True stories of survival of abuse and injustice Books

Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERAn extraordinary insight into life under one of the world's most ruthless and secretive dictatorships and the story of one woman's terrifying struggle to avoid capture/repatriation and guide her family to freedom.As a child growing up in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee was one of millions trapped by a secretive and brutal communist regime. Her home on the border with China gave her some exposure to the world beyond the confines of the Hermit Kingdom and, as the famine of the 1990s struck, she began to wonder, question and to realise that she had been brainwashed her entire life. Given the repression, poverty and starvation she witnessed surely her country could not be, as she had been told the best on the planet?Aged seventeen, she decided to escape North Korea. She could not have imagined that it would be twelve years before she was reunited with her family.Trade Review‘The most riveting TED talk ever’ Oprah ‘Harrowing’ Wired ‘A sad and beautiful story of a girl who could not even keep her name, yet overcame all with the identity of what it is to be human’ Jang Jin-sung, author of ‘Dear Leader’ ‘Stirring and brave … true, committed, unvarnished and honest. Lee has made her own life the keyhole to the present, inside and outside of North Korea’ Scotsman ‘Remarkable bravery fluently recounted’ Kirkus

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Book SynopsisWhat happened to Joe, and how the pair dealt with the psychological traumas that resulted when Simon was forced into the appalling decision to cut the rope, makes not only an epic of survival but a compelling testament of friendship.Trade ReviewA brilliant, vivd, gripping, heart-stopping account of their terrifying adventure... Superbly written * Sunday Express *One of the absolute classics of mountaineering...a document of psychological, even philosophical witness of the rarest compulsion -- George Steiner * Sunday Times *On every level it is an outstanding literary achievement * Independent *A quite extraordinary and moving book...Touching the Void touches the Great Questions in an understated yet utterly compelling way * Guardian *A truly astonishing account of suffering and fortitude...the narrative acquires an irresistible force, carrying all before it * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisAbducted from Africa, sold in America.A deeply affecting record of an extraordinary life- Daily TelegraphA major literary event: a newly published work from the author of the American classic Their Eyes Were Watching God, with a foreword from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker.The true story of one of the last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade.In August 1931, famed anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston travelled to Alabama to visit ninety-year-old Cudjo Lewis, a former slave.Over three months, Cudjo shared heart-rending memories of his childhood in Africa; the horrors of being captured fifty years after slavery was outlawed and held in the Ouidah barracoons for selection by American slavers; the harrowing ordeal of the Middle Passage aboard the Clotilda with over one hundred other souls; and the years he spent in slavery.Barracoon brings to life Cudjo's singular voice in an invaluable contribution to history and culture, a work as poignant as it is profound.Trade Review“That Zora Neale Hurston should find and befriend Cudjo Lewis, the last living man with firsthand memory of capture in Africa and captivity in Alabama, is nothing shy of a miracle. Barracoon is a testament to the enormous losses millions of men, women and children endured in both slavery and freedom—a story of urgent relevance to every American, everywhere.” Tracy K. Smith, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Life on Mars and Wade in the Water “Zora Neale Hurston’s genius has once again produced a Maestrapiece.” Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Color Purple “Barracoon is a powerful, breathtakingly beautiful, and at times, heart wrenching, account of one man’s story, eloquently told in his own language. Zora Neale Hurston gives Kossola control of his narrative— a gift of freedom and humanity. It completely reinforces for me the fact that Zora Neale Hurston was both a cultural anthropologist and a truly gifted, and compassionate storyteller, who sat in the sometimes painful silence with Kossola and the depth and breadth of memory as a slave. Such is a narrative filled with emotions and histories bursting at the intricately woven seams.” Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Here Comes the Sun “A searing reminder of how recently American slavery ended, and the depth of the pain it caused.” The Economist “A deeply affecting record of an extraordinary life.” Daily Telegraph “Barracoon and its long path to print is a testament to Zora’s singular vision amid so many competing pressures that continue to put us at war with ourselves.” Huffington Post Books of the Year – The Economist Best Books of 2018 – New York Public Library Best Books of 2018 – NPR Best Books of 2018 – SELF.com Best Non-Fiction Books of 2018 – TIME

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Book SynopsisThe second novel, and first quick read title, from Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author Cathy Glass. My Dad's a Policeman is a dramatic and engaging story of a young boy with an alcoholic mother. Lonely, bullied and desperate for a life of happiness and security he tells everyone he meets his dad's a policeman.

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Book SynopsisDamian longs for home, but one man stands in his way Damian is just seven when he is taken in by foster carer Cathy Glass. His mother, Rachel, loves her three young children dearly, but she is vulnerable, naive and unable to cope on her own.Cathy sets about helping Damian overcome his eating issues, with the hope that he will eventually return home. But when Rachel's new boyfriend, Troy, arrives on the scene, Cathy becomes deeply concerned. She soon realises that Damian and his siblings are in great danger

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Book Synopsis''Please help me,'' he said in a small voice. ''Will you help me?''Six-year-old Ralph has only been in the care system for three days and has already been rejected by three different foster carers. After hitting a teacher at his school and causing mayhem since he arrived four months ago, staff are unable to get a hold of his mum and her partner.Social Services are called and when Ralph turns up at Maggie''s house, she knows immediately it''s going to be a challenge. Within a couple of hours, Ralph has trashed Maggie''s house and spit on her face. After a nightmare first day though, Maggie notices that Ralph is limping and a hospital check reveals broken limbs and several injuries that are months and years old. Can Maggie help this troubled little boy who has been rejected by everyone in his life find his forever home?From Britain''s most-loved foster carer, a new powerful true story of abuse, family and hope.

