Unicorn Publishing Group is a leading independent publisher with four imprints: Unicorn, visual arts and cultural history imprint; Uniform, specialising in military history; Universe, its historical fiction imprint; and Unify, which publishes philosophy titles.
Highlights across the imprints include Adrift - The Curious Tale of The Lego Lost at Sea, Cromwell, a history of sound Back To Bach, From Mozart to Moog and The Song of Seven Cloaks
Book SynopsisThe first comprehensive monograph on Susan Ryders work.
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Book SynopsisThis is the first comprehensive study of Coinneach Odhar Mackenzie, the celebrated Highland Seer, and is the result of years of first-hand research surrounding the author's own family history. Andrew McKenzie argues that this figure was the product of a patchwork of oral storytelling traditions that thrived in the Highlands, but was initially based on Michael Scot, the Borders born mathematician and astrologer who moved to Sicily in the early 1200s and became scientific adviser to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. The Battle of Culloden, the Highland Clearances, mass-emigration and industrialisation all those major changes that the Brahan Seer was purported to have predicted had a huge impact in society in the same way that modern conspiracy theories have had around more recent disasters.
£15.29
Book SynopsisBetter known as Lizzie Siddal', the model who posed for John Everett Millais's painting Ophelia, Elizabeth Eleanor Rossetti is now finally recognised as a Pre-Raphaelite artist in her own right, working alongside her male colleagues on equal terms. Elizabeth's designs were truly original, the creation of her own imagination. They embodied the essence of Pre-Raphaelitism that her husband Gabriel and other members of the circle were striving to achieve. The male members of the group shamelessly copied the ideas from Elizabeth's small sketches to create their own large masterpieces which have since become the epitome of Pre-Raphaelite art. The exclusion of women from the narrative has had a major impact in creating the perception of the Pre-Raphaelites as a predominantly male artistic movement; in Beyond Ophelia Dr Glenda Youde shows Elizabeth not to be a pathetic drowning figure, but as the initiator of a directional change in the visual development of Pre-Raphaelite art. Featuring a unique collection of photographs of Elizabeth's work commissioned by her husband after her death, this book highlights the critical importance of her role within the Pre-Raphaelite circle, and one which ultimately led to the evolution of the Aesthetic Movement.
£24.00
Book SynopsisThe beautiful Anglo-Italian artist Maria Cosway was one of the most talented and dynamic women active in Regency England, but one whose achievements have been largely overlooked. Born in Florence in 1760, she was acclaimed at an early age as both a painter and a musician. She exhibited forty-one paintings at the Royal Academy summer exhibition between 1781 and 1801, and hosted regular musical soirees at the Pall Mall house she shared with her husband, Richard Cosway. They were attended by the political and cultural elite of London. Maria's extraordinary network of connections to the great and the good of the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, included friendships with, among others, Thomas Jefferson, the Prince of Wales, Pasquale Paoli, the artist Jacques-Louis David, the opera singer Luigi Marchesi, the Duchess of Devonshire, the actress and writer Mary Robinson, and members of the Bonaparte family. Estranged from her husband by 1801, Maria Cosway largely gave up painting and reinvented herself as a progressive educator, founding schools for young women: first in Lyon, later in Lodi, Italy. In recognition of her achievements at Lodi, the Emperor of Austria made her a baroness.
£23.79
Book SynopsisJoshua Hagler's Nihil explores in an absolutely unique way the realisation and consummation of the mind, process and application of an artist's life and work. Hagler defi ned for himself nine key tenets to guide his artistic vision and then utilised and inhabited nine spaces in New Mexico to articulate this vision. His site-specific installations and interventions in lost and forgotten buildings, schools, churches and post offices create ghostly imaginative spaces that integrate many times and places hovering within a single moment. This extraordinary and unique sequence of work is documented and recorded in this important publication of a singular artistic vision. The law of the conservation of mass states that nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed. Here lies the pathos to Joshua Hagler's convoluted mental and pictorial universe.' David Anfam, Art Historian & Curator
£24.00
Book SynopsisIn Reading Design, noted architect Craig Hodgetts sorts through the myriad of things that surround us with an eye trained by years of teaching at UCLA's world class School of Architecture. Since the success of the precedent-setting Blueprints for Modern Living exhibition at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Hodgetts has been immersed in the selection and appreciation of objects that are not only outstanding examples of contemporary design, but that exude an emotional connection to evolving lifestyles attributes that range from the sublime to the brutal. Consisting of over two hundred hand drawn sketches illuminating themes and bold departures from the norm, this book can change the way we look at things, and break down the barriers that markets and tastemakers erect by their recommendations.
