angel Strawbridge embarked on the journey of a lifetime when they swapped their cosy two-bedroom flat in East London for a derelict château with 12 acres of land in the Loire valley.Where Sunday Times bestseller A Year At The Château told the entertaining and heartwarming beginning of the family's French adventure, as they found their forever home and began to restore and renovate the dilapidated castle, Living The Château Dream is about the years of hard graft that followed. Dick and Angel leapt into action transforming Château-de-la-Motte Husson into both a thriving family home and a sustainable business, and began making their dream of rural life in a fairytale castle a reality.From throwing open the shutters to new suites to exploring the walled garden, launching their wedding business and hosting guests for food lover weekends, no stone was left unturned. From the day-to-day tasks like installing a lift to the beginnings of lifelong traditions and memories such as investigating the seasonal delights of the surroundings and having a family sleepover on the moat, this much-anticipated follow-up includes many firsts for the Strawbridge family. As Dick and Angel recount stories of the renovations that took place over the next four years at the château, we start to understand the true extent of the work and skill that it has taken to make this incredible house into a much-loved home.With stories of remarkable discoveries and unexpected challenges, amazing transformations and once-in-a-lifetime celebrations, this book is sure to delight, entertain and inspire fans in equal measure.

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Book SynopsisThe astonishing true story of Heinrich Himmler's personal physical therapist who used his influence over the S.S. commander to save the lives of thousands. Felix Kersten, an exceptional masseur, was the only person able to relieve Himmler's crippling and chronic abdominal pain. Although he was resolutely anti-Nazi, he continued to work for Himmler throughout the war, trading his services for that of prisoners' lives.François Kersaudy's meticulously researched Kersten's Lists, explores how by the end of the war, Felix Kersten had helped to obtain the liberation of some 100,000 people, including 60,000 Jews. It is a vital and too little known chapter of the Second World War and one worthy of greater recognition.Trade ReviewKersaudy shows the hidden Himmler, temperamental but inflexible, obstinate yet influenced by astrology, rational and irrational: a living contradiction. And Kersten used all his skills ... for good and for humanity * Le Point *

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Book Synopsis From his early rise to fame to battles with his health, this revelatory memoir by legendary guitarist Peter Frampton celebrates the life of a rock icon.Do You Feel Like I Do? is the incredible story of Peter Frampton's positively resilient life and career told in his own words for the first time. His monu-mental album Frampton Comes Alive! spawned three top-twenty singles and sold eight million copies the year it was released (more than seventeen million to date), and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in January 2020.Frampton was on a path to stardom from an early age, first as the lead singer and guitarist of the Herd and then as cofounder—along with Steve Marriott—of one of the first supergroups, Humble Pie. Frampton was part of a tight-knit collective of British '60s musicians with close ties to the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and the Who. This led to Frampton playing on George Harrison's solo debut, All Things Must Pass, as well as to Ringo Starr and Billy Preston appearing on Frampton's own solo debut. By age twenty-two, Frampton was touring incessantly and finding new sounds with the talk box, which would become his signature guitar effect.Frampton remembers his enduring friendship with David Bowie. Growing up as schoolmates, crossing paths throughout their careers, and playing together on the Glass Spider Tour, the two developed an unshakable bond. Frampton also shares fascinating stories of his collaborative work with Harry Nilsson, Stevie Wonder, B. B. King, and members of Pearl Jam. He reveals both the blessing and curse of Frampton Comes Alive!, opening up about becoming the cover boy he never wanted to be, his overcoming sub-stance abuse, and how he has continued to play and pour his heart into his music despite an inflammatory muscle disease and his retirement from the road.Peppered throughout his narrative is the story of his favorite guitar, the Phenix, which he thought he'd lost in a fiery plane crash in 1980. But in 2011, it mysteriously showed up again—saved from the wreckage. Frampton tells of that unlikely reunion here in full for the first time, and why the miraculous reappearance is emblematic of his life and career as a quintessential artist.

