Social and cultural history Books

Book SynopsisAs heard on Radio 4 Book of the Week.In the medieval Castilian village of Guzmán (population: 80), villagers have gathered for centuries in the 'telling room' to share stories and drink the local wine. It was here, in the summer of 2000, that Michael Paterniti found himself listening to a compelling tale about a cheese made from an ancient family recipe that was reputed to be among the finest in the world. Until, Ambrosio said, things had gone horribly wrong. Hooked on the story, Paterniti relocated his young family to the tiny hilltop village to find out more. But like many Spanish villages, Guzmán was rife with gossip and old feuds, secret alliances and plotted vengeance and before long Paterniti was sucked into the heart of an unfolding mystery. When he learned that the cheesemaker had apparently plotted to murder his closest friend, the village began to spill its long-held secrets, and Paterniti found himself implicated in ways he never expected . . .Trade ReviewThe Telling Room is a gorgeous and impassioned monument to the art and mystery of storytelling. It is rich, funny, humane, devastating, and beautiful. It made me want to applaud, it made me want to cry, it made me want to move to Spain. Michael Paterniti is a genius -- ELIZABETH GILBERT, author of EAT, PRAY, LOVEMichael Paterniti is one of the best living practitioners of the art of literary journalism, able to fully elucidate and humanize the everyday and the epic. In his hands, every subject, every moment of personal or global upheaval, is treated with the same curiosity, respect, empathy, and clear-eyed wisdom -- DAVE EGGERSSun-baked highland plateaus, argumentative village rustics and beguiling old ways . . . There's no resisting the infectious glee * * New York Times * *A masterly, joyous piece of non-fiction storytelling . . . a strangely gripping and moving tale about life, love, friendship, family, place - and cheese * * Financial Times * *The list of writers I would read even if they were to write about a piece of cheese is short, but it includes Michael Paterniti. He has proved here that if you love something enough, and pay a passionate-enough attention to it, the whole world can become present in it. That's true of both the cheese and the book -- JOHN JEREMIAH SULLIVAN, author of PULPHEADFor my money, Paterniti is one of the most expansive and joyful writers around - big-hearted and humane and funny. This book is a wild and amazing ride -- GEORGE SAUNDERS, author of TENTH OF DECEMBERElegant, strange, funny, and insightful, The Telling Room is a marvelous tale and a joyful read, a trip into a world peopled by some of the most remarkable characters - and, yes, cheese - in memory -- SUSAN ORLEAN, author of THE ORCHARD THIEFAn amazing achievement. The Telling Room is an inspired, masterly epic that expands and refigures the parameters of the storyteller's art -- WELLS TOWER, author of EVERYTHING RAVAGED, EVERYTHING BURNED'[The] best book of narrative nonfiction I've read in ages -- MICHAEL POLLANThe Telling Room captures the true essence of happiness - but what's more, it captures the fact that food is always central, always present in our memories, when we search for it. For those who doubt that food is our most vital social network, this book demonstrates it unequivocally -- FERRAN ADRIÀGripping * * Sunday Telegraph * *Few writers can write about the taste of food with Paterniti's vibrancy and precision... [He] is a master of finding and telling great stories (the finding, for most writers, often being as difficult as the telling) that appear to be about something small, such as cheese, but are actually about something far larger-in this case, the whole of human existence... As much as The Telling Room is about a Spaniard's quest to create a cheese that embodies all the love and pain and joy he's ever known, it's also the story of a writer's quest to channel that obsession into the perfect story * * Esquire * *This is a story not only of physical but emotional and spiritual hunger, the yearning to make something from love to be shared - whether food or words - and passed on to future generations . . . It's a book that is, like the cheese Paterniti searches for, 'made with love' - and one that readers will in turn love * * Metro * *Throughout this book, lovingly-prepared food and drink and storytelling are inextricably linked as essential foundation stones of a community and, ultimately, society itself . . . Paterniti has arrived at truths that are universal * * Herald * *A wonderful, enthusiastic and idiosyncratic tale * * Big Issue * *Rich and shaggy, full of Castilian-size detours, it is a travelogue, food adventure, and personal memoir rolled into one hugely likable book... In [The] Telling Room, Paterniti proves that the hardest quarry as a journalist is not the extraordinary, but the everyday * * Boston Globe * *Unforgettable . . . a must-read for all who think of Spain as magical, who consider cheese as the ultimate gift of love, who love stories of betrayal, despair, revenge and redemption * * Wall Street Journal * *If you love food and love reading about food, you can't do better than this beautiful, passionate book. I finished it and wanted to fly immediately to Spain and eat everything in sight -- MARCUS SAMUELSSON, author of YES, CHEFIt's not often that a writer as restlessly imaginative as Michael Paterniti delves into the world of food. But with The Telling Room, Paterniti has crafted a book that's as delicious as it is gripping. We food lovers are lucky to count him as one of our own -- ADAM RAPOPORT, editor in chief, BON APPÉTITPaterniti dives deeply into Spain's political history, the pleasures of craft, and the motives and methods of storytelling itself * * Harper's * *Not just a book about Spain and its food, but an investigation into the art of narrative itself * * Condé Nast Traveller * *As this witty narrative proves, there's far more to a slice of cheese than first meets the tastebuds * * Easyjet Traveller * *A thoroughly enticing read * * Bath Life * *

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Book SynopsisBritain in the nineteenth century saw a series of technological and social changes which continue to influence and direct us today. Its reactants were human genius, money and influence, its crucibles the streets and institutions, its catalyst time, its control the market.In this rich and fascinating book, James Hamilton investigates the vibrant exchange between culture and business in nineteenth-century Britain, which became a centre for world commerce following the industrial revolution. He explores how art was made and paid for, the turns of fashion, and the new demands of a growing middle-class, prominent among whom were the artists themselves. While leading figures such as Turner, Constable, Landseer, Coleridge, Wordsworth and Dickens are players here, so too are the patrons, financiers, collectors and industrialists; lawyers, publishers, entrepreneurs and journalists; artists' suppliers, engravers, dealers and curators; hostesses, shopkeepers and brothel keepers; quacks, charlatans and auctioneers. Hamilton brings them all vividly to life in this kaleidoscopic portrait of the business of culture in nineteenth-century Britain, and provides thrilling and original insights into the working lives of some of our most celebrated artists.Trade ReviewMoney and art are so tightly intertwined that we forget there was a time when the embrace was not quite so fierce... This is a persuasive and discursive account of how we got this way. * Sunday Times, Art Book of the Year *A beautifully written cultural history and a compendium of scurrilously funny stories -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Observer, Books of the Year *One of the best works of art history for years - a riveting account of how Constable, Turner and contemporaries made (or failed to make) their money. -- Philip Hensher * Spectator, Books of the Year *Groundbreaking... a scholarly but humane, and richly enjoyable, survey of the symbiotic relationship between art and money in 19th-century Britain -- David Kynaston * Observer, Books of the Year *A scholarly but also enjoyably anecdote-studded guide to the 19th-century London art world. The accounts of the eccentricity and rapacity of artists and collectors alike make one mutter "plus ça change". -- Martin Gayford * Spectator, Books of the Year *A brilliantly engaging account of the most interesting of all subjects: how artists make their money, in this case in 19th-century England. -- Philip Hensher * Guardian, Books of the Year *Wonderful... If you were setting out as an artist in 19th-century London, this is the book you would want as your vade mecum... Full of interesting ideas and odd aperçus... Entirely joyous -- Lynn Barber * Sunday Times *To read this book is as pleasurable as a long lunch with a first-rate raconteur... Hamilton writes beautifully... Seldom have I learnt so much from a single book while simultaneously being so excellently entertained. -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * The Times *Hamilton's fascinating and richly researched book surveys the art world from a number of different angles... It is lucid, insightful and simply gripping... This is a brilliant account of learning, or failing, to survive in a market of extraordinary brutality. -- Philip Hensher * Spectator *A great sweep of a book, gathering numerous colourful studies of painters, engravers and sculptors, as well as patrons, dealers and members of the spectating public. -- Seamus Perry * Literary Review *Entertaining and original ... As a whole, like a plum pudding, this book is both nourishing and full of succulent bits and pieces. -- Martin Gayford * Daily Telegraph *A gripping story not of artistic movements but of practicalities: who bought the art, who copied it, and how much difference new paint colours made... Hamilton is terrific on the story of how pigment production moved into the new scientific age -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *Hamilton is a lucid and frequently droll guide to this symbiotic world. His book is not about paintings but about the trades such as curating, pigment-making and publishing that grew up around them. There was plenty of colour off the canvas, too. * Mail on Sunday *Any number of novelists and historians could find inspiration in this vivid account of how the audience for art in Britain broadened during the nineteenth century... This is grand entertainment as well as serious history. -- Evelyn Toynton * Prospect *Fascinating, compelling and timely. * Art Quarterly *

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Book SynopsisDuring the 1970s and early 80s, dozens - perhaps hundreds - of Japanese civilians were kidnapped by North Korean commandos and forced to live in 'Invitation Only Zones', high-security detention-centres masked as exclusive areas, on the outskirts of Pyongyang.The objective? To brainwash the abductees with the regime's ideology, and train them to spy on the state's behalf. But the project faltered; when indoctrination failed, the captives were forced to teach North Korean operatives how to pass as Japanese, to help them infiltrate hostile neighbouring nations.For years, the Japanese and North Korean authorities brushed off these disappearances, but in 2002 Kim Jong Il admitted to kidnapping thirteen citizens, returning five of them - the remaining eight were declared dead. In The Invitation Only Zone, Boynton, an investigative journalist, speaks with the abductees, nationalists and diplomats, and crab fishermen, to try and untangle both the kidnappings and the intensely complicated relations between North Korea and Japan. The result is a fierce and fascinating exploration of North Korea's mysterious machinations, and the vexed politics of Northeast Asia.Trade ReviewThe book reads like a modern day episode of 'The Twilight Zone, except it's completely true. * Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down *Like Alice in Wonderland, the stories of the abductees reveal a society where logic has been turned upside down. Boynton's skillful reporting brings vividly to life a world that is enshrouded in mystery and paranoia. -- Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming TowerThe Invitation-Only Zone is a rare feat of investigative reporting. Robert Boynton's relentless pursuit of the chilling story of Japanese citizens abducted to the outskirts of Pyongyang, brings us well inside the heavily-policed realm of Kim Il-Song and his son, Kim Jong-Il. * Gay Talese *Engaging reading, surreal in some of the Orwellian detail. * Kirkus Review *The Invitation-Only Zone is a compelling examination of one of the most shocking chapters in North Korea's contemporary history. Impressively researched and documented, it is a book which must be read by anyone seeking insight into the behavior of the Pyongyang regime and why it is regarded with such fear and loathing by its neighbors, especially Japan. * Stephen Bosworth, ambassador to South Korea and Special Representative for North Korean Policy *A fascinating and compelling account of the bizarre events that changed the course of recent Japanese history. Robert Boynton has probed beneath the media sensationalism that has so far surrounded the abductions, and revealed an extraordinary story with roots lying deep in the troubled history of Korea and Japan. * Prof. Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Exodus to North Korea: Shadows from Japan's Cold War *With poignant and lucid prose, Robert Boynton dignifies the lives of the victims of North Korea's state-sponsored abductions of Japanese citizens during the 1970s and 80s. Confronting complications and contradictions on all sides, it reveals a web of powerful forces and gives much needed dimensionality to a story fit for Hollywood. * Prof. Alexis Dudden, Japan's Colonization of Korea *In assessing the fallout, both political and personal, Boynton is at his most acute. * The Independent *