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Book Synopsis''A wonderful, compelling read''Vassos Alexander, radio presenter and ultrarunnerWelcome to the Barkley Marathons, a fever dream of an ultra event, inspired by a prison break, heralded by a conch blast, paid for in cigarettes and socks, and completed only by a select few. A race in which competitors haul themselves up mountains, through extreme weather conditions, beyond pain and exhaustion, mile after mile. Completed 60 miles? That's just the fun run.Journalist and ultrarunner Michiel Panhuysen is a multiple-time Barkley entrant, having fallen under the spell of this most enigmatic of races and its presiding philosopher-genius organizer Lazarus Lake in the early 2010s. On each occasion, the Barkley won. The Barkley nearly always wins.In the Spell of the Barkley is a story of sporting obsession, exploring what drives individuals to challenge themselves at the limits of what is possible and what it takes to succeed.Trade ReviewA compelling account of one of the world's most enigmatic races, captured by an author fully in thrall * Michael Crawley, author of Out of Thin Air *The engrossing story of his fascination with, and multiple attempts to complete, the world’s most difficult ultramarathon race ... highly recommend * Frozen Ed Furtaw, the first person to finish the Barkley marathon *A wonderful, compelling read * Vassos Alexander *

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Book SynopsisA bold graphic novel adaptation of Lauren Tarshis''s bestselling I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii, AD 79, with text adapted by Georgia Ball and art by Dave Shephard.The beast beneath the mountain is restless...No one in the bustling city of Pompeii worries when the ground trembles beneath their feet. The beast under the mountain Vesuvius, high above the city, wakes up angry sometimes -- and always goes back to sleep.But Marcus is afraid. He knows something is terribly wrong -- and his father, who trusts science more than mythical beasts, agrees. When Vesuvius explodes into a huge cloud of ash and rocks that fall from the sky like rain, will they have time to escape -- and survive the epic destruction of Pompeii?Lauren Tarshis''s New York Times bestselling I Survived series comes to vivid life in graphic novel editions. Perfect for readers who prefer the graphic novel format, or for existing fans of the I Survived ch

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Book SynopsisBlaine Harden is a reporter for PBS Frontline and a contributor to the Economist, based in Seattle, having completed a tour as the Washington Post's bureau chief in Tokyo. He is the prize-winning, acclaimed author of two books: Africa: Dispatches from a Fragile Continent and A River Lost: The Life and Death of the Columbia and the author of Escape from Camp 14.Trade ReviewThis is a story unlike any other because Shin is one of the few, if not only, long-term prisoners to have escaped from the North Korean gulag . . . The integrity of this book, shines through on every page. -- Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea‘Harrowing . . . Harden’s account of Shin’s extraordinary, perilous journey through North Korea and into China (which has a history of sending asylum seekers back to North Korea) and later to South Korea is gripping stuff . . . bearing witness will be Shin’s legacy’ Daily Mail‘Harden sheds light on the horrors of North Korea, with a gripping account of the story of Shin In Geun’ Financial Times - Favourite Books of 2012'Until recently, full accounts of life in this famine-riven dystopia were hard to come by. Then a couple of years ago, Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy provided excoriating testimonies of refugees who had managed to escape into China and then on to South Korea. The picture those witnesses drew of North Korea was of one vast and brutal gulag. Now comes Escape From Camp 14, a still more harrowing account of the gulag within the gulag, the huge prison camps that litter the more remote provinces of this benighted country. Written by Blaine Harden, an experienced American journalist, it tells the extraordinary story of Shin Dong-hyuk, the only person born in the gulag to have escaped’ Guardian‘Harden knows a lot about North Korea and he wears his knowledge lightly . . . Harden deserves a lot more than ‘wow’ for this terrifying, grim and, at the very end, slightly hopeful story of a damaged man still alive only by chance, whose life, even in freedom, has been dreadful’ Literary ReviewHarrowing story of a young man’s flight from one of the slave labor camps where as many as 200,000 political unreliables — a category that includes not just those who run afoul of authority but their relatives for three generations — are sent to be starved, tortured and ultimately worked to death. Harden’s book, besides being a gripping story, unsparingly told, carries a freight of intelligence about this black hole of a country’ * New York Times *‘A skilfully researched piece of book-length journalism uncluttered, as far as seems reasonable, with emotion. It is old now, the saying that for evil to exist, good men must do nothing. And that is what you take away, more than anything, from Harden's book. More than why the crimes against humanity are happening in the first place, more than whose responsibility it is to stop them, the question is why — for the sake not of politics but of mankind — is nobody in power doing anything about it?’ SpectatorIn depicting the depravity of North Korean prison life, Harden’s book is an important portrait of man’s inhumanity to man’ Washington Post

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Book SynopsisThe key missing piece of Jon Krakauer's multi million, multi territory bestseller and widely acclaimed Sean Penn film Into the Wild is finally revealed by his best friend and sister, Carine.The story of Chris McCandless, who gave away his savings, hitchhiked to Alaska, walked into the wilderness alone, and starved to death in 1992, fascinated not just New York Times bestselling author Jon Krakauer, but the rest of the nation too. Krakauer's book and a Sean Penn film skyrocketed Chris McCandless to worldwide fame, but the real story of his life and his journey has not yet been told until now.Carine McCandless, Chris's sister, featured in both the book and film, was the person with whom he had the closest bond, and who witnessed firsthand the dysfunctional and violent family dynamic that made Chris willing to embrace the harsh wilderness of Alaska. Growing up in the same troubled and volatile household that sent Chris on his fatal journey into the wild, Carine finally reveals the broade