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Book Synopsis"Original, important, moving, witty and exquisitely-written. WHAT a feat." - BERNARDINE EVARISTO"Incredible... beautiful and funny and humane." - EMILIE PINE"Pristine poetry and prose." KATHERINE MAY, AUTHOR OF WINTERING"Babies who are this small, he says, have a good chance of survival. Small is not good for babies. It is not whimsical or cute or the cause of admiration. It is the first time it occurs to us that they might not survive. Babies die from smallness."Claire Lynch knew that having children with her wife would be complicated but she could never have anticipated the extent to which her life would be redrawn by the process.This dazzling debut begins with the smallest of life's substances, the microscopic cells subdividing in a petri dish in a fertility treatment centre. She moves through her story in incremental yet ever growing steps, from the fingernail-sized pregnancy test result screen which bears two affirmative lines to the premature arrival of her children who have to wear scale-model oxygen masks in their life-saving incubators. Devastatingly poignant and profoundly observant - and funny against the odds - Claire considers whether it is our smallness that makes our lives so big.

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Book SynopsisRORY CELLAN-JONES was the BBC's principal technology correspondent until 2021. He now writes an influential Substack column on medical innovation, tech and his beloved Romanian rescue dog, Sophie. Through this and his Twitter following @ruskin147 he spreads awareness of technological developments in the fields of medicine, health care and more specifically Parkinson's. Together with Jeremy Paxman and several others he has begun a new podcast on Parkinson's called Movers and Shakers. He also shares the progress of #SophiefromRomania on @ruskin147.

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Book SynopsisAn incredible tale of one man's adversity and defiance, for readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz.Horace Greasley escaped over 200 times from a notorious German prison camp to see the girl he loved. This is his incredible true story.A Sunday Times Bestseller - over 60,000 copies sold.Even in the most horrifying places on earth, hope still lingers in the darkness, waiting for the opportunity to take flight.When war was declared Horace Greasley was just twenty-years old. After seven weeks' training with the 2/5th Battalion, the Royal Leicestershire Regiment, Horace found himself facing the might of the German Army in a muddy field south of Cherbourg, in northern France, with just thirty rounds in his ammunition pouch.Horace's war didn't last long. . . On 25 May 1940 he was taken prisoner and so began the harrowing journey to a prisoner-of-war camp in Poland. Those who survived the gruelling ten-week march to the camp were left broken and exhausted, all chance of escape seemingly extinguished.But when Horace met Rosa, the daughter of one of his captors, his story changed; fate, it seemed, had thrown him a lifeline. Horace risked everything in order to steal out of the camp to see his love, bringing back supplies for his fellow prisoners. In doing so he offered hope to his comrades, and defiance to one of the most brutal regimes in history.

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Book SynopsisIn 1951 the Australian writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston left grey, post-war London for Greece. Settling first on the tiny island of Kalymnos, then Hydra, their plan was to live simply and focus on their writing The result is Charmian Clift's best known and most loved books, Mermaid Singing and Peel Me a Lotus. Peel Me a Lotus, the companion volume to Mermaid Singing relates their move to Hydra where they bought a house and grappled with the chaos of domestic life whilst becoming the centre of an informal bohemian community of artists and writers. That group included Leonard Cohen, who became their lodger, and his girlfriend Marianne Ihlen. Clift paints an evocative picture of the characters and sun-drenched rhythms of traditional life, long before backpackers and mass tourism descended.Trade Review'The companion to 'Mermaid Singing' and a beautifully descriptive, sun soaked memoir of life in Hydra in the 1950's. An engrossing and often often moving read with larger than life characters, wonderfully done'. NetGalley. 'These are blissful reissues that will bring Grecian heat and light to your life, and much more besides' Editor's Travel Choice. The Bookseller. 'A really beautiful writer who just puts you right there' Polly Samson. 'Her bold beautiful writing endures' Daily Mail.'What a delight that she should have been discovered again' The Times. 'They were an inspiration' Leonard Cohen on Charmian Clift and George Johnston. 'Clift's immersive 1950's memoirs capture the magic, and the menace of Greek island life' Daily Telegraph

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Book SynopsisAn incredibly useful take on facing grief as a young person' CARIAD LLOYD''Brilliantly, brilliantly written Packed with clarity, curiosity and courage'' FELIX WHITEIt turned on so many lights for me What a profoundly helpful book' KATHRYN MANNIXGrief does something particular when it hits you young. This book is a moving exploration of that transformative pain, from the founder of The Grief Network.Rachel Wilson's mother died when Rachel was in her twenties. It felt like the definitive end of childhood, a loss that rewired her perspective on life, death, relationships and who she was as a person.In this book, Rachel brings together other stories of bereavement with her own, encountering people who have lost parents, siblings, partners and friends at a young age. Losing Young draws on psychological research, interviews with titans like Julia Samuel and explorations of grief in history: what happens in a time of war or pandemic, when the many grieve or struggle to together? How do di

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