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Book SynopsisSkilfully uses this notorious episode to illuminate the nature and extent of piracy in the period. The pirate attack on the British brig Morning Star, en route from Ceylon to London, near Ascension Island in 1828 was one of the most shocking episodes of piracy in the nineteenth century. Although the captain and many members of the crew were murdered by the pirates led by the notorious Benito de Soto, some survived, escaped and sailed the ship back to Britain. This book, based on extensive original research in Britain, Spain and Brazil, retells the story of the Morning Star, provides much new detail and corrects errors present in the many contemporary accounts of the attack. It sets the attack in the wider context of piracy in the period, and discusses many issues which the episode highlights: how pirates' careers began and developed; how they were pursued and tried, often with difficulty; what became of their treasure; how stories of the attack and of the survivors were sensationalised; how the women passengers on the ship endured their ordeal at the hands of the pirates and then, back in Britain, had to endure potential loss of their reputations.Trade ReviewAn authoritative and interesting book. * NAVAL REVIEW *As one of very few studies to question the conventional understanding of Atlantic world piracy as having been all but eradicated by the early decade of the eighteenth century, this book is important and worthy of our attention. * THE NORTHERN MARINER/LE MARIN DU NORD *Sarah Craze's study is well researched, and the footnotes are comprehensive and expansive.[...] the narrative is very readable and I would highly recommend it. * FACHRS *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgements 1.Captain Johnson sparks a media storm 2.The day pirates attacked the Morning Star 3.A pirate bargain - women and sexual violence at sea 4.Pirates of the 1820s 5.On the Defensor de Pedro 6.Cashing in 7.The pirates on trial 8.The pirates who came next Epilogue Select Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe phenomenal success of Tolkien and JK Rowling have restored magical folk to the adult world. The reader will discover that Hobbits hail from Tolkien's aunt's manor farm Bag-End and Harry Potter's Master Dobbs is part of ancient folklore. Fairies are often nothing like the ones conjured up by writers and Hollywood. Some are worse than soccer hooligans. They are irascible, blood-sucking, bed-hopping. A tidal-wave of new fairy sightings has been uncovered by the digitisation of British and Irish local newspapers and other local ephemera, and by the Fairy Census conducted by the authors.Trade Review'Enchanting.' Mail on Sunday; 'Engaging and authoritative... British fairies, it turns out, are classic eccentrics.' Sunday Telegraph; 'Detail on local mythology... sparkling.' Literary Review; 'A big insight into the lives of little people... provocative.'; Glasgow Herald; 'A gazetteer of myths, legends, and sightings.' IndependentTable of ContentsAcknowledgements & Editors' Note 6 We Need to Talk about Fairies 7 Fairy Tribes Biographies English Fairies 1 Fairy Queens and Pharisees 2 Pucks and Lights 3 Pixies and Pixy Rocks 4 Fairy Magic and the Cottingley Photographs 5 Fairy Barrows and Cunning Folk 6 Fairy Holes and Fairy Butter Celtic and Norse Fairies 7 The Sidhe and Fairy Forts 8 The Seelie and Unseelie Courts 9 Trows and Trowie Wives Orkney and Shetland by Laura Coulson 10 The Fair Folk and Enchanters Wales by Richard Suggett 11 Pouques and the Faiteaux 12 George Waldron and the Good People 13 Piskies and Knockers Travelling Fairies 14 Puritans and Pukwudgies 15 Fairy Bread and Fairy Squalls 16 Banshees and Changelings Notes

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Book SynopsisIn addition to being the most bitter industrial dispute the coalminers' strike of 1984/5 was the longest national strike in British history. For a year over 100,000 members of the National Union of Mineworkers, their families and supporters, in hundreds of communities, battled to prevent the decimation of the coal industry on which their livelihoods and communities depended. Margaret Thatcher's government aimed to smash the most militant section of the British working class. She wanted to usher in a new era of greater management control at work and pave the way for a radical refashioning of society in favour of neo-liberal objectives that three decades later have crippled the world economy. Victory required draconian restrictions on picketing and the development of a militarised national police force that made widespread arrests as part of its criminalisation policy. The attacks on the miners also involved the use of the courts and anti-trade union laws, restrictions on welfare benefits, the secret financing by industrialists of working miners and the involvement of the security services. All of which was supported by a compliant mass media but resisted by the collective courage of miners and mining communities in which the role of Women against Pit Closures in combating poverty and starvation was heroic. Thus inspired by the struggle for jobs and communities an unparalleled movement of support groups right across Britain and in other parts of the world was born and helped bring about a situation where the miners long struggle came close on occasions to winning. At the heart of the conflict was the Yorkshire region, where even at the end in March 1985, 83 per cent of 56,000 miners were still out on strike. The official Yorkshire National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) area photographer in 1984-85 was the late Martin Jenkinson and this book of his photographs - some never previously seen before - serves as a unique social document on the dispute that changed the face of Britain.

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Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2021 'Terrific... Britain's urban landscape is just as freighted with myth and mystery as its castles and ancient monuments and [Rees] proves it by unearthing a treasure trove of riveting stories.' - Sunday Times, Best Books of the Year, 2020 ----- There is a Britain that exists outside of the official histories and guidebooks - places that lie on the margins, left behind. A Britain in the cracks of the urban facade where unexpected life can flourish. Welcome to UNOFFICIAL BRITAIN. This is a land of industrial estates, factories and electricity pylons, of motorways and ring roads, of hospitals and housing estates, of roundabouts and flyovers. Places where modern life speeds past but where people and stories nevertheless collect. Places where human dramas play out: stories of love, violence, fear, boredom and artistic expression. Places of ghost sightings, first kisses, experiments with drugs, refuges for the homeless, hangouts for the outcasts. Struck by the power of these stories and experiences, Gareth E. Rees set out to explore these spaces and the essential part they have played in the history and geography of our isles. Though mundane and neglected, they can be as powerfully influential in our lives, and imaginations, as any picture postcard tourist destination. 'Unexpected and fascinating' - Melissa Harrison, author of The Stubborn Light of Things 'The mythical and the municipal collide in a weirdly compelling tour of Britain's built environment.' - Financial TimesTrade Review"The mythical and the municipal collide in a weirdly compelling tour of Britain's built environment" - The Financial Times"Rees finds soul in these soulless locations, charting stories and encounters as rich as those found among rolling hills and chocolate box villages. A delight." - The New European"Terrific... Britain's urban landscape is just as freighted with myth and mystery as its castles and ancient monuments and [Rees] proves it by unearthing a treasure trove of riveting stories." - Sunday Times, Best Books of the Year, 2020"Should be required reading in every motorway service station coffee shop up and down this land" - The Psychogeographic Review"A wonderful ramble through the Brexit Britain of today - warts and all." - Elsewhere: A Journal of Place"Essential reading if you are interested in the urban wyrd and how folklore is mutating and developing in modern times." - Folk Horror Revival"Unofficial Britain was my book of 2020" - Paul Cheney, Half Man Half Book"Effortlessly combining urban folklore and personal memoir, history and psychogeography, road-trip narrative and gonzo journalism." - Ends of the World"Unexpected and fascinating" - Melissa Harrison, author of The Stubborn Light of Things"A fascinating and sometimes unnerving book" - Shiny New Books"Dry and often very funny" - Bookmunch"[...] harnesses the personal and philosophical, offering thoughts that are penetrating yet always entertaining [...] A fresh take on vistas some may too readily dismiss." - Never Imitate"You should read this book. It will make you stay up too late, laugh out loud, and then freak yourself out looking out of the window at the haunted-looking binbag blowing past Carpet Right in the dead of night." - Michael Smith, author of Unreal City"An appreciation of quotidian, overlooked and sometimes grotty landscapes; part memoir, part 'hauntology', and a stiff dose of nearness and weirdness to counter the tweeness that afflicts some topographical writing." - Will Wiles, author of Care of Wooden Floors

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Book Synopsis___________ A Waterstones Paperback of the Year 2022 A New Statesman Book of the Year 2022 ‘Fascinating… You’ll learn more about the psychological workings of Nazism by reading this superbly researched chronicle… than you will by reading a shelf of wider-canvas volumes on the rise of Nazism.’Daily Mail ‘An utterly absorbing insight into the full spectrum of responses from ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.’The Times ‘Boyd is an outstanding micro-historian.’iNews ___________ Hidden deep in the Bavarian mountains lies the picturesque village of Oberstdorf – a place where for hundreds of years people lived simple lives while history was made elsewhere. Yet even this remote idyll could not escape the brutal iron grip of the Nazi regime. From the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Travellers in the Third Reich comes A Village in the Third Reich: an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Germany under Hitler, shining a light on the lives of ordinary people. Drawing on personal archives, letters, interviews and memoirs, it lays bare their brutality and love; courage and weakness; action, apathy and grief; hope, pain, joy and despair. Within its pages we encounter people from all walks of life – foresters, priests, farmers and nuns; innkeepers, Nazi officials, veterans and party members; village councillors, mountaineers, socialists, slave labourers, schoolchildren, tourists and aristocrats. We meet the Jews who survived – and those who didn’t; the Nazi mayor who tried to shield those persecuted by the regime; and a blind boy whose life was judged ‘not worth living’. This is a tale of conflicting loyalties and desires, of shattered dreams – but one in which, ultimately, human resilience triumphs. These are the stories of ordinary lives at the crossroads of history. ___ ‘Exceptional... Boyd's book reminds us that even the most brutal regimes cannot extinguish all semblance of human feeling'Mail on Sunday ‘Masterly… [an] important and gripping book… [Boyd is] a leading historian of human responses in political extremis.’The Oldie ‘Gripping… vividly depicted… [a] humane and richly detailed book’ Spectator ‘Vivid, moving stories leave us asking "What would I have done?"’ Professor David Reynolds, author of Island Stories “An absorbing, thoroughly recommended read”Family Tree magazine ‘Laying bare the tragedies, the compromises, the suffering and the disillusionment. Exemplary microhistory.’ Roger Moorehouse, author of First to Fight ‘Compelling and evocative’All About History ’The rise of Nazi Germany through the prism of one small village in Bavaria. […] Astonishing’ Jane Garvey on Fortunately… with Fi and Jane ‘incredibly engaging’History of War magazine 'Intensely detailed, exhaustively researched and rendered in almost cinematographic detail, Julia Boyd's A Village In The Third Reich is deeply evocative, redolent of those times and truly revelatory. I learned so much. This is a book I will need to return to again and again, to relearn, refresh and remember. A triumph.' Damien Lewis, author of The Flame of ResistanceTrade Review‘A fascinating deep dive into one community as it experiences the rise and fall of Hitler.’ The Times ‘Boyd is an outstanding micro-historian.’ iNews ‘Masterly . . . [Boyd is] a leading historian of human responses in political extremis.’ The Oldie ‘Fascinating… You’ll learn more about the psychological workings of Nazism by reading this superbly researched chronicle… than you will by reading a shelf of wider-canvas volumes on the rise of Nazism.’ Daily Mail ‘Exceptional... Boyd's book reminds us that even the most brutal regimes cannot extinguish all semblance of human feeling' Mail on Sunday ‘Gripping… vividly depicted… [a] humane and richly detailed book’ Spectator ’An absorbing, thoroughly recommended read’ Family Tree magazine ‘Compelling and evocative’ All About History ’The rise of Nazi Germany through the prism of one small village in Bavaria. […] Astonishing’ Jane Garvey on Fortunately… with Fi and Jane ‘incredibly engaging’ History of War magazine

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Book SynopsisAn immersive travelogue exploring the pervasive mythology and emotional resonance of flooded places, at a time when the waters are rising once more

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Book SynopsisIt is a myth that either of the World Wars liberated women.The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919 was one of the most significant pieces of legislation in modern Britain. It marked at once political watershed and a social revolution; the point at which women of 21 and over were recognised in law as being as competent as men. But were they? What actually happened when this bill was passed? This is the story of what happened next.Ladies Can't Climb Ladders focuses on the lives of six women - six pioneers - forging paths in the fields of medicine, law, academia, architecture, engineering and the church. Robinson's startling study into the public and private lives of these women sheds light not on the desires and ambitions of her subjects but how family and society responded to the working woman and what their legacy looks like today. This book is written in their honour. It is a book about live subjects: equal opportunity, the gender pay gap, and whether women can expect, or indeed deserve, to have it at all.'An important and crackingly good read.' - TelegraphTrade ReviewArrestingly written…a stirring testament to unsung heroines * The Observer *A well researched and entertaining read…a wonderful celebration of female pioneers * The Sunday Times *Robinson writes with an often witty touch, which only serves to throw into furious relief the seriousness of the resistance women faced . . . An excellent companion to Robinson's Bluestockings. * The Financial Times *An entertaining guide, dipping into ladies’ journals of the time to add levity to what indeed is a serious message. -- Mia Levitin * Spectator *Jane Robinson’s book is a lesson in how unthinkingly we wear freedom. Well known as a writer and social historian excavating ordinary women’s lives, Robinson focuses this time on the emergence of lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers, architects, scientists and churchwomen after the passing of the landmark law of 1919. Modern professional women will read it with a slow burn of anger and heightened respect for those whose actions, such a relatively brief time ago, made today possible . . . We ride on the shoulders of female giants — courageous, eccentric, clever pioneers. Robinson is a wryly amusing companion and this is an entertaining book, teeming with characters. * The Times *