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION''Vivid and empowering'' GILLIAN ANDERSON''A stunning book' BERNARDINE EVARISTODazzling' TARA WESTOVERA story about hope, imagination and resilience'GUARDIANAn award-winning, inspiring memoir of family, education and resilience.Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where luxury hotels line pristine white sand beaches, Safiya Sinclair grew up guarding herself against an ever-present threat. Her father, a volatile reggae musician and strict believer in a militant sect of Rastafari, railed against Babylon, the corrupting influence of the immoral Western world just beyond their gate. To protect the purity of the women in their family he forbade almost everything.Her mother did what she could to bring joy to her children with books and poetry. But as Safiya's imagination reached beyond its restrictive borders, her burgeoning independence brought with it ever greater clashes with her father. Soon she realised that if she was to live at all, she Trade Review ‘An electrifying memoir’ Observer ‘A story about hope, imagination and resilience’ Guardian ‘Glimmering … laced with poetic voice’ Time ‘A breathless, scorching memoir’ New York Times Book Review ‘Electrifying’ Spectator ‘A stirring account of one woman’s break from the parameters imposed on her’ Elle ‘A narrative marvel … To read it is to believe that words can save’ Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings ‘Unforgettable, mesmerising, heartbreaking and heartwarming … One of the best memoirs in world literature’ Elif Shafak, author of The Island of Missing Trees ‘Sinclair's lush, lyrical language makes everything feel alive’ Raven Leilani, author of Luster ‘Full of courage and poetry … an instant contemporary Caribbean classic’ Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch ‘Atmospheric and completely absorbing … A fascinating story lushly told’ Diana Evans, author of A House for Alice ‘Essential … Sinclair’s devotion to language has been lifelong, and How to Say Babylon is the result’ Jesmyn Ward, author of Sing, Unburied, Sing ‘Gut-wrenching, soul-stirring, electrifying’ Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Here Comes the Sun ‘Immersive, imagistic, honest … A quiet testimony, a loud prayer and a large gift’ Raymond Antrobus, author of All the Names Given ‘Destined to become a feminist classic’ Lisa Allen-Agostini, author of The Bread the Devil Knead ‘Heart-warming, tender and fierce’ Lily Dunn, author of Sins of My Father ‘Beautifully rendered and an incredible story’ Natasha Trethewey, author of Memorial Drive ‘A story with radiant transformative power. I couldn’t put it down’ Nadia Osuwu, author of Aftershocks ‘Stunning’ Imani Perry, author of South to America

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Book SynopsisAfter years of physical and mental abuse, Jade thought her kindly foster mother would be the answer to her prayers. She was wrong this is her staggering true story.This must be what prison is like,' I thought as another hour crawled by. In fact, prison would be better at least you knew your sentence. You could tick off the days until you got out. In the Bad Room we had no idea how long we'd serve.After years of constant abuse, Jade thought her foster mother Linda Black would be the answer to her prayers. Loving and nurturing, she offered ten-year-old Jade a life free of fear.But once the regular social-worker checks stopped, Linda turned and over the next six years Jade and three other girls were kept prisoner in a bedroom they called the bad room'.Shut away for 16 hours at a time, they were starved, violently beaten, forbidden from speaking or using the toilet and routinely humiliated. Jade was left feeling broken and suicidal.This is the powerful true story of how one woman banishe

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZEWINNER OF IRISH BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZEThe most important work of contemporary reporting I have ever read' SALLY ROONEYThe treatment of refugees has become one of the most devastating human rights disasters in our history. In this book, award-winning journalist Sally Hayden unfolds a staggering investigation into the migrant crisis across North Africa.This book follows the experiences of refugees, telling a range of shocking and eye-opening human stories. But it also surveys the bigger picture: the negligence of NGOs and corruption within the United Nations. The economics of the twenty-first-century slave trade and the EU's bankrolling of Libyan militias. The trials of people smugglers, the frustrations of aid workers, the loopholes refugees seek out and the role of social media in crowdfunding ransoms. Who was accountable for the abuse? Where were the people finding solutions? Why wasn't it being widely reported?At its heart, this is a book about people who have made unimaginable choices, risking everything to survive in a system that wants them to be silent and disappear.Trade Review‘Journalism of the most urgent kind’Financial Times ‘[A] devastating, moving and damning account of one of the tragedies of our age … Hayden never flinches in documenting human nature at its worst – its best is shown here, too’Irish Independent ‘The most important work of contemporary reporting I have ever read … I hope that Sally Hayden's work can help to begin a radically new and overdue discussion about Europe's approach to migration and borders’Sally Rooney ‘What a devastating book about the catastrophic inhumanity of European migration policy. It’s a journalistic masterpiece. Shattering stories. It absolutely demands to be read … Essential’Max Porter, author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers ‘Extremely good’Mark O’Connell, author of Notes from an Apocalypse ‘Compassionate, brave, enraging, beautifully written and incredibly well researched. Hayden exposes the truth’Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland ‘One of the most important testaments of this awful time in life's history. It is both heartbreaking and stoic. I cry reading any page of it. Sally Hayden is a young and brilliant journalist’Edna O'Brien, author of The Little Red Chairs ‘Quite simply, an unexpected tour de force … deserves critical acclaim and a wide readership … I found this book unputtdownable’Jon Lee Anderson, staff writer at The New Yorker ‘This vivid chronicle … may make you cry, but it should make you angry … A blistering rebuke’Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor of Channel 4 News ‘A veritable masterclass in journalism … The most riveting, detailed and damning account ever written on the deadliest of migration routes’Christina Lamb, Chief Foreign Correspondent of the Sunday Times ‘Heart-stopping … A vital book for anyone who wants to feel what it means to be human in the 21st century’Fintan O’Toole, author of We Don’t Know Ourselves