£24.00
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Book SynopsisA collection of Rudyard Kipling''s articles describing Sikh soldiers'' experiences of the First World War. Published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Rudyard Kipling''s birth.
£8.54
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£24.00
Book SynopsisThis is a biography lightened with the intimate tone of a social memoir, about a woman who was both a bystander and protagonist through some fifty years of twentieth-century British history. Pamela Berry was the daughter of the buccaneering and brilliant politician and lawyer, FE Smith, the first Earl of Birkenhead, and married the son of another self-made man, William Berry from South Wales, who became Viscount Camrose and the owner of a group of national newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph. She had an unusually glamorous and precocious childhood, spoiled by her adoring father, and much photographed by Cecil Beaton. In her prime she used her position as a newspaper proprietor's wife to become the most famous political and press hostess of her generation, harnessing her beauty and wit to influence successive governments, and was accused of wielding petticoat power' during the Suez crisis. She had a decade-long affair with Malcolm Muggeridge, became a vigorous promoter of British fashion, dragging it out of the dowdy fifties, and in later life was active in the museum world. Harriet Cullen has opened a window back into the remarkable story of her mother's life from a rich cache of family diaries and letters, interweaving them with many other unpublished sources. It is revealing, in turns scathing and admiring, but always entertaining.
£21.25
Book SynopsisThis book is a comprehensive collection and exhibition of Chen Yujun's art, thoroughly introducing the artist's creative philosophy, origins and stylistic changes to readers in the English-speaking world. With the theme of growth, Chen's art explores the mutual influence and intertwining of individuals, society, regions and civilisations, innovating and evolving through the exchange of civilisations. The book will accompany Chen Yujun's retrospective solo exhibition, which will be held at the Long Museum in Shanghai in the summer of 2025.
£32.00
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Book SynopsisFew have heard of the Shakespeare Head Press, although it ranks alongside William Morris’s Kelmscott, Emery Walker and Cobden-Sanderson’s Doves, Eric Gill’s Golden Cockerel and St John Hornby’s Ashendene. Its origins date to the 1860s, when a young Arthur Henry Bullen, dreamt of printing the whole of Shakespeare. Making his dream a reality, Bullen founded the Shakespeare Head Press in 1904 in an old Tudor house, where Shakespeare would have been a guest. There are many backstories associated with the Shakespeare Head Press and of the perennial dashed hopes of small presses’, which plagued Bullen. When the Press passed to Basil Blackwell (1921), Bullen’s mantle was assumed by the scholar-printer Bernard Newdigate. For twenty years, he produced a series of finely printed books, yet these were not commercially successful. Blackwell blamed the commodification of literature, and the metamorphoses of books from handcrafted works of art to manufactured objects. A Short and Beautiful Life reconstructs the lives of Bernard Newdigate and A.H. Bullen, and that of the Shakespeare Head Press. For Sir Basil Blackwell, ‘the exact record of events was secondary to the universal truths it served to illustrate.’ And there is something remarkably contemporary about them.
£28.00
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£21.25
Book SynopsisTime to Heal tells the story of the colourful life of a country doctor towards the end of his career. In turn shocking, sad and funny, they describe a doctor who feels poorly served by the conventional medicine of his time and finds new ways to relieve the suffering of his patients. This tale has a twist. Twenty-first century General Practice and its patients have been betrayed by top-heavy regulation, performance management and a blame culture. Young doctors no longer want to enter General Practice. The author explores why and how pandemics might provide the answers. ‘A fascinating look into life as a village doctor, with observations so profound it seamlessly becomes a thesis on humanity as a species. The local GP, not only a potential lifesaver but also a constant and friend in these ever-changing, isolated times has never been more needed. A beautiful and moving book.’ – Lady Sophie Windsor (nee Winkelman), Actress ‘A wonderful book, full of fascinating, engaging and timely stories. Michael Dixon reminds us of the importance of human medicine and the way in which communities can create health. He concludes with a new vision for health which blends the best of the past with the latest technology and science - and which will help us cope better with future pandemics.’ – Lord Nigel Crisp, Former Chief Executive and Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health ‘Time to Heal describes very human stories – entertaining, thought provoking, and eminently readable, whilst woven through the text is the insight that general practice is the human face of medicine.’ – Sir Denis Pereira Gray, Former Chair and President, Royal College of General Practitioners
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Book SynopsisDiscovering painting at the age of 40, Sir Winston Churchill revelled in his new pastime. He went on to produce over 550 paintings, with over 130 of them on the French Riviera. The fellow artist and Riviera resident Paul Rafferty has tracked down many of the locations Churchill used in Provence, an area the great man so aptly called 'paintatious'. Many of these locations are newly discovered and his 'fearless impressions' stand alongside to illustrate how Churchill captured them on canvas.Trade Review'Paul Rafferty's excellent book, Winston Churchill: Paintings on the French Riviera, is like a well-curated exhibition. Sir Winston Churchill loved the Riviera, he was at home there and it clearly inspired him to paint at this best.' - H.R.H The Prince of Wales
£28.00
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£12.34
Book SynopsisThis is the almost incredible but well-documented story of the author's 40-year-long hard-fought battle with naval authorities and government.