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Book SynopsisHigh above the mountaintops on the Isle of Mull, a huge bird is soaring. Its all-encompassing gaze records people in its Hebridean territory far below, but they are of no interest. The eagle is about its business: concentrating on the deer and fidgety hares out grazing in the morning sun, the urgent push of thermals beneath its wings, a threatening weather front way out at sea, and the restless chick back in its eyrie. This is Mull in its glory. This is what the excited, watching people have travelled so far to witness. They train their binoculars and admire, perhaps envy, the eagle with its vast freedom, knowing that such a self-willed being is part of another world – almost. This book guides the reader through that world. With superb illustrations and illuminating text, we are led to the wild side of Mull. Every facet of the island’s natural history is considered, its diverse species and many stories – past, present and future. Along the way we are reminded that wildness is not somehow separate from the human world but influenced, and shared, by nature and people together. Here is the tale of a precious and unique place, a seaborne landscape that displays an uncommon biodiversity and rare wildlife experiences, although today it also faces its greatest challenges. Most of all, this book is testimony to the power of wild places and the duty we have to learn from and protect them.Trade ReviewThis is a very attractive book which deals with a very attractive place which is rich in wildlife. If you are a naturalist visiting Mull then you should read this book, luxuriate in the images, imagine you’ll see all the wildlife and plan your trip ahead of setting off, and take the book with you for your visit. For this is a very good guide to Mull, for those naturally inclined. -- Mark Avery * author and environmental campaigner *The authors' love of Mull and empathy with Scottish culture comes across strongly...It’s the kind of book that deserves a prominent place on the bookshelves of anyone with any kind of interest in Mull and its surrounding islands, and would be invaluable in the rucksack when you are out and about on our beautiful island of Mull. -- Anne Cleave * Mull Historical & Archaeological Society *Every element is given the same attention and balanced approach that clearly stems from a deep love of Mull and its surrounding environment. The images from the island are something special...You get a sense of the joy the authors had in capturing the life and detail in the landscape. -- Kirsteen Bell * The Oban Times *Weaves together the animals, landscapes and people of this incredible island...Poetic in its descriptions of the resident creatures it also effectively gives them a voice and a place in the history and the future of this Hebridean gem. -- Kenny Smith * Scottish Field *A beautiful book and with sumptuous photos of all the species throughout…Wild Mull has been written by two exceptional field naturalists which adds to the enjoyment of the reading experience. Naturalists will love this book. -- Steven Rutherford * Honorary Chairman British Naturalists’ Association *Stephen has delved deep into the history, which makes the book a great reference work. Mull deserves this coverage, and the beautiful pictures taken by Martin Jones greatly enhance the book. -- John Miles * Scottish Birds *Wild Mull is a wonderful guide to the island, its wildlife, people and history. Profusely illustrated, I would certainly want to read this before visiting, and probably take it with me. -- Gordon Hamlett, Birdwatchers, Best Bird Books of the YearWild Mull has all the ingredients of a truly enjoyable read. It is a beautiful depiction of a place and a reference guide that does justice to a unique island that fully deserves such masterful coverage. -- Laura C. Thubron, Glasgow Natural History MuseumThis book is a good meld of natural and human history, anecdotes and facts and a useful reference for those visiting or with an interest in Mull. -- Dan Brown, British BirdsInformative, inspiring and a great guide should you ever visit… and you will want to when you’ve read this book! -- Bo Beolens (Fatbirder)Very enjoyable... This is a great book to dip into and interesting facts can be found on just about every page. -- Sandy McNeil * De Tha Dol *Table of ContentsForeword by Mark Cocker Introduction 1 The Fairest of the Isles 2 The Land that Holds the Life 3 People and the Shaping of Mull 4 Invasions, Extinctions and Mull’s Own ‘Gene Genie’ 5 Fangs, Fins and Fur 6 Raptors of Eagle Island 7 In Their Element – the Seabirds 8 Extraordinary Landbirds 9 The Kingdom of the Celtic Rainforest 10 Plants of Place and Purpose 11 Life Beyond the Strandline 12 Beautiful Beasties Postscript: The Forever Future Acknowledgements and Photographers’ Credits Bibliography Useful Contacts for Further Information Watching and Photographing Wildlife on Mull List of Species Referred to in the Text Index

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Book SynopsisThe 21 censuses that have been conducted in Britain since 1801, have provided an invaluable insight into Britain’s social, political and economic history over the past 200 years. From their original purpose to assess how many men were fit for military duty in the Napoleonic wars, to being a necessary tool for determining government policy, the 10-yearly census return is a fascinating snapshot of the state of the population on a particular moment in each decade. The growth of Britain’s cities; the movement of population away from the countryside; the variety of people’s occupations; their way of life; and what religious beliefs they hold are all contained within the census reports. With the imminent publication of the 1921 census results, this will prove a useful introduction, both for those interested in general trends in social history, and those researching family history.Trade ReviewThis is a thorough introduction for anyone wanting to understand what the British census has achieved and continues to achieve. -- Trevor James * The Historian *A thoroughly interesting read from start to finish. * Family and Community Historical Research Society Newsletter *Table of ContentsThe Bible, Domesday and Parishes Malthus and Rickman: Fathers of the Census The Victorian Age Suffragettes and the World at War Post-World War Censuses The Twenty-first Century Family History and the Census Further Reading Places to Visit Index

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Book SynopsisA beautifully illustrated history of Britain’s most revered and valued institution: the NHS. In March 2020 the UK went into lockdown to help contain the spread of COVID-19 and protect the NHS from one of the greatest threats that it has faced in its 72-year history. Today more than ever, all eyes are on this beloved institution as it continues to innovate and adapt to meet the challenges of providing national healthcare in the modern world. In this fully illustrated introduction, Dr Susan Cohen traces the history of the NHS from its establishment after the Second World War, through seven decades of changing management and organisation, often in controversial political circumstances, right up to the current COVID-19 crisis. Including personal recollections from healthcare professionals on the frontline, as well as the patients in their care, this important and timely volume offers a comprehensive overview of one of the world's most remarkable healthcare systems.Table of ContentsPublic Health Care Before the NHS A New Dawn 1950 to 1970 1970 to 2000 The NHS in the Twenty-first Century Further Reading Places to Visit Acknowledgements Index

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Book SynopsisThe most dramatic, revealing and little-known story in Turkey's history - which illuminates the nation'Through the spellbinding career of a single, ill-fated leader, Jeremy Seal illuminates a bitterly divided country' Colin Thubron'Read this book if you're interested in Turkey. Read it if you're interested in power, hubris and redemption. Read it' Christopher de Bellaigue, author of The Islamic EnlightenmentIn the spring of 2016 travel writer Jeremy Seal went to Turkey to investigate perhaps the most dramatic, revealing and little-known episode in the country's history - the 'original' coup of 1960, which deposed the traditionalist Prime Minister Adnan Menderes. The story of Menderes - to his adoring supporters the country's founding democrat; to his sworn enemies its most infamous traitor - goes to the heart of the feud that continues to rage between the Western and secular ambitions of a minority elite and the religious and conservative instincts of the small-town majority. A Coup in Turkey is a thrilling account of the events leading up to the coup and the trials and executions that followed, a story of political subterfuge and score-settling, courtroom drama, state execution, authoritarian intolerance and ideological division. Seal travels through President Erdogan's Turkey, tracking down eye-witness accounts from survivors of the Menderes era in Istanbul, the historic metropolis, and the new capital at Ankara. As he expertly guides us through this extraordinary story, so the compelling parallels between past and present become strikingly clear, and he illuminates this troubled nation with a deep sympathy and love for the people and places he writes about. By focussing on one key event - one which many Turks regard with shame - this evocative, gripping portrait of Turkey recentres our understanding of the past and makes sense of one of Europe's most bewildering yet intriguing neighbours.'A wonderful writer' Robert MacfarlaneTrade ReviewAn excellent, occasionally disturbing and very original book -- Justin Marozzi * Sunday Times *In his [Seal's] enlightening book A Coup in Turkey, Menderes's story defies the simple political messages that are projected on to it . . . Seal's work is an excellent addition to any Turkey bookshelf, offering a beautifully wrought epitaph that Menderes's contradictory life, and the continuing aftershocks of his death, has long deserved -- Hannah Lucinda Smith * The Times *A compelling account of Menderes' rise and fall, part biography, part travelogue . . . The book's greatest strength is as a testament to the deep seam of authoritarianism that runs through Turkey's history, a reminder that Erdogan is a symptom as well as a cause of the country's current problems -- Laura Pitel * Financial Times *The coup of 1960 may seem remote, but the forces it unleashed are still at work - perhaps more than ever, which is what makes Mr Seal's book so timely * Economist *Through the spellbinding career of a single, ill-fated leader, Jeremy Seal illuminates a bitterly divided country -- Colin ThubronMeticulously researched and vivid book... Seal is an evocative writer... [and he] paints a nuanced and largely sympathetic portrait of Menderes -- Owen Matthews * Literary Review *Turkey's 1960 coup was a huge event that played out on an intimate scale. Interpreting it requires the tenacity of a reporter, the learning of an academic and the verve of a novelist. Luckily, Jeremy Seal possesses all these qualities, which he brings to bear on one of the most significant calamities of the modern Middle East. Read this book if you're interested in Turkey. Read it if you're interested in power, hubris and redemption. Read it -- Christopher de Bellaigue, author of The Islamic EnlightenmentThe road from Menderes to Erdogan is a twisted one, full of shadows, ghouls and strange delights. And I cannot imagine a better guide to it than Jeremy Seal . . . it has enough drama in it for a James Bond film . . . Seal takes us on a journey into a history that still lives, in a land still worth loving -- Maureen Freely * The Oldie *A gripping, meticulously told political drama. With great skill, tenacity and genuine feeling, Jeremy Seal re-assembles the extraordinary build-up to Turkey's 1960 coup, its courtroom aftermath and its tragic denouement. In doing so, he presents a brilliant portrait of oscillating populism and pragmatism, military force and religious fervour, democracy and state brutality, that appears as relevant to today's world as it was sixty years ago -- Philip MarsdenAn excellent historical lens through which to view the country's political landscape -- Colin Freeman * Daily Telegraph *A page turning quest into the greatest judicial murder story of its time, but also a physical journey across Anatolia and into the violent passions of Turkish politics where "not taking sides" is not an option. Which is why this book is not just a revelation, but also a love letter to the contemporary nation, written by England's pre-eminent travel writer on Turkey -- Barnaby RogersonLucid and multi-layered, backed by brilliant scholarship lightly worn, Jeremy Seal's gripping narrative moves effortlessly from the personal to the political as it charts the rise and fall of the man who, after Ataturk, reset the direction of the Turkish republic. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand modern Turkey -- Jason GoodwinA deeply interesting meeting point between a historical account of a decisive period in the history of Turkey and a modern travelogue... A context that is vividly presented in Seal's impressive work. In A Coup in Turkey the reader will find a well-researched and thrilling book that provides a relevant approach to a relatively unknown period of Turkish history -- Marc Martorell * London School of Economics *