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE NONFICTION CROWN AWARD 2024GUARDIAN: BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2024''GRIPPING'' THE TIMESThis is an immersive and revelatory history of the survivors of the Clotilda, the last ship of the Atlantic slave trade, whose lives diverged and intersected in profound ways.The Clotilda docked in Mobile Bay, Alabama, in July 1860 more than half a century after the passage of a federal law banning the importation of captive Africans, and nine months before the beginning of the Civil War. The last of its survivors lived well into the twentieth century. They were the last witnesses to the final act of a terrible and significant period in world history.In this epic work, Dr. Hannah Durkin tells the stories of the Clotilda's 110 captives, drawing on her intensive archival, historical, and sociological research. Survivors follows their lives from their kidnappings in what is modern-day Nigeria through a terrifying 45-day journey across the Middle Passage; from the subsequent sale of the ship's 103 surviving children and young people into slavery across Alabama to the dawn of the Civil Rights movement in Selma; from the foundation of an all-Black African Town (later Africatown) in Northern Mobile an inspiration for writers of the Harlem Renaissance, including Zora Neale Hurston to the foundation of the quilting community of Gee's Bend a Black artistic circle whose cultural influence remains enormous.An astonishing, deeply compelling tapestry of history, biography and social commentary, Survivors is a tour de force that deepens our knowledge and understanding of the Atlantic slave trade and its far-reaching influence on life today.Trade Review‘Gripping . . . a remarkably wide-ranging book taking in everything from science to soft drinks to show how slavery’s insidious hand wormed its way into the very fabric of American life' The Times 'Hannah Durkin lets the enslaved speak for themselves, and they tell a story not only of unimaginable suffering but also of courage and survival' Wall Street Journal 'Devastating and visceral… Durkin’s exhaustive, exhilarating research has created something new – something personal, emotional, almost tangible – from the history of this collective trauma' Literary Review 'Survivors, a comprehensive account of one of the most important parts of American history, is a triumph’ Booklist (starred review) ‘A sweeping history of the survivors of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to land in America . . . Durkin’s in-depth view is based largely on the survivors’ own words and perspectives (some lived into the 20th century and related their stories to various writers, most notably Zora Neale Hurston), and is woven together with her extensive archival research. It’s a stirring saga of resilience that sheds new light on Black life in postbellum America’ Publishers Weekly (starred review) ‘A highly recommended sweeping saga. Based on a rich archive that includes the survivors’ own stories, one of which became the basis for Zora Neale Hurston’s Barracoon, this title provides a human history of enslaved people and a portrait of the postbellum South’ Library Journal (starred review) ‘A welcome history of defiance and survival’ Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.''Fifteen men on the dead man''s chest Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!''Upon finding a map in his parents'' inn, young Jim Hawkins joins a crew on route to the Caribbean to find buried treasure. One of his crew, the charming, yet devious Long John Silver is determined to snag the booty for himself and Jim''s swashbuckling voyage becomes a mutinous and murderous adventure where his own bravery is put to the test and he discovers much about friendship, loyalty and betrayal.

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Book SynopsisThe inside story of a case that illustrates the horrific perils of unchecked prosecutorial overreach, written by the man who experienced it firsthand.Raj Rajaratnam, the respected founder of the iconic hedge fund Galleon Group, which managed $7 billion and employed 180 people in its heyday, chose to go to trial rather than concede to a false narrative concocted by ambitious prosecutors looking for a scapegoat for the 2008 financial crisis. Naively perhaps, Rajaratnam had expected to get a fair hearing in court. As an immigrant who had achieved tremendous success in his adopted country, he trusted the system. He had not anticipated prosecutorial overreach—inspired by political ambition—FBI fabrications, judicial compliance, and lies told under oath by cooperating witnesses. In the end, Rajaratnam was convicted and sentenced to eleven years in prison. He served seven and a half. Meanwhile, not a single senior bank executive responsible for the financial crisis was even charged. Uneven Justice is the story of his bewildering and confounding prosecution by forces who, quite frankly, were looking for bigger game. When Rajaratnam refused to support the narrative that would make that happen, he and the Galleon Group became collateral damage. A cautionary tale with implications for us all, Uneven Justice is both a riveting page-turner and an eye-opening lesson in the vagaries of justice when an unscrupulous prosecutor is calling the shots.Trade Review“The book, "Uneven Justice," makes a persuasive case that this prosecution served to cover up the embarrassment of the Obama DOJ's malfeasance and advance the ambitious Bharara's career. But it's most important point is that the entire justice system is rigged against defendants. Obviously, few people are going to sympathize with a billionaire hedge fund manager. But that's the point. That's not the book's goal. His case is done. The book is a genuine, serious, in-depth study of all the ways federal prosecutors have unchecked power to destroy people. Federal prosecutors routinely threaten people's families, conceal exculpatory evidence, exploit the fact that almost anything is a crime, and in general have rigged the system to make acquittal almost impossible. If it takes Rajaratnam to help expose that, this book is welcomed.” -- Glenn Greenwald, Pulitzer Prize winning Journalist, NY Times Best Selling Author and former constitutional lawyer

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Book SynopsisA powerful look at authoritarian India through the experiences of political prisonersTrade Review'A telling account of repression and resistance in the new India.' -- Jean Drèze, Indian economist'Those who want to understand the nature of today’s political regime in India need to read this book. Focusing on the situation of dozens of political prisoners whose words had never been reproduced so extensively so far, it shows how the Modi government is criminalising dissent. The demise of the rule of law is precipitated by the instrumentalization of the security apparatus and the making of a 'parallel regime of truth'.' -- Christophe Jaffrelot, Professor of Indian Politics and Sociology, King's College London'An important testament to the dystopian state of the nation through powerful documentation of the incarceration of dissent in contemporary India.' -- Alpa Shah, author of 'Nightmarch: Among India’s Revolutionary Guerrillas''A brave and necessary record of how behind tall prison walls, some of India’s finest hearts and minds are locked away by a state fearful of their dreams. A book of aching, terrible beauty, bearing witness to the stubborn endurance of idealism, of courage and humanity shining through soul-numbing injustice' -- Harsh Mander, writer, human rights and peace worker, teacherTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. A Season of Arrests 2. Wages of Impunity: Cracking Down on Dissent 3. The Lies Factory 4. A Community in Resistance 5. Small things 6. Voices of Indian Political Prisoners 7. Name the Names Epilogue: When the State Enters Your Home