£24.00
Book SynopsisPaperback edition of Fifth Avenue - This book seeks to recreate Fifth Avenue as it grew, flourished and failed.
£23.96
Book SynopsisForty years ago, London’s Docklands had become 6,000 acres of forgotten wasteland after over a century as the busiest port in the world. Now these once-derelict docks are again filled with ships and boats, forming homes and businesses for an extraordinary range of people. Whether millionaires visiting on their superyachts, country house executives needing a London base, young tech workers wanting a cheaper place to live, jobbing craftsmen keeping ancient marine trades alive or homeless people finding refuge, these are varied and dynamic communities. Highly acclaimed London photographer Niki Gorick focuses on St Katharine Docks, the Surrey Docks and the Isle of Dogs to illustrate the rich mix of personalities and activities in these converted commercial docks. They enjoy central London locations but as floating communities with their own nautical customs and rules, they are a world apart from their land-based neighbours. These images reveal the amazingly diverse modern-day life within these urban marinas.Trade Review"so beautiful that words will not do justice to the work ... Niki Gorick has a good eye for detail and can touch the soul of an area and its community through her photographs and text." London Society "Gorick has snapped some wonderful images" Londonist "Niki Gorick has a keen eye for fascinating subjects. The book is clearly a love affair with the people and waterborne activities around the area where she lives." London Historians
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Book SynopsisJean Etienne Liotard (1702-1789) was one of the most accomplished, idiosyncratic and witty artists of 18th-century Europe. Born in Geneva, he pursued a remarkable career, travelling across the continent and the Near East, portraying a riveting cross-section of society. Liotard worked in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Venice, Constantinople and Vienna and excelled as a specialist in the delicate art of pastel. He became renowned for the uncanny realism of his portraits as well as the beauty of his drawings, while also experimenting with watercolour, oil painting, printmaking and enamels. In Britain he enjoyed notoriety because of his exotic persona, and received commissions from royalty, aristocrats, grand tourists and celebrities. LIOTARD: A Portrait of Eighteenth-Century Europe plots the career and practice and reputation of an extraordinary artist who deserves to be better known. This new study throws light on the wider cultural environment he navigated, illuminating connected themes, including fashion history, orientalism and the promotion and display of portraits in the public and private spheres of Enlightenment Europe.
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Book SynopsisExotic lair, freezing garret or convivial rendezvous, artists’ studios reflect their personalities, the way they work, their dreams and obsessions. Some are battlegrounds where hopes are dashed and original concepts fail dismally in their execution. A few artists became celebrities and flaunted their success by furnishing huge studios with exotic objects, while others lived in a haze of opium in squalid tenements in Montmartre. Spanning 500 years of Western art history from 1400 to 1900, and accompanied by glorious images, Caroline Chapman describes the skilful techniques employed in a Renaissance workshop; Michelangelo’s agony and ecstasy while painting the Sistine Chapel; the murky world of the artist’s model; the looting by Napoleon of Veronese’s masterpiece; Van Gogh’s wretched first studio; how Géricault painted his Raft of the Medusa; the way Rodin worked in his plaster-spattered environment and the ateliers of the Impressionists in Paris.Trade Review“a judicious and entertaining guide through these artists’ numerous eccentricities — this is a book of some brilliance.” Daily Mail
£21.25
Book SynopsisSir Edward ‘Eddie’ Marsh was an ornament of early twentieth-century society; a respected civil servant, polymath and scholar who led a remarkable life. Always at the heart of the establishment, he was Winston Churchill’s longest serving Private Secretary and close friend. Marsh harboured a passion for young men - poets, painters and actors - to whom he devoted his money, time and connections. His numerous protégés included luminaries such as Rupert Brooke, Robert Graves, Mark Gertler, Stanley Spencer, and Ivor Novello to name but a few. Preferring to work behind the scenes, Marsh also edited the work of several acclaimed writers; Winston Churchill, Somerset Maugham, Siegfried Sassoon and many others owe a debt to Marsh whose hand burnished their work. Sharon Mather's biography of Edward Marsh is set against the backdrop of the extraordinary events of the first half of the twentieth century, and is seen through the prism of his illustrious friendships.