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Book Synopsis'A life-changing book' Viv GroskopMarisa Meltzer was put on her first diet aged five: it was the beginning of a fraught relationship with food.Jean Nidetch was a housewife from Queens who defiantly lost 70 pounds after she was mistaken for being pregnant. Taking everything she learned from this experience, in 1963 she founded Weight Watchers, a company that has shaped decades of diet culture.When Marisa reads Jean's obituary, she feels a moment of intense connection. Curious about the woman and her legacy, she signs up for a year of Weight Watchers; counting points, weighing in and listening to her fellow members struggle with their bodies.This is Big is a biography of an idiosyncratic entrepreneur whose impact is still felt strongly today. It is a history of dieting and body politics for anyone who has agonised over their weight or defiantly tried not to do so. And it is Marisa's funny and thoughtful journey towards a different way to live in the world.'This is the anti-diet book I've been waiting for' Daisy BuchananTrade ReviewA life-changing book * Viv Groskop *Frank, funny and feminist, she [Meltzer] describes her struggles with charm and honesty, questioning how a (mostly) happy person can be made so miserable by calories, portion sizes and scales -- Eithne Farry * Sunday Express *This is the anti-diet book I have been waiting for. I loved its honesty, charm and celebration of an unlikely but compelling feminist heroine. I think many women -- me included -- really struggle to find a voice in a culture where wellness and body positivity both noisily vie for our attention. For the first time I feel seen and heard -- Daisy BuchananSharp... frank and incisive -- Charlotte Lytton * The Telegraph *For anyone who has ever felt defeated by food, betrayed by their own body, embarrassed for not only lacking the willpower to change their habits but also embarrassed by the desire to change their own body, Marisa Meltzer sees you, has written this book for you because she is you. While simultaneously delving into the history of the woman who started Weight Watchers and bravely and honestly examining her own complicated relationship with food and weight, Marisa has written a book that perfectly captures our country's obsession with THIN and the struggle with obesity at this moment in history -- Busy Philipps, author of This Will Only Hurt A LittleThis is Big is a brave, bold, funny, honest, riveting book that made me have every kind of feeling in the world -- Jami Attenberg, author of All Grown UpFascinating... Meltzer's whistle-stop history of America's body image is both effortlessly informative and efficiently selective -- Eleanor Halls * Daily Telegraph *Meltzer has created a singular companionate text for those who know the agony of frustration surrounding weight as an issue, both personal and political. People — women, especially — who ping-pong around the weight spectrum will feel less alone when they read it... Nidetch may be long gone, but Meltzer carries on her legacy of putting a public face on the challenge of weight management. Acerbic, culturally astute and genuine, she makes exquisite company in the struggle, and that is no small thing. -- Lily Burana * New York Times *At once a biography and a memoir, this heartfelt, incisive book layers the story of Weight Watchers founder Jean Nidetch with the author’s own lifelong journey through various fad diets. What emerges is a surprising portrait of a remarkable but little-known life in business, as well as a thoughtful critique of America’s obsession with thinness. Meltzer, who has herself subscribed to Weight Watchers, brings a personal angle to this fascinating, far-reaching story of a phenomenon that has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of women * Esquire *This book is an incredible hybrid: both a detailed study of an extraordinary American life, and a candid and revealing memoir. Meltzer is the biographer Jean Nidetch deserves, crafting a portrait of the woman and the world in which she lived. She’s also a bracing memoirist, a warm and honest voice unafraid to offer readers the stuff of her own life to help us better understand the culture we now share. It’s a remarkable feat -- Rumaan Alam, author of That Kind of MotherThis Is Big is an inventive memoir that examines Meltzer’s own experience with weight loss alongside Nidetch’s lucrative belief that community, not secretive shame, could transform people’s bodies and lives * Bitch Media *Marisa Meltzer is an ingenious writer. This is Big expertly weaves together two engaging tales: the charming, funny, and often heartbreaking account of Meltzer’s lifelong attempts at bodily transformation, attempts that will have many readers nodding along in recognition, especially when she decides to join an unforgettable group of Weight Watchers in Park Slope, Brooklyn; and the little-known story of a largely forgotten American icon whose lasting accomplishments deserve to be known: Jean Nidetch, the irrepressible, path-breaking entrepreneur who founded the now billion-dollar company Weight Watchers in her modest living room in 1963 -- Nancy Jo Sales, author of The Bling RingThis book was so good that I devoured it (with no guilt)! Meltzer shows us, through honesty, rawness and deep vulnerability, the complexities of living in a body that doesn't adhere to society's narrow beauty standards in an era that holds up body positivity as gospel -- Mara Altman, author of Gross AnatomyA witty and meaningful look at our obsession with weight and dieting; blending the story of the founder of Weight Watchers with her own saga, Marisa Meltzer crafts an amusing story with universal insights -- Sheila Weller, author of Girls Like UsA fascinating deep dive into the insatiable rise of the multibillion-dollar food and diet industries... What's particularly pleasing about this warm book is the weighing up of what "success" can look like for different types of people * Jewish Chronicle *

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Book Synopsis'The kind of history deserving of a cinematic blockbuster' Julia Lovell, Literary Review'[A] gripping and meticulously researched account of an epic effort to transport delicate scrolls, paintings and carvings thousands of miles under the threat of bombing and invasion' Rana Mitter, Times Literary Supplement'Brilliant and thrilling... A tale of daring and adventure... A desperate race against time' Paul French, South China Morning Post_____The gripping true story of the intrepid curators who saved China's finest art from the ravages of the Sino-Japanese War and World War II.Spring 1933. The silent courtyards and palaces of Peking's Forbidden City are tense with fear and expectation. Japan's aircraft drone overhead; its troops and tanks are only hours away. All-out war between China and Japan is coming, and the curators of the Forbidden City are faced with an impossible question: how will they protect the vast imperial art collections in their charge?The magnificent collections contain a million pieces of art - objects that carry China's deepest and most ancient memories. Among them are irreplaceable artefacts: exquisite paintings on silk, vanishingly rare Ming porcelain and the extraordinary Stone Drums of Qin, which are adorned with 2,500-year-old inscriptions of crucial cultural significance.For sixteen terrifying years, under the quiet leadership of museum director Ma Heng, the curators would go on to transport the imperial art collections thousands of miles across China - up rivers of white water, across mountain ranges and through burning cities. In their search for safety the curators and their fragile, invaluable cargo journeyed through the maelstrom of violence, chaos and starvation that was China's Second World War.Told for the first time in English and playing out across a vast historical canvas, this is the exhilarating story of a small group of men and women who, when faced with war's onslaught on civilisation, chose to resist.'Fascinating... Brookes marries a reporter's grasp of detail with a novelist's narrative flair to bring clarity and readability to a complicated period of China's troubled history' Mail on SundayTrade ReviewA compelling story of art, war and adventure. An extraordinary odyssey of the imperial treasures of the Forbidden City, protected by heroic and remarkable curators... Superb -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of STALIN: THE COURT OF THE RED TSARA story of bravery and ingenuity, and equally of the critical role cultural heritage plays in forming and maintaining national identity. * Wall Street Journal *So much more than a work of art history, Brookes's book illuminates the exceptional dramas of the Chinese front in the Second World War, a theatre of the conflict that is still insufficiently understood -- Julia Lovell * Literary Review *Adam Brookes has an eye for a great story and knows how to tell it. Fragile Cargo cannot fail to delight... I enjoyed it enormously -- John Keay, author of CHINA: A HISTORYA riveting read... With his meticulously researched and detailed writing, Adam Brookes takes us on a compelling journey through this extraordinary chapter of Chinese history. Fragile Cargo reads like a thriller... Gripping stuff -- Alexi Kaye Campbell, writer of feature film WOMAN IN GOLD

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Book SynopsisNik Cohn began to write this book in the late 1960s with a simple purpose: to catch the feel, the pulse of Rock. Nobody had written a serious book on the subject before, and there were no reference books or research to refer to. The result is an unruly, thrilling and definitive history of an era, from Bill Haley to Jimi Hendrix, full of guts, flash, energy and speed. In vividly describing the music and cutting through the hype, Nik Cohn engendered and perfected a new form: rock criticism.Trade ReviewA thrilling, inspirational read. -- Bob Stanley * Guardian *Set the template for a whole new style of rock journalism, informed, irreverent, passionate and polemical. * Choice Magazine *The best writer about pop music...an inspiration. -- Jarvis Cocker * BBC Radio 6 Music *The book to read if you want to get some idea of the original primal energy of pop music. Loads of unfounded, biased assertions that almost always turn out to be right. Absolutely essential. -- Jarvis Cocker * Guardian *Cohn was the first writer authentically to capture the raucous vitality of pop music * Sunday Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times Bestseller'A tribute and a rallying call' - GuardianThree and half weeks. Three hundred miles. I saw roaring arterial highway and silent lanes, candlelit cathedrals and angry men in bad pubs. The Britain of 1936 was a land of beef paste sandwiches and drill halls. Now we are nation of vaping and nail salons, pulled pork and salted caramel.In the autumn of 1936, some 200 men from the Tyneside town of Jarrow marched 300 miles to London in protest against the destruction of their towns and industries. Precisely 80 years on, Stuart Maconie, walks from north to south retracing the route of the emblematic Jarrow Crusade. Travelling down the country’s spine, Maconie moves through a land that is, in some ways, very much the same as the England of the 30s with its political turbulence, austerity, north/south divide, food banks and of course, football mania. Yet in other ways, it is completely unrecognisable. Maconie visits the great cities as well as the sleepy hamlets, quiet lanes and roaring motorways. He meets those with stories to tell and whose voices build a funny, complex and entertaining tale of Britain, then and now.Trade ReviewA tribute and a rallying call * The Guardian *Maconie’s book is not only a heartfelt tribute to Wilkinson and the marchers, but a reaffirmation of the role of the personal within the political, and a rallying call for anyone stirred by the story of Jarrow * The Observer *With yet another conservative government refusing to budge it is hard to avoid Maconie’s conclusion that persuading the uncommitted is as vital as ever * New Statesman *The result is this rich, evocative book. Part travelogue, part history, part examination of a nation in flux. It is all a delight **** * Mail on Sunday, EVENT Magazine *Footsore in spacetime, hiking simultaneously through memory and landscape, in Long Road from Jarrow Stuart Maconie shadows the defiant, desperate and dignified crusade of 1936 through a modern world where everything has changed except for the austerity, the poverty, the national and global instability, the worrying ascendancy of fascism, and the resilient decency of ordinary people. This is a necessary book; a necessary journey through English identity, and one which you’ll be glad that you embarked on. Now, yes, now is the hour. -- Alan Moore

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Book SynopsisThe double codes of law composed by R. Joseph Karo during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries mark a watershed in the history of Jewish Halakhah [law]. No further legal project was suggested in later generations. The books suggest a new reading beyond the aspects of positive law. R. Karo continued centuries- long traditions of Jewish erudition, in tandem with responding to global changes in history of law and legality both in Europe, and mainly in the Ottoman Empire. It is a global reading of Jewish Halakhah and modernization of Jewish culture in general.Trade Review “Roni Weinstein’s cross-denominational approach to Yossef Karo’s legal corpus is undoubtedly a turning point for scholars of Jewish and Ottoman legal traditions. This thorough book carefully maps out the Ottoman and broader Mediterranean contexts of Karo’s legal oeuvre, giving historians of Ottoman Islamic law much to consider.” – Guy Burak, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Librarian at NYU’s Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, USA.“Roni Weinstein’s thought-provoking book situates the codification of Jewish law and mystical-cum-legal thought of Rabbi Joseph Caro, the ‘Master’ of Talmudic scholars in sixteenth-century Ottoman Safed, into a global early modern Eurasian context increasingly attuned to the community-making capacity of law. By engaging closely with recent research in anthropology of law, early modern Jewish and European history, as well as Ottoman legal history, Weinstein provides a new, dialogic reading of Caro. The book points to legal history as a fertile ground on which to explore not only global early modern trends such as the search for a ‘strong center’ (legal, spatial, or otherwise) as the basis for community-building but also ways of integration of non-Muslims into Ottoman society.” – Tijana Krstic, historian of the early modern Ottoman Empire and professor at Central European University, Hungary. “In Joseph Karo and Shaping of Modern Jewish Law: The Early Modern Ottoman and Global Settings Roni Weinstein engages an impressive range of scholarship and source materials as he crafts a valuable comparative analysis that cuts across early modern Islamic, Jewish, and Christian history and society. This book advances our knowledge of numerous legal issues—from canonization, codification, the anthropology of law, comparative law, the role of law in the rise of the modern state, and the relationship between law and mysticism, to the impact of printing. Weinstein’s impressive scholarship deepens our understanding of the work and life of the towering figure of Joseph Karo and adds nuance to the examination of many core early modern topics.” – Dean Phillip Bell, President/CEO and Professor of Jewish History, Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, USA.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Methodology, Questions, and Scope; Chapter One The Importance of Being Canonized; Chapter Two The Preamble to Beit Yosef: Manifesto of a Jurist; Chapter Three “Maran” [Our Master] Joseph Karo; Chapter Four Semikhah Polemics in Safed: Establishing a Guild of Jurists; Chapter Five R. Karo in Safed: Establishing a Dominant Status; Chapter Six Law and Mysticism: An Envitable Encounter; Chapter Seven “Provide Me with the Reasoning for your Verdict”: The Prestige and Status of Jewish Courts; Chapter Eight Establishing an International Court of Law; Chapter Nine Summary: Scope and Perspectives; Bibliographical List; Index

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Book SynopsisA new edition of Steve Taylor's bestselling classic, in which the author provides an Afterword, including research developments that have occurred since the book was first published in 2005. "An important and fascinating book about the origin, history and impending demise of the ego - humanity's collective dysfunction. The Fall is highly readable and enlightening, as the author's acute mind is at all times imbued with the higher faculty of spiritual awareness." Eckhart Tolle

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Book SynopsisOften imitated but never equalled, John Breslin and Sarah-Anne Buckley are back with the third instalment of their bestselling Old Ireland in Colour series. Beloved by Irish readers at home and abroad, for this new volume the authors have uncovered yet more photographic gems and breathed new life into them in glorious colour. All of Irish life is here ? from an eviction in Clare in 1888 to devastating floods in Strabane and a snapshot of working life in Dublin. Famous faces from politics and the arts appear alongside hard-working labourers and farmers, and mischievous children from all corners of the island light up this book?s glorious pages. With endless surprising details to pore over in every picture, along with illuminating captions, Old Ireland in Colour 3 is a stunning addition to this wonderful series of unique books.

