Search results for ""macmillan""

The thrilling first book in the most extraordinary new fantasy series.Open the door to a spellbinding world where the wilderness is alive and a deep magic rises from the earth itself . . .Daisy Thistledown has recently escaped from boarding school, and has a mystery to solve. The trail will lead her through a hidden doorway to the Greenwild, a rich and verdant land bursting with magic. There, Daisy finds herself confronting a dangerous presence that threatens green magic on both sides of the door.Daisy must band together with a botanical prodigy, a boy who can talk to animals, and a cat with an attitude, to channel the power that can save the Greenwild - and her own world too.

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From the internationally bestselling author of The Atlas Six, One For My Enemy is the Sunday Times bestselling Romeo and Juliet retelling of witches, magic and intrigue.This paperback edition includes illustrations from Little Chmura and the bonus short story 'Love Language'.In New York City, two rival witch families fight for the upper hand.The Antonova sisters are beautiful, cunning and ruthless. But their underground narcotics business is threatened by their long-standing adversaries, the Fedorov brothers.For twelve years, the families have maintained a fraught stalemate. Then everything is thrown into disarray. Bad blood carries them to the brink of disaster, even as a forbidden romance blossoms between two opposing sides. Yet the heirs still struggle for power, and internal conflicts could rot each family from within. That is, if the enmity between empires doesn’t destroy both sides first .

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With an introduction by Otessa Moshfegh, author of Lapvona.In 1985, Bret Easton Ellis shocked, stunned and disturbed with his debut novel, Less Than Zero. Published when he was just twenty-one, this extraordinary and instantly infamous work has become a rare thing: a cult classic and a timeless embodiment of the zeitgeist. Filled with relentless drinking in seamy bars and glamorous nightclubs, wild, drug-fuelled parties, and dispassionate sexual encounters, Less Than Zero is narrated by Clay, an eighteen-year-old student returning home to Los Angeles for Christmas. Bret Easton Ellis's debut novel is a fierce coming-of-age story, justifiably celebrated for its unflinching depiction of hedonistic youth, its brutal portrayal of the inexorable consequences of such moral depravity, and its author’s refusal to condone or chastise such behaviour.Less Than Zero has done more than simply define a genre: it continues to be a landmark in the lives of successive generations of readers across the globe.Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.

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From the internationally bestselling author of The Atlas Six, Masters of Death is a queer, page-turning fantasy bursting with Olivie Blake’s signature sharp wit, stunning prose and unforgettable characters.*This edition features beautiful interior illustrations from Little Chmura and a never-seen-before short story, 'Brandt Solberg's Book of Worlds'.*‘Olivie Blake is a mind-blowing talent’ – Chloe Gong, author of These Violent DelightsThis book is about an estate agent. Only she’s a vampire, the house on sale is haunted, and its ghost was murdered.When Viola Marek hires Fox D’Mora to deal with a ghost-infested mansion, she expects a competent medium. But unbeknownst to Viola, Fox is not a medium at all. He’s a fraud – and the godson of Death.As the mystery of the mansion unfolds, Viola and Fox are drawn into an unlikely quest that neither wants nor expects.

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From the bestselling author of Talk Like TED, renowned communications coach Carmine Gallo reveals the leadership secrets of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos – and gives you the tools to master them yourself.Jeff Bezos built Amazon. A dreamer who turned a bold idea into the world’s most influential company, a brand that likely touches your life every day. As a student of leadership and communication, he learned to elevate the way Amazonians write, collaborate, innovate, pitch and present. He created a scalable model that grew from a small team in a Seattle garage to one of the world’s largest employers.In The Bezos Blueprint, Carmine Gallo reveals the communication strategies that Jeff Bezos pioneered to fuel Amazon’s astonishing growth. As one of the most innovative and visionary entrepreneurs of our time, Bezos reimagined the way leaders write, speak and motivate teams and customers.The communication tools Bezos created are so effective that former Amazonians who worked directly with Bezos adopted them as blueprints to start their own companies. Now, these tools are available to you.‘Carmine Gallo examines more than two decades of Bezos letters to reveal the writing and communication strategies that should be taught to everyone with a story to tell’ – Marc Randolph, co-founder and first CEO of Netflix

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'Sometimes a book comes along that stops you in your tracks. This arrived today. It is beautiful, intelligent, accessible, deeply moving. Fantastic writing, fantstic art. A book for everyone.' David AlmondA stunning poetry gift book celebrating the natural world, illustrated by Diana Catchpole.Out There in the Wild celebrates our place in nature. It is packed with poems about everything that lives in the the sea and rivers, on land and in the sky. You will meet eagles and skylarks, tigers and elephants, foxes, rabbits and bats, bees and butterflies and many other natural wonders.These beautiful poems written by Nicola Davies, Dom Conlon and James Carter invite you to consider how we are connected to the wild. We are all nature after all.