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewTotally gripping … A fascinating, revelatory and surreal WWII story of almost incredible courage and unspeakable horror – how a Polish resistance fighter helped reveal the secret of the final solution from inside Auschwitz * Simon Sebag Montefiore *A remarkable book. Fairweather’s account is often harrowing; but it is an important account of the suffering and tragedy in Nazi death camps, told using many previously unpublished sources - and from a new perspective. * Peter Frankopan *Well-researched, well-written and searingly memorable, Jack Fairweather’s book reminds us of the capacity for nobility in the human soul in times of unimaginable peril * Andrew Roberts, bestselling author of ‘Churchill: Walking with Destiny’ *Few books have enthralled, incensed and haunted me as “The Volunteer” has done. There were times I felt compelled to set it aside. There were others when hours of reading passed in what felt like moments … This is a story that has long deserved a robust, faithful telling, and he has delivered it * Wall Street Journal *An extraordinary story * The Times *Superbly written and breathtakingly researched … a story of incalculable value delivered in the most compelling prose I have read in a long time * Sebastian Junger, #1 New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist *What distinguishes The Volunteer is Fairweather’s meticulous attention to accuracy … if it sometimes seems as though there is nothing left to uncover about the Holocaust, Fairweather’s gripping book proves otherwise * The Spectator *Combines the verve of a thriller with the detailed evidence of the sober, hideous truth -- Anne de Courcy * The Telegraph *A searing account … a fitting memorial to one of Poland’s greatest war heroes and a shaming indictment of the western allies’ failure to act * Sunday Times *A forceful narrative with unstoppable reading momentum, Fairweather has created an insightful biography of a covert war hero and an extraordinary contribution to the history of the Holocaust. * Starred booklist review *Witold Pilecki is one of the great—perhaps the greatest—unsung heroes of the second world war ... Jack Fairweather's meticulous and insightful book is likely to be the definitive version of this extraordinary life * Economist *An outstanding achievement ... a harrowing tale, revealing the depths of human depravity, redeemed by the shining courage and nobility of one of humanity's heroes. * Patrick Bishop, bestselling author FIGHTER BOYS *

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Book SynopsisThe Hachette Essentials series comprises a collection of titles that are regarded as modern classics. A carefully and lovingly curated selection of distinctive, ground-breaking fiction and non-fiction titles published since 1950. Timeless. Relevant. Passionate. Unified as a series - distinctive as books. A good book is great. A great book is essential.In the shadow of Auschwitz, a flamboyant German industrialist grew into a living legend to the Jews of Cracow. He was a womaniser, a heavy-drinker and a bon viveur, but to them he became a saviour. This is the extraordinary story of Oskar Schindler, who risked his life to protect Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland and who was transformed by the war into a man with a mission, a compassionate angel of mercy.Thomas Keneally's novel first brought the story of Oskar Schindler to international attention in 1982, when it won the Booker Prize. It was made by Steven Spielberg into the Oscar-winning film Schindler's List in 1993, the year Schindler and his wife were named Righteous Among the Nations.Trade ReviewAn extraordinary achievement -- Graham Greene, author of BRIGHTON ROCKBrilliantly detailed, moving, powerful and gripping * The Times *Thomas Keneally has done marvellous justice to a marvellous story * Sunday Times *This remarkable book has the immediacy and the almost unbearable detail of a thousand eye witnesses who forgot nothing * New York Times Book Review *Keneally is a superb storyteller. With Schindler's Ark he has given us his best book yet, a magnificent novel which held me from the first page to the last -- Alan Sillitoe, author of SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNINGAn extraordinary tale . . .no summary can adequately convey the stratagems and reverses and sudden twists of fortune . . . A notable achievement * New York Review of Books *A magnificent book, powerful, harrowing and beautifully written * Sunday Express *A fine and moving story * Evening Standard *Fascinating, expertly told and impossible to put down * Bookseller *Magnificent . . . Beautifully written * Mail on Sunday *A masterful account of the growth of the human soul * Los Angeles Times *An astounding story . . . in this case the truth is far more powerful than anything the imagination could invent * Newsweek *

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Book Synopsis“I've told you before, and I will tell you again, if you are unable to read the Holy Book you will be punished.” The teacher’s face was a mask of anger. “Understand?”Trade Review‘Told with searing honesty, heartfelt emotion and bucket loads of wit. [Alex] has risked death threats to tell this tale. It was worth the risk.’The Sun ‘This book will challenge how you think and cause you to question your moral values.’Steve McLaughlin, author of ‘Squaddie’ ‘A true story of courage and inspiration’Jasvinder Sanghera, author of ‘Shame’ and founder of Karma Nirvana

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Book SynopsisA Sunday Times bestseller, Terrified is the first book from well-loved foster carer Angela Hart. It tells the emotionally devastating but ultimately uplifting true story of Vicky, a little girl who arrives on Angela's doorstep unwanted and unloved after suffering years of emotional abuse at the hands of her mother. Desperate never to return home, Vicky is haunted by many demons and waking nightmares. This book tells the moving story of Angela's determination to set Vicky free.'A no holds barred insight into the reality of looking after someone else's children. A remarkable story from a remarkable woman, it brought back a lot of memories for me.' – Casey Watson, author of A Dark Secret.'A moving story that testifies to the redemptive power of love. I hope Angela Hart inspires many others to foster.' – Torey Hayden, author of Lost Child.Trade ReviewAngela Hart gives a no holds barred insight into the reality of looking after someone else's children. A remarkable story from a remarkable woman, it brought back a lot of memories for me. * Casey Watson, Sunday Times bestselling author *A moving story that testifies to the redemptive power of love. I hope Angela Hart inspires many others to foster. * Torey Hayden, Sunday Times bestselling author *A true tear-jerking tale of love and compassion. * Sunday Mirror *Table of ContentsSection - 1: 'What have we done?' Section - 2: 'I'm not staying long' Section - 3: 'She was always there for me' Section - 4: 'My mum frightened me' Section - 5: 'I had to lie to keep myself' Section - 6: 'STOP! I'M GETTING OUT...!' Section - 7: 'She made me watch' Section - 8: 'Vicky can go to hell!' Section - 9: 'You're the biggest mistake I ever made' Section - 10: 'I don't want to know about Vicky' Section - 11: 'It's too much to take' Section - 12: 'You don't know how much she terrified me' Section - 13: 'When I was living with her I had to be resourceful' Section - 14: 'My head hurt a lot when I was little' Section - 15: 'I don't want to talk about it or think about it or ANYTHING!' Section - 16: 'It was our mum who did this' Section - 17: 'It's not fair! It's torture!' Section - 18: 'I used to live in a scary house' Section - 19: 'Everything is different' Section - i: Epilogue