£21.25
Book SynopsisFrom 2015, this Chinese photographer has been dedicated to shooting the best portraits possible of international masters of photography. Through his lens he has captured the faces of many of the world's contemporary photographers: Sebastião Salgado, William Klein, Robert Frank, Bruno Barbey, Bernard Faucon. At present, there are more than 60 portraits included in Zhong Weixing’s ‘Contemporary Photography Masters’, and the programme is still ongoing. Jean-Luc Monterosso, former director of the world-renowned Maison Européenne de la Photographie, describes these works by Zhong Weixing as a ‘pantheon of photography masters’. The well-known photographer Bruno Barbey has praised them as representing a ‘Bible of photographic history’.
£90.00
Book SynopsisLion follows internationally collected artist Mark Adlington's three-year mission to find lions in six very different habitats across East and Southern Africa. The resulting body of stunning paintings, drawings and sketchbooks represent the countless months of patient waiting, observation and interaction which have given the artist a unique insight into this most beautiful of big cats. With written contributions from frontline lion conservationists, without whose help and support the project would have been impossible, this is a book which will delight and inform art and nature lovers alike. Since the appearance of the Hohlenstein-Stadel Lion Man, the first ever human artwork, some 40,000 years ago, lions in art have surrounded us as symbols of royalty, power, evangelists, constellations and even the sun. Where lions are increasingly not, is living on this earth in the wild. While it may seem ambitious to take on such iconic subject matter, Adlington wanted to go back to source and create work that reflected the reality of the charismatic duality of this rapidly disappearing apex predator.Trade Review"This beautiful book brings these majestic creatures to life—you feel them stretch, hunt and fight as you turn every page." * Daily Mail (UK) *
£999.99
Book SynopsisIn 1937 aged just 19, Edmund Murray left his family and a comfortable job in London, caught the boat train to France and signed up for the minimum of five years’ service with the French Foreign Legion. Armed with little more than school-boy French and a desire for a life of adventure, Murray travelled through France and on to the Legion’s headquarters in Algeria where he completed a gruelling three-month basic training programme. He went on to serve in Morocco and Indochina (now Vietnam) where towards the end of the War, his regiment were forced to retreat from invading Japanese forces into China where his service ended after eight years as a Legionnaire. Throughout the Second World War, Murray’s overwhelming sense of duty compelled him to try to leave the Legion and join the Allied forces, but he was thwarted at every attempt. He was an Englishman, in a French organisation, by definition a home for ‘the men with no names’, during a time of global conflict where battle lines and countries’ boundaries changed almost daily. He was an anomaly, a diplomatic puzzle. But as such, his was an extraordinary war-time experience. This book, which borrows heavily from Murray’s earlier book, Churchill’s Bodyguard, includes rare personal insights into Legion life from drills and manoeuvres, to feast-days and festivals as well as accounts of friendships forged in exceptional circumstances and which would last a lifetime. It also documents a unique war-time experience of the man whose sense of duty never faltered and led him, in later life, to become bodyguard to Sir Winston Churchill. Edited by his son Bill Murray, this is the story in his own words of Edmund Murray, Churchill’s Legionnaire, and his service in the French Foreign Legion from 1937 to 1945.Trade Review"A quite entertaining adventure story." * Winston Churchill Blog *
£13.49
Book SynopsisThe Russian Revolution and Civil War – as never seen before! Packed with jaw-dropping, at times blood-curdling images, Russia Accursed! showcases the reaction of Ivan Vladmirov (1869-1947) to the human suffering and Bolshevik barbarity he observed as an artist-reporter during the years 1917-25. Some of his paintings and watercolours appeared in magazines and periodicals, including London weekly The Graphic (Vladimirov’s mother was English). But other scenes – featuring point-blank executions, passers-by cutting chunks of meat from a dead horse or dogs gnawing at a human corpse – were deemed too shocking for publication and had to be secretly exported from the USSR by American relief workers. Selected from private collections, Russian museums and the Hoover Library at Stanford University, California, most of the 160 Vladimirov images in this majestic 324-page volume are published here for the first time. Placed in their historic context by scholarly essays, contemporary photographs and eye-witness quotes, they revolutionize our understanding of the beginnings of the Soviet Union.