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Book SynopsisWhat is feminism? Why are we still talking about it, and what can it tell us about ourselves, our societies and prejudices? In this unique, illustrated introduction, we'll explore the early history of conscious struggle against sexist oppression, through the modern "waves" of feminism, up to present-day conversations about MeToo, intersectional feminism, and women's rights in the Middle East. We'll look at critical theory, popular action and the social and cultural forces that affect attitudes toward gender, women's lives and the struggle for equality. And we'll hear about the contributions of pioneers like Mary Wollstonecraft, Simone de Beauvoir and Kimberlé Crenshaw. As we'll see, feminism is at once global, local and individual. Written by Cathia Jenainati with illustrations from Judy Groves and Jem Milton, Feminism: A Graphic Guide engages with the heated debates taking place in our homes, workplaces and public spaces -- and the work still to be done.

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Book Synopsis'An illuminating portrait of Baltimore ... Readers will be enthralled' Publishers Weekly A kaleidoscopic account of five days in the life of a city on the edge, told through eight characters on the front lines of the uprising that overtook Baltimore and riveted the world.When Freddie Gray was arrested for possessing an 'illegal knife' in April 2015, he was, by eyewitness accounts that video evidence later confirmed, treated 'roughly' as police loaded him into a vehicle. By the end of his trip in the police van, Gray was in a coma from which he would never recover.In the wake of a long history of police abuse in Baltimore, this killing felt like the final straw - it led to a week of protests empowered by the Black Lives Matter movement, then five days described alternately as a riot or an uprising.New York Times bestselling author Wes Moore tells the story of the five days through his own observations and through the eyes of other Baltimoreans: Partee, a conflicted black captain of the Baltimore Police Department; Jenny, a young white public defender who's drawn into the violent centre of the uprising herself; Tawanda, a young black woman who'd spent a lonely year protesting the killing of her own brother by police; and John Angelos, scion of the city's most powerful family and executive vice president of the Baltimore Orioles, who had to make choices of conscience he'd never before confronted.Each shifting point of view contributes to an engrossing, cacophonous account of a moment in history with striking resemblances to far more recent events, which is also an essential cri de coeur about the deeper causes of the violence and the small seeds of hope planted in its aftermath.

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Book SynopsisA NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2022'Well-researched and readable' - Financial Times'An absorbing, pacy read' - New Statesman'The story of lycra-clad feminism' Stylist'Canny and informative' - The New YorkerThe untold history of women's exercise culture, from jogging and Jazzercise to Jane Fonda.Author of The Cut's viral article shared thousands of times unearthing the little-known origins of barre workouts, Danielle Friedman explores the history of women's exercise, and how physical strength has been converted into other forms of power.Only in the 60s, thanks to a few forward-thinking fitness pioneers, did women begin to move en masse. In doing so, they were pursuing not only physical strength, but personal autonomy.Exploring barre, jogging, aerobics, weight training and yoga, Danielle Friedman tells the story of how, with the rise of late-20th century feminism, women discovered the joy of physical competence - and how, going forward, we can work to transform fitness from a privilege into a right.Trade ReviewA well-researched and readable account of how female pioneers broke the taboos that stopped most women exercising until at least the 1960s. Friedman, a journalist, emphasises that fitness has remained accessible primarily to white women with time and resources. Now some pioneers are trying to break those exclusionary barriers too. * Financial Times, best summer books of 2022 *An absorbing, pacy read - and her enthusiasm for exercise is contagious. * New Statesman *Fact-packed but bouncy ... Most enjoyable is when Friedman shines light on less hallowed figures, like Judi Sheppard Missett, the relentlessly upbeat founder of Jazzercise, whose classes "changed the rhythm of women's days"; and Bonnie Prudden, "the lady in the leotite" and a descendant of Davy Crockett...[Friedman's] book is very much "pro" exercise, but for the right reasons: not slimming down but mood management, community, spirituality in the corporal. * The New York Times *Astute and entertaining ... With an emphasis on barrier breakers, business dynamos, and exceptional athletes, Friedman explores how physical training can be a means of personal liberation ... This zippy history is bursting with energy. * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisDelving into an encyclopaedic array of little-known primary sources, William Beaver uncovers a vigorous intelligence function at the heart of Victoria's Empire. A cadre of exceptionally able and dedicated officers, they formed the War Office Intelligence Division, which gave Britain's foreign policy its backbone in the heyday of imperial acquisition. Under Every Leaf is the first major study to examine the seminal role of intelligence gathering and analysis in `England's era'. So well did Great Britain play her hand, it seemed to all the world that, as the Farsi expression goes, `Anywhere a leaf moves, underneath you will find an Englishman.' The historian William Beaver is also a soldier, corporate communicator, arts editor and Anglican priest.Trade Review“Lively, witty and meticulously well-researched.” The Catholic Herald

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Book SynopsisBargain Hunt is a British institution, entertaining audiences for over 20 years, and encouraging us to look for diamonds in the rough at antique fairs and shops across the country. A Bargain Hunt is more than just a quest for cash, though - from traveller's trunks and tea caddies to walking canes, coins and quirky costumes, each of the items chosen has their own story to tell, forming a small part of our collective social history.The Bargain Hunt Spotter's Guide to Antiques is packed with essential information from the Bargain Hunt experts on identifying quality across a range of antiques. From makers' marks and tell-tale historical styles to details in foils and finials, this will be your one-stop guide to making good choices on your own bargain hunt - while also delving into the fascinating stories behind many of our favourite antiques.With a foreword from Natasha Raskin Sharp, as well as tips, advice, and stories throughout from each of the show's experts (including 'league tables' of best and worst finds), this is the essential companion to all your future Bargain Hunts!Trade ReviewBargain Hunt is a right bobby-dazzler * The Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisGraham Greene saw the Castros rise; Sarah Rainsford watched them leave. From the street where Wormold, the hapless hero of Greene’s Our Man in Havana, plied his trade, BBC foreign correspondent Rainsford reports on Fidel’s reshaping of a nation, and what the future holds for ordinary Cubans now that he and his brother Raul are no longer in power. Through tales of literary ghosts and forgotten reporters, believers in the revolution and dissidents, entrepreneurs optimistic about the new Cuba and the disillusioned still looking for a way out, Our Woman in Havana paints an enthralling picture of this enigmatic country as it enters a new era.Trade Review‘An unmissable insight into a still hidden world.’ -- Mishal Husain‘[A] colourful and affectionate account of this complex and fascinating place.’ * Literary Review *‘Rainsford confronts a country of enigmatic contradictions with eyes and heart wide open in this fascinating, enlightening read.’ * Booklist *‘Sarah Rainsford has written a lively and detailed account of her time in Havana and evokes the spirit of Graham Greene in delightful and surprising ways.’ -- Thomas P. O’Connor, director of Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene, and Professor Emeritus, James Madison University

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Book SynopsisFor almost two centuries, followers of the Baha'i faith, Iran's largest religious minority, have been persecuted by the state. They have been made scapegoats for the nation's ills, branded enemies of Islam and denounced as foreign agents. Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 Baha'is have been barred from entering the nation's universities, more than two hundred have been executed, and hundreds more imprisoned and tortured. Now, however, Iran is at a turning point. A new generation has begun to question how the Baha'is have been portrayed by the government and the clergy, and called for them to be given equal rights as fellow citizens. In documenting, for the first time, the plight of this religious community in Iran since its inception, Fereydun Vahman also reveals the greater plight of a nation aspiring to develop a modern identity built on respect for diversity rather than hatred and self-deception.Trade Review‘The sheer scope, breadth, and depth of this history of religious persecution of the beleaguered Babis and Baha’is of Iran is masterful, impressive, and instructive, especially as to its contribution to present-day thought and implications for the future… 175 Years of Persecution is essential reading for any serious study of religious persecution in the Middle East (especially in Iran) and is a valuable contribution to human-rights literature.’ * Reading Religion *‘An exceptional book written in an exceptional time in the modern evolution of an ancient nation… a comprehensive and heart-breaking, infuriating but incisive, eloquent yet scholarly account of a virulent, obsessive hatred that has profoundly shaped the construction of Iran’s modern identity. It is a masterful weaving of abstract historical events with intimate stories of suffering, demonstrating how the choices made by the wielders of power shape the lives of ordinary people going about their lives.’ * Iran Press Watch *‘175 Years of Persecution offers a lucid academic account of the lives of the Baha’is under such intolerable conditions… This book is a must-read for all interested in modern Iran.’ -- Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, Professor of History, University of Toronto‘Vahman, a very learned specialist in Iranian studies, offers a significant addition to our understanding of modern Iranian history… Important reading.’ -- Roy Mottahedeh, Gurney Research Professor, Harvard University, and author of The Mantle of the Prophet‘Fereydun Vahman’s book 175 Years of Persecution provides, in accessible narrative vignettes, a sweeping account of the persecution of Iran’s Baha’i community. Many articles and reports have documented the persecutions, but usually focusing on a chronologically and geographically confined space, often with a clinical approach. However, like Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee on the genocidal campaign against Native Americans, or James Allen’s Without Sanctuary, a visual history of lynching in the American south, here we have a work that brings the human impact to the fore. Vahman weaves together a larger story from individual, mob, or state-sponsored acts of murder, arson, gravesite desecration, imprisonment, dismissal from jobs, deprivation of pensions and education, etc. In clear and readable prose suitable for students, activists, and the general public, this book memorably describes the beleaguerment of the Baha’i community in Iran since its inception and makes it clear why the situation of Baha’is has been described as a bellwether of the prospects for true political rights and civil society for the entire Iranian polity.’ -- Franklin Lewis, Associate Professor of Persian Language & Literature, University of ChicagoTable of ContentsForeword Acknowledgements Introduction: The “Enigma” of the Baha’i Religion in Iran PART ONE: Persecution During the Qajar and Pahlavi Dynasties, 1844–1979 Chapter 1: Why Were the Babi and Baha’i Faiths Suppressed in Iran? Chapter 2: The Violent Repression of the Babis and Baha’is during the Qajar Period Chapter 3: The Baha’is during the Reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi Chapter 4: Baha’is in the Reign of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi Chapter 5: The Shahrud Incident Chapter 6: Eighty-One Stab Wounds: The Murder of Dr Berjis in Kashan Chapter 7: True Crime: The Incident at Abarqu Chapter 8: The Events of 1955: Hojjat al-Islam Falsafi, the Ramadan Broadcasts, and the Military Occupation of the Baha’i Center PART TWO: The Islamic Republic in Confrontation with the Baha’i Faith Chapter 9: Baha’i Persecution during the Last Days of the Shah’s Regime Chapter 10: The Baha’is—the First Victims of Oppression in the Islamic Republic Chapter 11: The Persecution of Baha’is under Bazargan and the Revolutionary Council Chapter 12: The Presidencies of Banisadr and Raja’i Chapter 13: Arrests and Executions of the Baha’i Assemblies, 1981–85 Chapter 14: The Destruction of Baha’i Holy Sites and Community Resources Chapter 15: After Ayatollah Khomeini: The Escalation of Persecution Chapter 16: Efforts at Reform under President Khatami Chapter 17: Escalating Repression under President Ahmadinejad (2005–13) Chapter 18: An Obsession with Conspiracy Theories in the Islamic Republic Chapter 19: Systematic Humiliation: Being Labeled Ritually Unclean (Najes) Chapter 20: The Perspectives of Iran’s Grand Ayatollahs on the Baha’i Faith Chapter 21: The Appeals of International Organizations and the Iranian Diaspora Epilogue Postscript Appendix Glossary Select Bibliography Notes Index