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Book Synopsis''Wow! I did not want this book to end. This story was unlike any other'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon reader review''Very gripping and powerful read... makes you see what can be going on behind closed doors'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon reader review''I''m very, very bad. I don''t deserve to have nice things. Nobody loves me.''Three young siblings arrive at Maggie''s door after being taken into care. Teachers of eight-year-old Bobby spotted distinct hand-shaped bruises on his arm and his dad and stepmother are uncooperative and hostile to Social Services. While they investigate, Bobby, as well as Melodie and Poppy, are looked after in Maggie''s home.As the children settle in, a thought won''t let Maggie go. While Melodie and Poppy are clean, well-fed and immaculately dressed, Bobby is pale, severely underweight and extremely quiet. What looks like a case of neglect is actually something m

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Book SynopsisApsley Cherry-Garrard (1886-1959) was one of the youngest members of Captain Scott's final expedition to the Antarctic which he joined to collect the eggs of the Emperor penguin. After the expedition, Cherry-Garrard served in the First World War and was invalided home. With the zealous encouragement of his neighbour, George Bernard Shaw, Cherry-Garrard wrote The Worst Journey in the World (1922) in an attempt to overcome the horror of the journey. As the years unravelled he faced a terrible struggle against depression, breakdown and despair, haunted by the possibility that he could have saved Scott and his companions.Trade ReviewThe best polar book there is * Observer *Probably the best adventure yarn ever published * Independent *Remains the masterpiece of heroic travel * The Times *The finest book ever written about Antarctic exploration as well as a great literary classicOver the greater part of a lifetime I have worn out two copies of the Antarctic's classic, Apsley Cherry-Garrard's The Worst Journey in the World * William Trevor *

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Book SynopsisAged nine Joss came home from school to discover her father''s suicide. She''s never gotten over it.This is the true story of Joss, 13 who is angry and out of control. At the age of nine, Joss finds her father's dead body. He has committed suicide. Then her mother remarries and Joss bitterly resents her step-father who abuses her mentally and physically.Cathy takes Joss under her wing but will she ever be able to get through to the warm-hearted girl she sees glimpses of underneath the vehement outbreaks of anger that dominate the house, and will Cathy be able to build up Joss's trust so she can learn the full truth of the terrible situation?Trade ReviewThe multi-million copy bestselling author.

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Book SynopsisThe amazing story of a woman who risked her life to get herself and her two little girls out of Cairo and away from an abusive husband. Now living in the shadow of a Fatwa, a Muslim death threat, this memoir will ensure that her story is never forgotten...

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Book Synopsis''I think this is one of the best books I have read by Maggie Hartley'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon reader reviewTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER and perfect for fans of Cathy Glass, a new powerful true story from Maggie Hartley, foster carer for over 20 years.''Mummy! Where did you go? Please come back, Mummy.''When police are called to a local supermarket late one evening, they find an angry shopkeeper and a silent young woman. It''s the third time 24-year-old Zoe has been caught stealing in the past few days. Eyes filled with panic, Zoe has been hiding bread, milk, Calpol and nappies under her coat. As police officers break down the door of Zoe''s flat they find seven-year-old Coco and two-year-old Lola, home alone, huddled on the floor in a freezing cold bedroom, crying out for their mummy.When Social Services are called in, the girls are taken into care and are soon tucked up safel

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Book Synopsis''A fascinating and multilayered exploration of what it means to endure''Alex Hutchinson, author of EndureThe author of Out of Thin Air, winner of the Margaret Mead Award 2022, journeys through different cultures to find out the meaning of endurance.So many of us are embracing endurance sports whether it is running an ultra-marathon, taking on long-distance cycling events or even climbing Mount Everest. But what is it that makes us voluntarily do exhausting things? When we lace up our running shoes or jump on our bike, are we embracing freedom, or are we simply reproducing ideas about productivity and competition from the world of work? And what kinds of broader social and spiritual significance does endurance have indifferent parts of the world?To the Limit sets out to rediscover the joy of moving together as a group whether it's running the length of the Lake District in a day, or navigating the descents of the Sindh