£32.00
Book SynopsisThe Ypres Times was the journal of the remembrance movement, the Ypres League. Founded in 1921, the League was the creation of Henry Beckles Willson and Beatrix Brice. Both Brice and Beckles Willson understood the crucial significance of Ypres to the British Empire, and believed it their sacred duty to maintain the memory of those who had fought and fell in its defence. As the League’s journal, the Ypres Times published a huge range of material. It carried reminiscences of veterans, discussions about the rebuilding of Ypres, the developing work of the Imperial War Graves Commission in the salient, and the erection and unveiling of unit memorials. The Ypres Times reproduced for the first time, in facsimile format and bound in three volumes provides a fascinating insight into the way the British Empire’s central commemorative site was understood and imagined in the twenties and thirties.
£47.50
Book SynopsisIn 1986, Susan Campbell made the chance discovery of a hitherto unknown garden diary. She spent the next 35 years researching its background before writing this book. The diary was written between 1838 and 1865 by the father of Charles Darwin, Doctor Robert Darwin and after his death in 1848 it was continued by his sister, Susan. It describes the horticultural and domestic activities at The Mount, a large house with extensive, beautiful gardens and pastures on the banks of the River Severn, in Shrewsbury. It was the home of the Darwin family from 1800 until Susan's death in 1866 and, in 1809, it was Charles's birthplace. Apart from revealing that Doctor Darwin made his garden available for several of Charles's early horticultural experiments (1838-1841) the diary describes all the plants that grew in this garden, whether ornamental and exotic, utilitarian or edible, as well as the keeping of cows and pigs, the exchanges of plants with neighbours and family, and occasional events of local importance.
£24.00
Book SynopsisPunch featured Winston Churchill in more than 600 cartoons between 1899 to 1988. Some were laudatory, some were critical, and others, like the man himself, usually humorous. For the first time this book catalogues all the cartoons and provides a context of the events and people being satirised and places them in historical perspective. Early on Punch often made Churchill into a caricature of himself, promoting exaggerated images of his physical characteristics such as his forward leaning gait, his prominent jutting jaw, his cigar, and his hands on hips when speaking. His hobbies were frequently caricatured such as his love of polo, painting, writing skills and brick-laying. This book is not just for fans of Churchill, but for anyone interested in history, British life over the past 120 years, media and their response to government and politicians, cartoon aficionados and general society. It is an easy and fun read for the casual reader but also the academic who wants more depth through the appendices and an analysis of major world events through the eye of Punch.
£40.00
Book SynopsisThe significant influence of the periodical Signature on fine art has long been overlooked. While few people nowadays will have read it, no journal has greater claim to have stimulated the taste that became British neo-romanticism in the mid-20th century. Oliver Simon, its editor, publisher, patron and printer was something of an enigma. Although shy, he somehow knew 'everyone' in the London literary and arts scene during the 1930s and 40s. So outwardly conservative to be dubbed 'the archbishop' by Ben Nicholson, Oliver elicited adventurous art from his artist contributors to Signature. The Signature artists were fellow travellers on a journey: young artists working in commercial art to pay the bills. Having mastered graphic techniques for applied purposes they then began to apply what they learned to their own artwork. Then they went off to War... Those interested in the work of Paul Nash, John Piper, Graham Sutherland, Edward Bawden, and Barnett Freedman will enjoy the story of the influence and fellowship of Oliver Simon, Signature, and the Curwen Press, on their art.Trade Review"Neil Wells' fascinating Accidental Alchemy brings to life the story of Signature and its quietly pioneering impresario, Oliver Simon. Backed by prodigious research and replete with insights into aesthetic connections and artists' lives, this entertaining, handsomely illustrated book deepens our understanding of a key strand in mid-century English Modernism." Andy Friend, Author of Ravilious & Co: The Pattern of Friendship (Thames & Hudson, 2017) and John Nash: the Landscape of Love and Solace (Thames & Hudson 2020). "A rarity - an author who combines aesthetic sensitivity, with technical understanding and psychological insight. No other books in this subject area quite weave the threads to make such an original carpet as in this text. Here is a rich mind, obsessively researching, wandering imaginatively ... just relax and bask in the originality of it all." Ruth Artmonsky, Author Art for Everyone: Contemporary Lithographs Ltd. "Neil Wells charmingly and informatively relays the story of Oliver Simon and his championing of Neo-Romantic artists via Signature magazine. The seminal art and writings Simon elicited from artists such as Paul Nash, Graham Sutherland and John Piper warrant revisiting to understand how they came about. The book is a triumph - original, full of human rationale and therefore very readable, carrying a time capsule of images and ideas that still resonate creatively today." Hugh Fowler-Wright, Co-Author The Art of John Piper (Unicorn).