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Book SynopsisDemocracy today is widely regarded as an ideal form of government. Yet in practice it sometimes seems a sham, a political puppet show in which hidden elites pull all the strings. As trust in elected representatives around the world plunges, it is no wonder that democratic revolts have erupted – from Cairo to Kiev and beyond – in an effort to ‘take back control’. In this urgent and lively history, James Miller reminds us that democracy has always generated tensions and contradictions. Through philosophical debates and violent uprisings, it has been contested, corrupted, and refined. In different times and different places – from ancient Athens to revolutionary France to post-war America – its meaning has shifted in surprising ways. For over two thousand years, the world has experimented with democracy. But can it really work – especially in complex modern societies?Trade Review‘An attractively broad and accessible account of democracy from the Greeks to the present… Particularly timely.’ * New York Review of Books *‘What makes the book compelling is its focus on colorful thinkers, activists, and political leaders who lived and breathed the democratic moment throughout history… Miller shows that democracy’s ascent is best seen not as a gradual unfolding of a political principle driven by reason and moral destiny but rather as a grand roller coaster ride of struggle, revolution, and backlash. Today’s populist outbursts look quite ordinary alongside this history.’ * Foreign Affairs *‘In this smart, tremendously readable history, Miller tackles the paradox at the centre of the democratic dream… Both challenging and accessible, this title is highly recommended.’ * Booklist, starred review *‘The strength of this book lies…in the exquisite portraits it paints of characters who stand behind the immortalized Pericles, Robespierre, and Thomas Jefferson… [Miller] forces the reader to sit up and realize that history isn’t a definitive greyed parchment beyond reproach, but actually a living force constantly capable of new interpretation and meaning in our current world… Like the ekklesia in Athens, the constituent assembly in Versailles, and the soviet in Petrograd – Can Democracy Work? offers insightful context on how our own body politic will survive these turbulent times.’ * Christian Science Monitor *‘Distinguished historian of ideas James Miller’s short history of democracy and its different meanings is both compulsive and compulsory reading for our sometimes shockingly disenchanted times. Ever optimistic, Miller remains enamoured of his native United States’s striking experiment in cosmopolitan self-governance, and stands proudly and persuasively tall for liberal – and democratic – ideals.’ -- Paul Cartledge, author of Democracy: A Life‘This is a bold, eloquent, and utterly convincing history of what democracy has meant and should mean – from the Assembly of Ancient Greece to the anti-Trump resistance. James Miller has produced one of the wisest reflections on the glories and limits of popular rule I have ever read.’ -- Michael Kazin, author of War Against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914–1918‘At the very moment of democracy’s apparent endangerment, one of its best friends offers up the most capacious and inspiring history of it ever composed. From the Greeks to the present, Miller’s light touch and profound insight join each other on every page to make this a truly indispensable work for the present crisis.’ -- Samuel Moyn, author of Not Enough: Human Rights in an Unequal World‘No one is better qualified to wrestle with the riddle of democracy than James Miller, which is why I have been eagerly awaiting this brilliant and necessary book. Can Democracy Work? is an eloquent, clear-eyed account of democracy’s myriad challenges. This concise and compelling history deserves to be read and debated by all of us who still dare to dream of a society of equals. These pages left me feeling better prepared and reinvigorated to work toward a more democratic future.’ -- Astra Taylor, director of What is Democracy? and author of The People’s Platform‘James Miller, who has illuminated democracy’s radical possibilities, now offers some sharp reflections on how those possibilities have fared over the centuries. At a moment when the very meaning of the word is up for grabs, Miller brings us back to philosophical essentials as forged by contingency, contradiction, and human folly. Refreshing and unsettling, here is some political intelligence in a dark and confusing time.’ -- Sean Wilentz, author of The Rise of American Democracy‘This sharp, spirited, engaged intellectual history of democracy, including its recent and often loose coupling with liberalism, combines an appraisal of both inherent and situational pitfalls with an appreciation of redemptive possibilities. If democracy is protean, what matters, this rich work teaches, is the quality of our normative choices and institutional imagination.’ -- Ira I. Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University

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Book SynopsisInternationally acclaimed Israeli historian Shlomo Sand made his mark with books such as The Invention of the Jewish People and The Invention of the Land of Israel. Returning here to an early fascination, he turns his attention to the figure of the French intellectual. From his student years in Paris, Sand has repeatedly come up against the "great French thinkers." He has an intimate knowledge of the Parisian intellectual world and its little secrets, on which he draws to overturn certain myths attaching to the figure of the "intellectual" that France prides itself on having invented. Mixing reminiscence and analysis, he revisits a history that, from the Dreyfus Affair through to Charlie Hebdo, seems to him that of a long decline. As a long-time admirer of Zola, Sartre and Camus, Sand is staggered to see what the French intellectual has become today, in such characters as Michel Houellebecq, Eric Zemmour and Alain Finkielkraut. In a work that gives no quarter, and focuses particularly on the Judeophobia and Islamophobia of the elites, he casts on the French intellectual scene a gaze that is both disabused and mordant.Trade ReviewIn a book that is both scholarly and autobiographical, political and polemical, the historian Shlomo Sand traces a story of decline and fall. And yet, this son of a scarcely literate housewife and a Communist militant who failed to finish school had long sought to join the privileged band. As an adolescent, he even dreamed of becoming one of the 'mandarins' portrayed by Simone de Beauvoir. Their troubling reaction to Nazi occupation, their blindness towards Stalinism, and their emotional outpourings to Mao Zedong, have all caused the statue of the French intellectual to crumble. * Le Monde *Ever since his student years in Paris, Sand has regularly come up against the 'great French thinkers'. He has an intimate knowledge of the Parisian intellectual world and its little secrets, on which he draws to overturn certain myths attaching to the figure of the 'intellectual' that France prides itself on having invented. Mixing reminiscence and analysis, he revisits a history that, from the Dreyfus Affair through to Charlie Hebdo, seems to him that of a long decline. As a long-time admirer of Zola, Sartre and Camus,Sand is staggered to see what the French intellectual has become today, in such characters as Michel Houellebecq, Éric Zemmour and Alain Finkielkraut. In a work that gives no quarter, and focuses particularly on the Judeophobia and Islamophobia of the 'elites', he casts on the French intellectual scene a gaze that is both disabused and sarcastic. * Ouest France *This brilliant essay is not just another history of intellectuals in France. It is rather a critique of those figures 'caught in the torment of the twentieth century', following the models of Zola, Sartre or Camus whom Sand so admired in his youth, yet whose ambiguities he recalls here, from Zola's attacks on the Paris Commune to Sartre's lack of courage under the Occupation, or Camus's position during the Algerian war. Sand emphasizes how a large section of the dominant intellectuals during the Dreyfus Affair were not in fact Dreyfusards, but championed an ethno-biological conception of the nation, excluding all those whom they did not consider of 'French stock'. This enables him to draw up a detailed and rigorous charge-sheet against our contemporary media intellectuals, Finkielkraut, Houellebecq, Zemmour, Bruckner, Bernard-Henri Lévy and Philippe Val who, often with a past in Stalinism or Maoism, and having undergone a belated and easy anti-totalitarianism (long after Orwell, Souvarine or Castoriadis), invoke the old demons of xenophobia, in their case an Islamophobia that suits the spirit of the time and 'stabilizes the existing hierarchical order'. The very opposite of the function that intellectuals should perform in a democratic society thatis today in crisis. -- Olivier Doubre * Politis *Fourteen years after Daniel Lindenberg's pioneering essay, it is Shlomo Sand's turn to target this family of conservative and declinist thinkers or polemicists, running from Michel Houellebecq to Renaud Camus by way of Alain Finkielkraut and Éric Zemmour - the two latter both sons of Jewish immigrants (Polish in the first case, Berber in the second) yet who constantly champion French identity and roots, mythologizing a 'stable and homogeneous past that actually never existed'. -- Juliette Cerf * Télérama *Shlomo Sand has produced a stimulating book, combining erudition and historical perspective. Under the title 'The end of the French intellectual? From Zola to Houellebecq', this Israeli historian interrogates the figure of the intellectual in France. -- Hassina Mechaï * Mediapart *The title's question mark will not deceive anyone: the end of the French intellectual is proclaimed in a book that is not charitable towards everyone. But we can expect no less from Shlomo Sand, a committed historian who is highly critical and controversial in his own country, Israel. The first part of the book, and much the longest, runs from Zola (even if it refers back to Voltaire) to Sartre, Foucault and Bourdieu. This story has been told in many books and articles by other authors. But Sand usefully recalls how the notion of an intellectual by definition 'on the left' after the model of Zola is a myth, even for the Dreyfus Affair. Political lucidity was often far from meeting the challenges of the day. But this part is interesting above all for its reflections on French intellectual specificity and on theories of the role of intellectuals in relation to institutions (governments and parties), as well as to the 'people' whom they are supposed to enlighten. * Esprit *Shlomo Sand, a specialist on nationalism and a fine connoisseur of our French ideological scene, is well qualified to tackle the place of the 'intellectual' in our national history and promote a fresh approach. This promise is basically fulfilled. -- Marc Riglet * Lire *

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Book SynopsisThis is the tale of a devastating pandemic, of lives cut painfully short – it’s also a love story. Derek, a distinguished designer, and J, a pioneering entrepreneur and creator of Heaven, the iconic gay dance club, met and fell in love more than 40 years ago. In the early 1980s their friends began to get sick and die – AIDS had arrived in their lives. When they got tested, J received what was then a death sentence: he was HIV Positive. While the onset of AIDS strengthened stigma and fear globally, they confronted their crisis with courage, humour and an indomitable resolve to survive. J’s battle lasted six long years. Turning to spiritual reflection, yoga, nature – and always to love – Derek describes a transformation of the spirit, how compassion and empathy rose phoenix-like from the flames of sickness and death, and how he and J founded the charity Aids Ark, which has helped to save more than 1,000 HIV Positive lives. This is a story of joy and triumph, of facing universal challenges, of the great rewards that come from giving back. Derek speaks for a generation who lived through a global health crisis that many at the time refused even to acknowledge. His is a powerful story chronicling this extraordinary era.Trade Review"This book is both a history and an inspiration." - Matthew Parris"Incredibly vivid, moving, and compelling." - Lord Chris Smith"This is a powerful book, at once a love letter, a well-informed history of the AIDS epidemic, and the life-story of a beautiful young man in London, moving happily through the early days of gay liberation into a time of widespread anguish and despair." - Del Kolve, Professor of English Literature UCLA, CA, USA"Poignant and heart-touching." - Linda-Gail Bekker, Professor of Medicine, President International AIDS Society 2016–2018, Co-Founder of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre and Health Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa."Tells a story of living life to the full and giving back so much. Derek's passion for life comes through on every page." - Iain Anderson, Executive Chairman of Cicero/amo & Stonewall Ambassador"A moving and heartfelt account of two incredible people who are at once fighters, survivors and givers. . . .Running alongside the romantic and heart-warming storyline is a vivid recollection and reflection on important facets of the LGBTQIA+ and HIV epidemic experience, a history that is recorded and honestly told, lest we forget."—Varsity

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Book SynopsisThe perfect Mother's Day gift - a compulsive collection of the world's most entertaining, inspiring and powerful letters with mothers at their heart, curated by the founder of the global phenomenon lettersofnote.comIn Letters of Note: Mothers, Shaun Usher gathers together exceptional missives by and to mothers, celebrating the joy and grief, humour and frustration, wisdom and sacrifice the role brings to both parent and child. Includes letters by:Caitlin Moran, Sylvia Plath,Martin Luther King Jr., George Bernard Shaw,E.B. White, Laura Dern, Louisa May Alcott,Edna St. Vincent Millay, Bette Davis,Richard Wagner, Martha Gellhorn& many moreTrade ReviewThe letters range from the famous to the quietly heroic. None is more poignant than that written in 1950 by the Czech socialist politician Milada Horáková to her sixteen-year-old daughter. Horáková had been arrested and sentenced to death for treason, and the letter was written the night before her execution. Heartbreaking * * Observer * *Praise for Shaun Usher: Another mailbag stuffed with funny, heartbreaking and passionate letters . . . engaging, eclectic, geekily and gleefully enthusiastic and laugh-out-loud funny * * The Times * *Shaun Usher's More Letters of Note mines the archives for more gems of the epistolary arts * * Guardian * *Funny, tragic, brilliantly incisive, historic, lyrical, romantic and studiedly offensive, this stupendous compendium of letters ancient and modern is my book of the year. You will never tire of it' -- STEPHEN FRYFrom the genuinely funny: Marge Simpson duelling with First Lady Barbara Bush to the truly heart-breaking: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's last goodbye to their children before execution. Usher's book is unlike anything else you have read. After all, where else can you find out why Norman Mailer refused money to his father, or how Janis Joplin felt before breaking America? Exactly * * GQ * *Funny, shocking and poignant, More Letters of Note must be one of the most entertaining books of the year * * Financial Times * *Some of the letters will make you laugh, other heartbreaking examples will make you cry * * Independent * *Reading through them is addictive, like dipping into a bag of variously tempting assorted candies, knowing that the next one will always bring surprise and pleasure. Usher has an evident knack for selecting letters that land with the force of a good short story, with personalities and dramatic arcs emerging swiftly, from just a page or two. Many of the writers are famous people, caught in a moment of accessibility and rawness or off-the-cuff virtuosity * * New Yorker * *A gloriously presented compilation * * Financial Times * *The literary equivalent of a box of chocolates - bite-sized and pure addictive pleasure . . . The result is beautifully produced, with photographs and colour facsimiles of much of the correspondence. A gorgeous Christmas present * * Sunday Times * *