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Book SynopsisA David and Goliath battle for truth A specialist in GM foods and pesticides, the biologist Gilles-Éric Seralini has studied their toxicity and effects on people's health for many years. In September 2012, for the first time in a major scientific journal (Food and Chemical Toxicology), he published a study showing the effect on the liver and kidneys of two of Monsanto's flagship products: Roundup weedkiller and the GM foods created to absorb it. Images from the study of tumor-ridden rats fed with GM foods and Roundup went viral. The study was a PR disaster for Monsanto. The multinational soon bounced back and did everything in its power to cover up the study—leaning on the publishers to retract the findings. Monsanto began a series of smear campaigns to discredit Seralini and fellow researchers and intimidate their supporters, while pumping out their own collection of fake research findings and testimonies. These practices were met with huge suspicion, but there was no concrete evidence until, in 2017, Monsanto was ordered to publish tens of thousands of confidential documents in a class-action lawsuit presented by thousands of individuals afflicted with serious illnesses from their use of Roundup. The "Monsanto Papers" that were produced subsequently proved the company’s cynical attempts at a cover-up as well as its fraudulent practices. Gilles-Éric Seralini and Jérôme Douzelet delved into the documents and discovered how, in the pursuit of its own short term economic interests, Monsanto used sophisticated methods of deceit to bypass legislation devised to protect millions of people. Seralini and Douzelet discovered how Monsanto managed to provide phony assessments to conceal the poisons its products contain, thus deceiving the public authorities and the scientific and medical communities. Trade Review“Monsanto knew for decades that glyphosate-based herbicides cause cancer and a lethal coterie of other devastating illnesses. Rather than warning consumers and customers, Monsanto massaged the science, defrauded regulators, bribed prominent researchers, captured and corrupted the EPA pesticide division, and systematically lied to the global public that its deadly herbicide was safe. Roundup degraded public health, impoverished our soils, extirpated species, obliterated small farmers, and deprived the public of their fundamental civil right of informed consent. Monsanto made a special project of discrediting and destroying scientists, advocates, and reformers who exposed its corrupt coverup. The most prominent among these was heroic French toxicologist Gilles-Éric Seralini. In 2018, I was fortunate enough to be a part of the legal team that finally brought Monsanto to justice. We relied heavily on Dr. Seralini’s research and counsel to achieve this victory.”—Robert F. Kennedy Jr., founder of Waterkeeper Alliance, founder, chairman of the board, and chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense, and counsel to Morgan & Morgan “The bravest man I have ever met. The truth always comes to light eventually. Thank you, Gilles-Éric.”—Frédérick Lemarchand, professor of sociology, University Caen Normandy “Written by one of the most published scientists in the domain, quoted 55,952 times in the ‘Monsanto Papers,’ this laser-sharp analysis shows how the agribusiness pesticide giant poisoned public regulations, research, and democracy.”—Louise Vandelac, PhD, Department of Sociology and Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Québec in Montreal "An essential contribution to understand the manipulation of science in the service of profit maximization, by one of the main players in the debate." —Olivier De Schutter, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food "David against Goliath, such is the disproportionate fight of Gilles-Éric Seralini against the ‘Hydra Monsanto,’ an emblematic victory on a planetary scale, where courage and probity triumph!"—Philippe Desbrosses, author, farmer, doctor of science in environment. “The demonstration of Professor Seralini, rigorously supported by his great culture in human sciences, allows him not to confuse science and technoscience.”—Yves Dupont, PhD, researcher in human sciences “The work of Professor Seralini is of prime importance; it is a glimmer of hope coming from a certain science at the service of Humanity and Life on earth.”—Claude Gruffat, Member of the European Parliament “I have had the chance to work on several occasions with Professor Gilles-Éric Seralini, a world specialist in pesticides and genetically modified organisms. His meticulous work, his expertise and his complete testimonies have served us to denounce numerous abuses or frauds by international companies, making possible to develop European legislation on pesticides always in the direction of greater protection of health and the environment, and to successfully support various appeals before the French courts and even before the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECHR). The expertise of an independent researcher and whistleblower like Professor Seralini is invaluable, rare, and beneficial for safeguarding the general interest and health in the face of financial interests.”—Maître Guillaume Tumerelle, lawyer specializing in rural law, France “The Monsanto Papers provides an insider’s account of how corporate power is used to destroy a scientific career when a multinational cannot control the experimental evidence of its unsafe herbicide. Seralini’s account is a ‘David and Goliath’ story that reveals the corruption of a regulatory system, the conflicts of interest among corrupted toxicologists, and the battle between scientific truth against a company’s billion-dollar product.”—Sheldon Krimsky, Lenore Stern Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at Tufts University, author of Conflicts of Interest in Science “Monsanto’s response to Dr. Seralini’s work on the toxicity of one of its products demonstrates how far corporations will go in corrupting science for profit.”—Leemon McHenry, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at California State University, Northridge and medical ethics consultant to the Baum, Hedlund law firm

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Book SynopsisFrom Torey Hayden, the number one Sunday Times bestselling author of One Child comes The Invisible Girl, a deeply moving true account of a young teen with a troubling obsession and an extraordinary educational psychologist's sympathy and determination to help.Eloise is a vibrant and charming young teen with a deeply caring nature, but she also struggles with a worrying delusion. She’s been moved from home to home, and her social workers have difficulty dealing with her habit of running away. After experiencing violence, neglect and sexual abuse from people she should have been able to trust, Eloise has developed complex behavioural needs. She struggles to separate fact from fiction, leading to confusion for the social workers trying to help her.After Torey learns of Eloise's background she hopes that some gentle care and attention can help Eloise gain some sense of security in her life. Can Torey and the other social workers provide the loving attention that has so far been missing in Eloise's life, or will she run away from them too?Trade ReviewHayden is a fine storyteller, recounting the touching bonds that form among children and between Hayden and her students. * Washington Post *Torey Hayden deserves the kind of respect I can’t give many people. She isn’t valuable, she’s incredible. The world needs more like Torey Hayden. -- Boston Globe

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Book SynopsisFrom Torey Hayden, the number one Sunday Times bestselling author of One Child comes Lost Girl, a poignant and deeply moving account of a lost little girl and an extraordinary educational psychologist's courage and determination.Jessie is nine years old and looks like the perfect little girl, with red hair, green eyes and a beguiling smile. She even has a talent for drawing gorgeous and intricate pictures. But Jessie also knows how to get her own way and will lie, scream, shout and hurt to get just exactly what she wants.Her parents say they can't take her back, and her social workers struggle to deal with her destructive behaviour and wild mood swings. After her chaotic passage through numerous foster placements, Jessie has finally received a diagnosis of an attachment disorder. Attachment disorders arise when children are deprived of the all-important close bonds with trustworthy adults that allow them to develop emotionally and thrive. Finally educational psychologist Torey Hayden is called in to help. Torey agrees to weekly meetings with Jessie to try and uncover why she is acting out. Torey's gentle care and attention reveal shocking truths behind Jessie's lies. Can Torey and the other social workers help to provide the consistent loving care that has so far been missing in Jessie’s life, or will she push them away too?Trade ReviewHayden is a fine storyteller, recounting the touching bonds that form among children and between Hayden and her students. -- Washington PostTorey Hayden deserves the kind of respect I can’t give many people. She isn’t valuable, she’s incredible. The world needs more like Torey Hayden. -- Boston Globe

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Book Synopsis'Pacy, witty and authoritative' Jonathan Freedland 'In her hands, ancient history becomes a vivid avenue of approach to a burning modern-world concern a powerful and important book' Daily Telegraph