£24.00
Book SynopsisEvery pier, from the grandest to the most modest, has its own story. In this collection of one hundred beautiful paintings, Paul Tracey combines his skill as a draughtsman with his creative flair as an artist to capture the very essence of these structures and to provide snapshots of their individual stories. Many piers were originally built as wharfs for ships to load and unload goods. Then, as the railways expanded and people were able to travel further afield for trips and holidays, they became destinations in their own right: places to promenade, to meet and to be entertained. Innovative Victorian engineering created piers that could better withstand the vigours of the sea yet still provided elegant spaces to be enjoyed. This historical development was mirrored around the world. Researched and executed over five years, 100 Piers includes historic postcards, concert programmes and newspaper articles about the piers. Many piers are no longer in their prime, some have gone completely, lost to the tides of time. But through the paintings, with their dynamic lines, varying perspectives and bold colour combinations, Tracey successfully captures the vibrancy and vitality of these structures. His work ensures their place in history is not forgotten and that the many piers which remain may continue to be cherished as much as ever.
£28.00
Book SynopsisIn 1903, after a fire completely destroyed her family home in Norfolk, UK, the 27- year-old Constance helped her mother redesign their house and recreate the garden. It was an experience from which she never looked back, going on to become an internationally recognised garden expert and connoisseur. A rich woman herself, she was attracted to the most spectacular and extravagant gardens in the world. From Shalimar Bagh, Lahore, to Nishat Bagh, Srinagar, to La Granja near Madrid, Constance earned her reputation studying Mughal and Moorish gardens as well as those in Great Britain, France, Italy and northern Europe. Between 1910 and 1955 she wrote about them, painted and photographed them and lectured on them. She produced two successful illustrated books, and numerous articles for magazines, including Country Life, Vogue, The Burlington Magazine, Harpers Bazaar, and The Times. When she died in 1966, she left paintings, photographs, diaries, press cuttings and scrapbooks to her grandchildren. It is upon this fascinating and hitherto unseen archive of memorabilia that Constance Villiers Stuart: In Pursuit of Paradise is based.
£24.00
Book SynopsisA woman lies unconscious on the carpet of a smart Westminster apartment, one red high-heeled shoe has fallen off... A younger woman lies with her eyes closed, half-hidden under a drinks cabinet... Her fingers clutch an empty bottle... What happens when a mother withholds her love? When she has no love to withhold? When she sees her three daughters as obstacles to her own formidable career? This is the story of three sisters, Millie, Di and Cleo. They are the war babies. Growing up in a world still in turmoil, hungover from war, the sisters struggle to leave behind their mother and build their own lives. Each sister is lost in her own world where extreme need leads to extreme behaviour. Then a tragic event forces Cleo, the youngest and wildest, to become the catalyst to smash the pattern. Who will adapt and survive in this new world? Who will find peace? From London to New York and to Vietnam, the focus shifts from one sister to the next, putting human nature, its flaws and its virtues, under the spotlight. With elements of a psychological thriller, Rachel Billington observes her characters with clinical detachment, but also with wit and understanding. Yet there is hope at the heart of this story which will leave the reader wondering long after the final twist is revealed.Trade Review"This clever story of three clever sisters had me gripped from start to finish. ... Billington is a brilliantly sharp writer and this is an absolute tour de force." Daily Mail “I couldn’t put this book down until the last page. This book has a bit of everything love and hate, truth and lies, life and death, war and peace - a great read ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️” Lynda’s Book Reviews “I loved reading from each sisters perspective and their different relationships with each other and their parents. This book shows a fantastic insight into family dynamics.” Mrs Book Burnee “This is a brilliantly plotted book…Billington has used her skill at capturing a moment, a point in time, and making so much depend on it, while making sure that her characters also move on, change and develop. It is a balancing act which she achieves, setting out a significant incident, then moving her characters on.” Northern Reader “At its heart this is a book about human nature, warts and all. It is a story of survival and ultimately of hope.” Dems Book Den “a poignant look at family dynamics and how trauma can reverberate across the years. I found this book to be utterly fascinating as it weaves its way across