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Book SynopsisIn The Pattern in the Carpet the award-winning and beloved writer Margaret Drabble explores her own family story alongside the history of her favourite childhood pastime - the jigsaw. The result is an original and moving personal history about remembrance, growing older, the importance of play and the ways in which we make sense of our past by ornamenting our present.Trade ReviewEngrossing . . . Blends family history and reflection with social and cultural history to reveal the novelist's passion for jigsaws . . . Moving and candid . . . Fascinating * * Observer * *A mature overview of a lifetime spent fitting objects together in various ways before breaking them up and beginning all over again * * Guardian * *Touchingly human and often wise . . . a book with such enthusiasm for its subject matter that it makes you long to embark on your own jigsaw * * Telegraph * *Throws poignant light on the difficult jigsaw of human life - and on how to shed harmful thought patterns and reassemble them into something less destructive -- Anita Sethi * * Independent * *Part memoir, part rigorously researched historical perspective, Drabble's book is a multi-layered look at jigsaw puzzles and their role through the ages for society, individuals and herself; it's also a charming homage to Drabble's beloved Auntie Phyl, who passed her lifelong love of jigsaws on to Drabble * * Publishers Weekly * *Gently illuminating . . . An evocative study in memory and the techniques used to reconstruct it . . . A dab hand at fiction and editorship comes through once more, this time with a chockablock memoir fitted under the rubric of pastimes * * Kirkus Reviews * *

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Book SynopsisAn entertaining collection of true stories that feature just a few of the products manufactured by the Austin Motor Company from 1906 until the outbreak of the Second World War, including the people who helped to make them, those who drove them, and even those who flew them. Although the history of the Austin Seven and Taxicabs have been covered before in much greater detail elsewhere, you will find within these pages the stories of many other Austin creations: the Austin 12/6 which could be won by smoking Kensitas cigarettes; the Austin 20 which competed in the 1914 Austrian Alpine Trial; the remarkable racing car named `Pobble' which went on to serve as an ambulance during the First World War, and the Australian couple who, in 1926, decided to drive their Austin Twelve right around Australia. The Music Hall artist, George Clarke, who performed on stage with his Austin Seven, and the `Austin Unity Song,' a recording of which was presented to guests at the Company's Annual dinner, are just two more fascinating stories which go to make up this Austin Anthology.Trade ReviewLovers of motoring history, especially when imparted in such a charming manner, will adore this little hardback book. In a mere 112pp, it tells an Austin fan's most engaging shirt stories about products emerging from the lines at Longbridge, Birmingham, the sometime home to the British car brand once owned by Herbert Austin. In a timeline that covers the origins of the company in 1905, up to the end of the Greta War and a little bit beyond, the tales of local murder, the bi plane compact enough to park in a domestic garage, the Austin Twelve that lapped Australia in 1926 and just what did happen to pensioned off taxi cabs are covered in cheery details, complete with humorous recollections and intriguing conclusions. It exceptionally well written and accompanied by a wealth of monochrome plates and period illustrations. It is not intended to be a history book, although much of its content is historically relevant. There is as much local detail, as international intrigue and it is not a model by model encyclopaedia of Austin but it does provide a valuable insight to the British firm's enterprise at an early stage of its existence. It is one of those books that is as easy to put aside, as it is to pick up and read, but you will come back to it, because of its sheer readability. - Iain P W Robertson. As a reader I have an interest in Pre War cars and owning an Austin Seven, Austin is of particular interest. James; new book is a well written selection of some of the less known history surrounding Austin, some of the history I was aware of, but the book cleared up some of the detail for me. The book not only covers the automotive side of Austin but also covers some of the side history around the people and other forms of their production such as planes. The book features a number of photos which have not been seen for some time and help to bring the history alive, along with the authors notes which as a reader I found informative and in some cases amusing. Well worth reading for anyone interested in Austin or Pre War Cars. – Dorset Austin 7 Club Magazine. James Stringer's little book is packed with tales documenting those early days if Austin history and is bound to provide enjoyable reading for those with a penchant for an altogether more leisurely era of motoring. – Speedscene.Table of Contents1. Mr Harry 2. The Austin Whippet 3. A flight into the unknown 4. An Austin named `Pobble' 5. Herbert Austin and the Mckenna duties 6. George Clarke. The silly ass 7. The 40hp Austin 8. Murder at the village 9. Testing the Austin 12/4 10. The Austin Unity Song 11. The Kensitas car 12. The ubiquitous Ausitn Seven 13. The pantomime 14. Vernon Austin 15. Touring around Australia in an Austin 12/4 16. Albert Ball V.C. 17. The Wedge 18. TAXI 19. The 1914 Austrian Alpine Trial

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Book SynopsisWith an original approach, this book chronicles every model and lists every chassis number ever produced by Alvis, one of the great British manufacturers. It details famous owners and drivers, notable number plates, and is illustrated with original period photographs, and depictions of Alvis cars in the humorous cartoons of the day. The Alvis car has always seemed to appeal to a type of buyer who has made their mark upon society in a variety of ways. This 'social history' aspect of the book looks at the many Alvis owners from the world of politics, stage and screen, sport, the armed forces, medicine, and the arts. These range from a King to a serial killer, and every variation in between. The book has been written with full cooperation and approval of the Alvis Company, and is the result of much research by the author and other enthusiasts, who have managed to allocate a very large number of registration marks to chassis, by trawling County Archive Record Offices up and down the country, thus creating a unique record that will be a valuable resource for owners and collectors.Table of Contents1. The vintage period (1920-1932) 2. The post-vintage period (1932-1940) 3. The post-war period (1945-1967) Alivs Humour - a short postscript of Alvis-related cartoons, quotes etc.

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Book SynopsisModern Singapore is a miracle. Half a century ago, it was thrown out of the Malay Federation and unwillingly became an independent nation. It was tiny, poor, almost devoid of resources, and in a hostile neighbourhood. Now, this unlikely country is at the top of almost every global national index, from high wealth and low crime to superb education and much-envied stability. But have these achievements bred a dangerous sense of complacency? Singapore now faces challenges from the constraints of authoritarian democracy to changing geographic realities and migration. Walking across this tiny island state, Nicholas Walton teases out its story from British rule and the war years to independence and beyond, exploring the problems and prosperity of the real Singapore.Trade Review'By traversing this island city state on foot, Walton explores questions worth asking . . . he is clear-eyed and unflinching in his portrayal of Singapore and its people.''Walton writes fluently and engagingly . . . his book is an excellent one-volume primer on the country.' * Literary Review *‘In this lively account of the republic. . . [Walton] writes engagingly . . . with a light touch and with a sense of humour, making judicious use of anecdotes which reveal the subterranean cracks in Singapore’s society.’ 'A rare jewel of a book--enchanting, illuminating and at times bloody funny. Much more than a travelogue or history, this is the story of a grand adventure, told in the tradition of Conrad with the eye of Theroux and the wit of Bryson. Brilliant.' -- James Brabazon, journalist, documentary filmmaker and author of 'The Break Line''What better way to discover Singapore than to walk across it? In this splendid book, Walton serves up riches of the island's history, geography, economics, and, most of all, serendipity.' -- Tyler Cowen, author of 'The Complacent Class' and 'Average Is Over''When Nicholas Walton moved with his family to Singapore, he began a voyage of discovery into the history of the city-state. Join him on his journey across the length and breadth of the island, from the fourteenth century to the present day.' -- Mark Leonard, Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations'Duly pays tribute to the way Singapore and its 5.6m inhabitants have come to top the charts that define success in the modern world. ... [Walton's] conclusions are more nuanced than either Singapore’s detractors or its cheerleaders would like.' -- The Financial Times

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Book SynopsisThe 2020 toppling of slave-trader Edward Colston's statue by Black Lives Matter protesters in Bristol was a dramatic reminder of Britain's role in trans-Atlantic slavery, too often overlooked. Yet the legacy of that predatory economy reaches far beyond bronze memorials; it continues to shape the entire visual fabric of the country. Architect Victoria Perry explores the relationship between the wealth of slave-owning elites and the architecture and landscapes of Georgian Britain. She reveals how profits from Caribbean sugar plantations fed the opulence of stately homes and landscape gardens. Trade in slaves and slave-grown products also boosted the prosperity of ports like Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow, shifting cultural influence towards the Atlantic west. New artistic centres like Bath emerged, while investment in poor, remote areas of Wales, Cumbria and Scotland led to their 're-imagining' as tourist destinations: Snowdonia, the Lakes and the Highlands. The patronage of absentee planters popularised British ideas of 'natural scenery'--viewing mountains, rivers and rocks as landscape art--and then exported the concept of 'sublime and picturesque' landscapes across the Atlantic. A Bittersweet Heritage unearths the slavery-tainted history of Britain's manors, ports, roads and countryside, and powerfully explains what this legacy means today.Trade Review''A Bittersweet Heritage' illuminates how Caribbean profits shaped not only family trees, but the planting and painting of Britain's landscape--and the mansions erected thereon.' -- Church Times'An impressive, highly readable, and beautifully illustrated book.' -- The Round Table'[A] fine, well-illustrated work of (often painful) history.' -- Context'An important and engrossing contribution to the history of Britain's place in the global slave trade, and how it shaped our urban and rural, domestic and civic fabric. Perry successfully charts this brutal past and reminds us all of how its everyday legacies continue today.' -- Tristram Hunt, historian, former MP and Director, Victoria and Albert Museum'This book showing how profits from Black slavery helped to transform Britain's architecture and landscapes gripped me from beginning to end. Enhanced by a lucid and accessible prose style together with many fascinating images, it most certainly deserves a very wide readership.' -- Sir Tom Devine, Professor Emeritus, University of Edinburgh, and editor of 'Recovering Scotland's Slavery Past: The Caribbean Connection''This is a scholarly and timely history of great country seats created from the profits of plantation slavery. It is a fascinating story of how the political, cultural, social and economic milieu both shaped their history and informs our present.' -- Simon Allford, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects'This book is eye-opening. From her essay in the renowned volume Slavery and the British Country House to this magnificent new study, Victoria Perry continues to illuminate the myriad--and surprising--architectural, rural and cultural legacies of Britain's slavery business.' -- Corinne Fowler, Professor of Postcolonial Literature, University of Leicester'A captivating if uncomfortable account of the connections – strategic and individual – between the trans-Atlantic slave trade and Britain's built and natural heritage. The design ideals of this cruel historic period have been successfully buried for generations, but Perry's meticulous research and excellent storytelling bring them to new audiences.' -- Louise Thomas, Director, Historic Towns & Villages Forum