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Book SynopsisTHE SHOCKING TRUE STORY BEHIND THE HIT TV DRAMA THREE GIRLS When detective Maggie Oliver first discovered that children as young as 10 were being groomed, abused and trafficked for sex by gangs of men in the Rochdale area, she felt like a lonely voice calling for people to act. Banging on closed doors, it seemed that nobody was able or willing to help her save these vulnerable girls, but she couldn't just sit back while countless lives were being destroyed forever in plain sight. Instead, she launched a one-woman campaign to bring down these sickening gangs. This is the heart-breaking and shocking story of how the actions of one determined detective secured convictions in what is now one of the most notorious grooming cases in the UK. Along the way Maggie discovered countless examples of how the authorities were letting down our most vulnerable children. She blew the whistle, losing her job and at times her mind at times, in a bid to stop others from experiencing the same. This is the first ever account from a police insider on the endemic problem of child sexual exploitation across the nation and how these cases are handled by the authorities put in place to protect us. It tells the story of a woman brave enough to speak out and a group of girls who found the strength to fight for justice after having their lives completely shattered by their abusers; together they show in shocking detail why this must never happen again.

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Book SynopsisWerner Herzog has produced, written and directed more than fifty feature and documentary films, including the multi-award-winning Grizzly Man, Aguirre, The Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo, My Best Fiend, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Nosferatu, Lessons of Darkness, Littler Dieter Needs To Fly, Into the Inferno, Meeting Gorbachev and Encounters At The End of the World. He has also directed many operas and published more than a dozen books of prose including Conquest of the Useless and Of Walking In Ice. The Twilight World is his first book in decades.

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

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.When Paris falls in love with legendary beauty Helen of Troy, the devastating effects of their affair on their families and fellow citizens are unimaginable. Battle lines are drawn, alliances are forged, and as the Greeks and Trojans march into battle, the resilience and humanity of all will be tested.In his epic story of divine ego, human frailty, and the ravages of war, Homer created an unforgettable cast of characters, whose moral dilemmas and heroic deeds will stay with readers long past the final pages of this book. Samuel Butler's famous prose translation of Homer's original brings the epic to an entirely new generation of readers.

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Book SynopsisTHE GRIPPING, TERRIFYING STORY OF A BRUTAL STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL ON THE UPPER SLOPES OF THE HIMALAYAN K2, THE WORLD''S MOST HOSTILE TERRAIN. ''Unputdownable. A portrait of extreme courage, folly and loss, leavened by a small dose of survival'' Financial Times________________K2, August 1st, 2008. Thirty climbers are attempting the summit of the most savage mountain on Earth. They make it. But before they start their descent an ice shelf collapses, sweeping away their ropes. It is dark. Their lines are gone. They are low on oxygen. And it is getting very, very cold. How many will make it down alive?________________ ''A gripping hour-by-hour dissection of events in the Western Himalayas over three deadly days. A fitting shelfmate to the modern classic Into Thin Air. A cracking read'' Sunday Times''The best mountain-disaster memoir since Into Thin ATrade ReviewRiveting and powerful; an extraordinary story of an extraordinary tragedy. Reading No Way Down is the closest you can come to being on the summit of K2 on that fateful day -- Sir Ranulph FiennesA gripping hour-by-hour dissection of events in the Western Himalaya over three deadly days... a fitting shelfmate to the modern classic Into Thin Air -- Brian Schofield * Sunday Times *Stories of heroism, sadness and extraordinary endurance against all the odds are woven into a thrilling drama -- Christopher Hudson * Daily Mail *Unputdownable... a portrait of extreme courage, folly and loss, leavened by a small dose of survival' * Financial Times *Artfully and assiduously pieces together an account of a fractious day in brutal real time. Fatality by fatality... devastating * New York Times *A tour de force of a book...a triumph of storytelling * Associated Press *Probably the best mountain-disaster memoir since Into Thin Air * Mail on Sunday *One of the best books I've ever read. But take it to the beach at your peril - it's impossible to put down. Sunburn is guaranteed * Outdoor Science *

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Book SynopsisThe first-person account of a 26-year-old who fought in the war in Sierra Leone as a 12-year-old boy.My new friends have begun to suspect that I haven''t told them the full story of my life.Why did you leave Sierra Leone?Because there is a war.You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?Yes, all the time.Cool.I smile a little.You should tell us about it sometime.Yes, sometime.'This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. There are more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide and it is estimated there are some 300,000 child soldiers fighting. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived. Ishmael Beah, now twenty-fivTrade Review'A corrosive, eloquent and illuminating account of a child soldier's life, and it makes you look at the news with a fresh eye. What he has done is to make his situation imaginable for us, and stop us from simply turning away in horror. That is the best gift he could give the world.' Hilary Mantel ‘Gives the war a painfully human dimension and reminds us of its pointlessness…If the pathos of this book helps to persuade the puppeteers of the estimated 300,000 child soldiers fighting today to put down their guns, then Beah will have done more than all those A47s ever have.' The Times ‘A lucid, pensive, beautifully written account of a madness that he has the bravery to revisit head–on.’ TLS ‘Few of those boy soldiers have told their story as eloquently as Ishmael Beah.’ Sunday Telegraph 'The arming of children is one of the greatest evils of the modern world, and yet we know so little about it because the children themselves are swallowed up by the very wars they are forced to wage. Ishmael Beah has not only emerged intact from this chaos, he has become one of its most eloquent chroniclers. “A Long Way Gone” is one of the most important war stories of our generation. We ignore its message at our peril.' Sebastian Junger 'A ferocious and desolate account of how ordinary children were turned into professional killers.' The Guardian 'Beah makes no excuses for his actions and is entirely lacking in self pity, but the honesty of his memoir reveals the full horror of a war in which the brutalisation of children was commonplace…Beah is a living testament to the endurance of the human spirit.' Sunday Times ‘Ishmael Beah has achieved the seemingly impossible task of helping us to imagine the reality behind the statistics by empathising with just one of the many thousands of children who are soldiers around the world – a remarkable book.’ The Guardian

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