three sisters lives, their loves intertwined but yet so separate and how their relationship with their mother shapes their destinies. I was hooked by this book from the prologue to the last page.” Books by Bindu “reminded me of a more modern version of little women” Rory Reads “This exceptional novel is a delectable, dark, dramatic delve into a family’s damaged dynamics, elegantly and excitingly written. …I admired and adored this book; its intimate intensity, its imaginative nuances, its intelligent intricacy all bound up in the characters of this story and their lives we experience vicariously.” The Fallen Librarian “It’s a book that I really got invested in. This family became addictive to read about. ... This is a story that shows there is always hope, no matter what circumstances there are.” Beyond the Book “I really enjoyed the way that this book is told from the alternative views of the three sisters – it felt like you could get to know each one quite well. The structure also made it quite addictive to read as each chapter is short and I kept thinking that I would read just one more. This is a great book that reads like a saga and covers a bit of everything – love, loss, marriage, war and the dynamic of families.” A Cottage Full of Books “The characters were excellent. I loved the three sisters and how we were taken on a journey through their ultimately tragic lives. …It was an emotional rollercoaster right through to the end.” Budget Tales Book Blog “The book starts with a fantastic prologue that draws you in … I really enjoyed it and I think anyone who enjoys books set after the Second World War and that cover family relationships and how society began to change then, will want this on their bookshelves.” Book n Banter “I found Millie frustrating but accepted that she was of her time, and loved defiant, independent Di and flawed, brilliant Cleo. The relationships were difficult, stemming from problematic relationships with their unloving mother and mainly absent father, and I liked that these reflected troubled families in real life with strained love.” We’ll All Become Stories
£15.36
Book SynopsisThe Hess affair requires an understanding of a variety of disciplines and practices: Wartime aviation, political history and human psychology to name but three. Harris and Wilbourn have over an extended period tried to learn as much as possible about all relevant aspects of what is in concert a complicated subject, one that has not yet been satisfactorily explained even after more than 80 years. In the past there have been works that have concentrated on single aspects of the affair; usually in great detail, but in Conspiracy, Calamity and Cover-up the authors’ work on the individual components provides the best ever yet plausible explanation of the affair as a whole. Official secrecy on the grounds of ‘National Security’, obfuscation and downright lying have all played a part in preserving the truth behind the flight. Through dogged perseverance and endeavour Harris and Wilbourn now present what they believe is the ultimate truth behind the affair.Trade Review"... clearly the culmination of all their years of diligent research, and they leave no proverbial stone unturned in their quest to answer exactly what happened and why... if you are looking for an insightful and informative read that comprehensively addresses the Hess saga then look no further." History of War
£28.00
Book SynopsisThe life of Scottish watercolourist William Alister Macdonald (1861-1956) contained more mystery and intrigue than a novel by the authors he knew as friends. Mid-life in the early 1900s he painted widely across Britain, Europe and North Africa. Aged sixty, abandoning his wife and son in London, he settled in Tahiti, where he befriended authors Charles Nordhoff, James Norman Hall and Zane Grey. Critical acclaim of his work peaked in 1935 with the discovery of over 120 watercolours capturing London streets and lost panoramas from the Thames, its river life and trade at the turn of the last century, now part of the Wakefield Collection at London's Guildhall. Yet in Tahiti his reputation has endured with appreciation of his timeless, exquisite landscapes and studies of paradise. This first fully illustrated biography of Macdonald's life provides a long-overdue opportunity for his European and Polynesian work to be reappraised and his story told.
£24.00
Book SynopsisFrom radical roots in the Sixties, outdoor arts have grown to become an essential part of nation-defining celebrations. At the forefront of the sector is Greenwich+Docklands International Festival, which has been lighting up lives and filling historic squares, town centres and unused spaces with spectacular large and small scale productions for 30 years. Founder Bradley Hemmings has followed his vision to raise the ambition, quality and diversity of work produced in the UK while also welcoming the best international companies. Above and Beyond tells the story in words and pictures of why GDIF is London's leading outdoor free arts festival.