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2022 James Beard Book Award A Guardian Best History and Politics Book of 2022 Selected as one of the 25 Best Cookbooks of 2022 in Delicious Magazine Nominated for the 2022 Spirited Awards This is the forgotten history of women making, serving and drinking alcohol. Drink has always been at the centre of social rituals and cultures worldwide—and women have been at the heart of its production and consumption. So when did drinking become gendered? How have patriarchies tried to erase and exclude women from industries they've always led, and how have women fought back? And why are things from bars to whiskey considered ‘masculine’, when, without women, they might not exist? With whip-smart insight and boundless curiosity, Girly Drinks unveils distillers, brewers, drinkers and bartenders with a vital role in the creation and consumption of alcohol, from Cleopatra, Catherine the Great and the real Veuve Clicquot to Chinese poets, medieval nuns and Prohibition bootleggers. Mallory O’Meara’s fun and fascinating history dismantles the long-standing myth that drink is a male tradition. Now, readers everywhere can discover each woman celebrated in this book—and proudly have what she’s having.Trade Review'The history book that has made me laugh most this year. O’Meara takes readers on a wild ride from ancient Sumerian beer goddess Ninkasi, via 12th-century Chinese poet and boozehound Li Qingzhao, to the “Bahama Queen”, gunslinging prohibition bootlegger Cleo Lythgoe. Written in a conversational style, this book feels like having cocktails with some of the most fascinating – and dangerous – women in history. Cheers!' -- Alex von Tunzelmann, The Guardian, 'The Best History and Politics Books of 2022'‘This feminist history of alcohol . . . argues . . . that making and consuming alcohol has always been women’s business.’ -- The Sunday Times‘[An] intoxicating read.’ -- Delicious Magazine, 'The 25 Best Cookbooks of 2022''Girly Drinks is anything but--a raw shot of boozy history that stings as well as it soothes!' -- Patton Oswalt‘A fascinating history.’ -- Buzzfeed'[A] thorough, and thoroughly entertaining, history... Elegantly woven into each cheeky chapter is rigorous historical context... O'Meara glides easily from the 17th-century pulquerias of Mexico to the feminine 'fern bars' of the 1970s, making sure to not to forget the queen of girly drinks: the Cosmopolitan. Provoking both thought and laughter, this serves as bracing refreshment from a master textual mixologist.' -- Publishers Weekly, starred review'At last, the feminist history of booze we've been waiting for!' -- Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist'Feminist and very funny... O'Meara deftly blends in equal measures of social history, gossip, and solid research, and adds enjoyable footnotes... women have discovered, invented, advanced, championed, and celebrated alcohol.' -- Booklist'This is a book that should be on any beverage alcohol enthusiast's shelf.' -- American Whiskey Magazine'[In Girly Drinks] Mallory O'Meara... returns to the realm of historically overlooked women who did extremely cool sh*t with a feminist history of drinking through the ages.' -- Lit Hub'An insightful, entertaining feminist history of women and alcohol through the ages.' -- USA Today'With this lively book Mallory O'Meara has provided a real service, giving us not only a long-overdue new perspective on a great many familiar issues, but also raising all kinds of other issues that are unfamiliar and shouldn't be.' -- David Wondrich, author of Imbibe'Cheers to Mallory O'Meara and her serious yet seriously entertaining treatise on the history of gendered drinks. Girly Drinks will introduce you to queens and nuns, bootleggers and bartenders, telling their stories and proving the point that all drinks are girly drinks.' -- Jeanette Hurt, author of Wisconsin Cocktails and Drink Like a Woman

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Book SynopsisMeltdown investigates and recreates the dramatic events behind the most notorious nuclear accidents in history, as well as those shrouded in secrecy. Combining human tragedy with intriguing science, each account reveals new aspects of humanity's complex relationship with nuclear power and the ongoing struggle to harness and control it. From the pioneers of Los Alamos who got up close and personal with the cores of atomic bombs, to the hapless engineers in Soviet fuel-processing plants who unwittingly mixed up a disaster in a bucket, and from the terrifying impact of a tsunami at Fukushima to the mystery of the recent Russian incident, Meltdown explores the past and future of this extraordinary and potentially lethal source of infinite power. Table of ContentsSplitting the Atom • Explorers of New Worlds • Louis Slotin and the Demon Core • the Town That Wasn't There • Spoilt Milk • Burning Up • the Wrong-shaped Bottle • a Slip of the Hand • Broken Arrow • Human Error • Don't Rock the Boat • Nuclear Nightmare • Concentration Critical • the Four Horsemen • the Nyonoska Mystery.

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Book SynopsisIn this book the award-winning Belfast journalist and author reflects on a long career of reporting on the main events in Northern Ireland over the past sixty years and on the aftermath of conflictsin the developing world including Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Vietnam and Rwanda. He covered theworst of the Troubles from the beginning in 1968-69 and reported on some of the most disturbing atrocities such as Bloody Sunday, the Kingsmills Massacre and the no-warning IRA explosion at the EnniskillenCenotaph on Remembrance Sunday. Hehas seen religion at its worst and its best, and he observes how the Christian faith has sustained so many people in times of great suffering and distress, and how the mis- practice of this faith has led to division, misunderstanding and hostility.The author also reflects on his experience of reporting on well-knownfigures in Northern Ireland ranging from Gordon and

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Book SynopsisA lavishly illustrated military and social history of the forces in Germany, published to coincide with the winding down of the operation in 2019-20. The book is split into decades and covers important military strategy, political events such as the Berlin Airlift and the fall of the Wall, but also the experiences of British soldiers and the increasing integration of British troops and the German population, and their domestic and family lives.

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Book Synopsis'Turner's seductive blend of political analysis, social reportage and cultural immersion puts him wonderfully at ease with his readers' David Kynaston 'Reading Alwyn Turner's account of life in the first two decades of the 21st century is a bit like trying to recall a dream from three nights ago ... uncannily familiar, but the details are downright implausible ' Kathryn Hughes, Guardian Weaving politics and popular culture into a mesmerising tapestry, historian Alwyn Turner tells the definitive story of the Blair, Brown and Cameron years. Some details may trigger a laugh of recognition (the spectre of bird flu; the electoral machinations of Robert Kilroy-Silk). Others are so surreal you could be forgiven for blocking them out first time around (did Peter Mandelson really enlist a Candomblé witch doctor to curse Gordon Brown's press secretary?). The deepest patterns, however, only reveal themselves at a certain distance. Through the Iraq War and the 2008 crash, the rebirth of light entertainment and the rise of the 'problematic', Turner shows how the crisis in the soul of a nation played out in its daily dramas and nightly distractions.Trade ReviewUp there with the best ... Reading it is almost like an out-of-body experience, in which you realise that your life and times will one day be as ancient to others as the Neolithic period is to us ... All In It Together zings along with such telltale facts and figures, often with an injection of black humour ... Wonderfully shrewd ... Brilliant -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *Hugely engaging ... Turner's genius lies in finding the odd little stories that get under the nation's skin and reveal what people were really thinking ... He writes with a tremendous sense of fun. The result is a rare thing: not just a serious work of contemporary history, but an unashamed, 24-carat hoot -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Astute and entertaining -- Philip Johnston * Telegraph *Turner's seductive blend of political analysis, social reportage and cultural immersion puts him wonderfully at ease with his readers -- David KynastonReading Alwyn Turner's account of life in the first two decades of the 21st century is a bit like trying to recall a dream from three nights ago. The theme and the mood feel uncannily familiar, but the details are downright implausible ... His great skill lies in spotting themes that we might have missed the first time around -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *Turner may be an anorak, but he is an acutely intelligent anorak -- Francis Wheen * New Statesman *Turner writes with great fluidity, his tone underpinned by a prevailing sense of irony: even the footnotes are enjoyable ... This is a serious undertaking by a popular historian -- Charlotte Henry * TLS *For the first draft of very recent history, there's no more entertaining writer than Alwyn Turner ... a gloriously funny romp ... amid the welter of anecdotes he also has a thoroughly compelling argument about the loss of trust, the rise of populism and the emergence of Nigel Farage as the most influential politician of the age -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times Books of the Year *

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Book Synopsis'The real world of Jane Austen is brought vividly to life in this beautifully written, endlessly captivating and often surprising account of Regency women. Not to be missed' Tracy Borman'If Georgette Heyer had written non-fiction it might have looked like this' Helena Kelly, author of Jane Austen, The Secret Radical'It rackets along - a thoroughly researched, often tantalising, account of the occasional ups and horrifying downs of the Georgian marriage market' - Gill Hornby, author of Godmersham ParkThe stories of the real women of Regency high society, revealing the facts behind the fiction of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer.From glossy costume dramas to gripping reads, the glamorous world of Regency London's Bon Ton is synonymous with romance - a place where dashing heroes and independently minded heroines flirt, fight and side-step scandal, all while in pursuit of the perfect match. But who were the real women who went looking for love in the age of elegance, and what were their lives really like?Taking us behind drawing room doors and into high society ballrooms, The Game of Hearts follows six leading ladies and their family, friends, and contemporaries as they move from matchmaking to matrimony and beyond. Candid insights into the competitive world of the marriage mart; real stories of rakish husbands and rich heiresses; and true tales of lost and long-lasting love, reveal not just Regency courtship customs, but truly captivating lives.Using diaries, letters and stories of scandal from the newspapers, author Felicity Day pieces together a rich and intimate view of this most beloved period of British history, showcasing the voices and opinions, hopes and desires of the real women who lived and loved in the Regency era.Trade Review'If Georgette Heyer had written non-fiction it might have looked like this. In The Game of Hearts, Felicity Day uncovers the real lives and loves of the Regency super-rich, ushering us into a world filled with heiresses, parties, grand estates, and more scandal than Bridgerton's Lady Whistledown. Moving from ballrooms to courtrooms and on to the battlefields of Waterloo, Day marries fine historical sense with romantic sensibility, proving that Regency fact is even more fascinating than Regency fiction' -- Helena Kelly - author of Jane Austen, The Secret Radical'The real world of Jane Austen is brought vividly to life in this beautifully written, endlessly captivating and often surprising account of Regency women. Not to be missed' -- Tracy Borman'It rackets along - a thoroughly researched, often tantalising, account of the occasional ups and horrifying downs of the Georgian marriage market' -- Gill Hornby * author of Godmersham Park *

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Book SynopsisIn mythology, art history and religious iconography, the apple has been imbued with every imaginable human desire. It has been a symbol of love and beauty, of temptation, of immortality, peace, death and poison, of sin and redemption. From Adam and Eve to the trials of Heracles, to the art of Cézanne and Magritte, to Newton’s theory of gravity, the death of Alan Turing and the growth of Steve Jobs, the apple resonates throughout western culture. It is Snow White, William Tell, it is The Beatles and the Viking gods, it is even the American frontier. Now, Barnaby Barford offers a celebration of this fruit, exploring its impact on the history of humankind. Apples have become a recent feature of Barford’s eye-catching installations, whether ripe and healthy or in a state of decay. The Apple is Everything guides the reader through Barford’s work and ideology.

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Book SynopsisAll aboard for a delicious ride on nine legendary railway journeys! Meals associated with train travel have been an important aspect of railway history for more than a century - from dinners in dining cars to lunches at station buffets to foods purchased from platform vendors. For many travellers, the experience of eating on a railway journey is often a highlight of the trip, a major part of the `romance of the rails'. Food on the Move focuses on the culinary history of these famous journeys on five continents, from the earliest days of rail travel to the present. The engaging story and vivid illustrations invite readers to discover an array of railway feasts: haute cuisine in the elegant dining carriages of the Orient Express, American steak-and-eggs on the Santa Fe Super Chief, and home-cooked regional foods along the Trans-Siberian tracks. Readers will be tempted to eat their way across Canada's vast interior and Australia's dusty Outback; grab an infamous `British railway sandwich' to munch on the Flying Scotsman; snack on spicy samosas on the Darjeeling Himalayan `Toy Train'; dine at high speed on Japan's `Bullet Train'; and sip South African wines in a Blue Train luxury lounge car featuring windows of glass fused with gold dust. Written by eight different authors who have travelled on those legendary lines, the book include recipes, from the dining cars and station eateries, taken from historical menus and contributed by contemporary chefs. Food on the Move is a veritable feast!Trade Review"Hudgins and seven other writers recount the glory days of train travel, specifically focusing on the cuisine that travelers used to partake of en route. It wasn't just the presence of cloth napkins, fine china, and real silverware that made the trip special; thought and care also went into crafting menus and selecting fine wine. Behind the scenes, chefs contended with the logistics of butchering meat (on board!) and keeping food cold, while the waitstaff made travelers feel like honored guests. Yes, once upon a time, it really was just like in the movies. Hudgins and her crew cover the globe from Japan's bullet train to the famed Orient Express to British Railways' Flying Scotsman. Even the United States, Canada, and Australia all once had train lines that knew how to 'put on a spread.' Readers will appreciate all of the research that shines in each chapter, but included photographs and recipes are sure to whet many a nostalgic appetite for a slower, more gentle, more genteel way of life and travel."--Booklist "Food and trains, my twin passions, are brought together brilliantly in this guided tour of the symbiotic relationship between railways and eating. Whether it is a simple aloo dum enjoyed in the hill town of Darjeeling, caviar on the Trans-Siberian or a feast on Orient Express, this book makes you want to go on every journey and eat every meal described in it." --Christian Wolmar, author of Engines of the Raj: How the Steam Age Transformed India

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