£28.00
Book SynopsisDiamond Cuts in Historic Jewellery 13811910 explores the evolution of historical diamond cutt ing styles. Richly illustrated with stunning colour photographs, it guides the reader through centuries of craftsmanship, from medieval table cuts and hogbacks to the baroque and rococo rose cuts. This indispensable resource assists collectors, jewellery historians and enthusiasts recognise rare and lesser-known diamond cuts. The book features images of exceptional Renaissance jewellery from prestigious museum collections, alongside photographs of famous diamonds such as the Dresden Green, the Hortensia and Le Beau Sancy. Informative drawings further illustrate the technical intricacies of historical cutting techniques, offering a deeper understanding of their development. With its expert analysis and breathtaking visuals, this book is an essential reference for anyone passionate about antique jewellery and diamond history.
£52.50
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£14.96
Book SynopsisCelebrating over 60 years of Interior and Garden Design Education.
£24.00
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£18.75
Book SynopsisA collection of Rudyard Kipling''s articles describing the French Frontline during the First World War. Published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Rudyard Kipling''s birth.
£11.52
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£7.99
Book SynopsisThe name Farsons is as synonymous with Malta as Guinness is with Ireland. Louis Farrugia’s visionary decision to conduct a European architectural competition has resulted in a stunningly beautiful and brilliant transformation of the 1951 Art Deco Farsons Old Brewhouse buildings. The gardens-courtyards-campus masterplan and architecture has been designed by the internationally renowned architects - ritchie*studio – led by Ian Ritchie, and realised in collaboration with Alex Torpiano’s engineering-focused Maltese practice TBA Periti, and environmental physicist Doug King. Inspired by Maltese palace gardens and the coloured architectural elements of the island’s vernacular buildings, and designed with respect for the force of the Mediterranean sun, this utterly contemporary mixed-use commercial architecture is a masterpiece of form, light and shade, sustainability and environmental engineering. Richard England, the celebrated Maltese architect wrote: “It is perhaps the finest building our island has seen over many a decade. It proves that real estate development can be produced enriched with what Vitruvius termed ‘Venustas’. Rarely has Malta seen architecture of this excellence.”
£24.00
Book SynopsisElstree School celebrates its 175th anniversary in 2023 and to commemorate the anniversary new book Elstree 175 tells iconic story of the school from 1848 to today, celebrating every aspect of such a famous academic institution. This revised history gives a lively account of the extraordinary Sanderson family who ran it for 100 years, the other teachers who made it special as well as celebrating some of its distinguished old boys and alumni. Elstree School was a feeder for Harrow School, and in its early days, had a strong intellectual background with figures such as Joseph Conrad and John Galsworthy who were frequent visitors to the school. The book explains the ethos of study, Christian faith, high sporting achievement and good manners that have long given the school its special quality, and brings the story right up to the present day.
£28.00
Book SynopsisRonald Rae is a rare example of a 'total artist' or Gesamtkunstler. Since penning his first cartoon at the age of 14, closely followed by taking a chisel to his first stone at 15, Rae created artworks almost every day for the next 60 years. Rae is best known as a granite sculptor, being the only artist working at scale on this most obdurate of materials using hand tools. After coming home exhausted from carving, Rae would also draw prolifically, and create work in a bewildering variety of media including ink and wax on paper, collage, carved and sun-inscribed wood, cardboard, found objects, books and newspapers. Themes included war, racism, social exclusion and alienation, humans and the animal world, early artforms, religion, and loss. Rae created extensive piano improvisations and he was also a published poet in Spain. This monograph contains a biography and covers the broad aspects of Rae's artistic development and his approach to his work. Extensively illustrated, the volume will introduce the artist to a new audience and bring attention to his visceral yet ultimately tender depiction of the human condition.Trade Review“This is a much-needed book, with Robert De Mey’s rigorous text tracing the career of a significant and singular artist. Ronald Rae’s haunting and expressive biro and mixed media illustrations give insight into his complex and turbulent imaginative world, whilst images of his often monumental, extraordinarily expressive stone sculptures convey his passion for humanity and the natural world. Ronald Rae: An Inner Life reveals the tremendous compassion and prowess of a larger-than-life artist and man.” – Clare Lilley, Director, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
£24.00