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A teenage girl is pulled into investigating the truth behind her new boarding school’s decades-old legend, in this debut speculative mystery by Tomi Oyemakinde.Just because they let you in . . . it doesn't mean they'll let you out.When Ife joins Nithercott School through its prestigious Urban Achievers Program, she knows immediately that she doesn't fit. Wandering its echoing halls, she must fend off cruel taunts from the students and condescending attitudes from the teachers. When she finds herself thrown into detention for the foreseeable future, she strikes up an unlikely alliance with Ben, a troublemaker with an annoyingly cute smile. They've both got reasons to want to get out of Nithercott - Ben's brother is missing, and no one seems to be bothering to find him.For Ife, it's just another strange element of this school that doesn't care about its students. But as more and more people start going missing, including one of Ife's only friends, she starts to feel haunted.Who is the figure she's started seeing in the shadowy halls, who looks mysteriously like herself? And is there any truth in to the strange urban legend that travels the school like mist . . . the legend of the Changing Man?'The Changing Man is compulsively readable and utterly thrilling . . . Tomi Oyemakinde is an exciting new voice' - Katherine Webber, author of Twin Crowns

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Savage violence and cruel morality reign in the backwater deserts of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, a tale of one man's dark opportunity – and the darker consequences that spiral forth.Adapted for the screen by the Coen Brothers (Fargo, True Grit), winner of four Academy Awards (including Best Picture).'A fast, powerful read, steeped with a deep sorrow about the moral degradation of the legendary American West' – Financial Times1980. Llewelyn Moss, a Vietnam veteran, is hunting antelope near the Rio Grande when he stumbles upon a transaction gone horribly wrong. Finding bullet-ridden bodies, several kilos of heroin, and a caseload of cash, he faces a choice – leave the scene as he found it, or cut the money and run. Choosing the latter, he knows, will change everything.And so begins a terrifying chain of events, in which each participant seems determined to answer the question that one asks another: how does a man decide in what order to abandon his life?'It's hard to think of a contemporary writer more worth reading' – IndependentPart of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.Praise for Cormac McCarthy:‘McCarthy worked close to some religious impulse, his books were terrifying and absolute’ – Anne Enright, author of The Green Road and The Wren, The Wren'His prose takes on an almost biblical quality, hallucinatory in its effect and evangelical in its power' – Stephen King, author of The Shining and the Dark Tower series'[I]n presenting the darker human impulses in his rich prose, [McCarthy] showed readers the necessity of facing up to existence' – Annie Proulx, author of Brokeback Mountain

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Brian Bilston has been described as Twitter's unofficial Poet Laureate. With over 250,000 followers on social media, including J.K. Rowling, Roger McGough and Frank Cottrell Boyce, Brian has become truly beloved by the online community. He has published two collections of poetry, You Took the Last Bus Home and Alexa, what is there to know about love?, and his novel Diary of a Somebody was shortlisted for the Costa first novel award. He has also published a collection of football poetry, 50 Ways to Score a Goal, and his acclaimed poem Refugees has been made into an illustrated book for children.

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Fractal Noise is the thrilling prequel to the masterful space opera To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by internationally bestselling author of Eragon, Christopher Paolini.On the planet Talos VII, twenty-three years before the events of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, an anomaly is detected: a vast circular pit, with dimensions so perfect that it could only have been the result of conscious design. So a small team is assembled to learn more – perhaps even who built the hole and why. Their mission will take them on a hazardous trek to the very edge of existence.For one explorer, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. For another, a risk not worth taking. And for xenobiologist Alex Crichton, it’s a desperate attempt to find meaning in an uncaring universe. But every step they take towards that mysterious abyss is more punishing than the last. Ultimately, no one is prepared for what they will encounter.Praise for To Sleep in a Sea of Stars:'Big and fun – the book Paolini fans have been waiting for' – John Scalzi'A fun, fast-paced epic that science fiction fans will gobble up' – Kirkus Reviews'An epic tale of first contact, travels to the edge of the galaxy, and just maybe the fate of all humankind' – Goodreads

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What should I wear to ballet class? How do I make the correct shapes with my arms and feet? What should I remember when I dance on stage?My First Ballet Book provides the answers to these and many more questions. It will inform and inspire all young dancers – those just starting out and those who are already immersed in the world of ballet.Perfectly pitched text by expert author Kate Castle, a former dancer with the Royal Ballet, provides a highly practical guide to every aspect of ballet, while beautiful photographs truly capture the magic of dance – from the excitement of a child’s first class to the joy of dancing on stage and the wonder of watching ballet in performance. Hints and tips throughout will help every child make the most of their ballet classes.

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Are you smart enough to help Ethan, Kiran, Cassia and Zane stop a long-forgotten ancient Egyptian tomb from disappearing forever?This dynamic, interactive book is packed with all kinds of puzzles, including fiendish mazes, cunning logic problems, codes to crack, tricky memory challenges, and much more. Long ago, a thief tried to steal precious stones from an ancient artefact hidden in the pyramid, but left them all around the tomb. To return the stolen gems and save the pyramid from sinking into the sand, you will need every ounce of brainpower to progress through the challenges, navigating through five locations to the final exit. Throughout the book, nuggets of non-fiction information about ancient Egypt are scattered on the pages.Look out for all the books in the Escape Room Puzzles series and see if you have what it takes to help the gang carry out each mission!

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What’s the difference between me, a planet and a star? Does the Universe follow a recipe? If a wardrobe has three dimensions, what is the fourth?These are some of life’s biggest questions, and you are a daring thinker for even thinking about them! So open your mind and prepare to explore some of the biggest, boldest ideas about astrophysics, space and time – from the ridiculously silly to the strikingly serious. Each question in Really Big Questions For Daring Thinkers: Space and Time will unlock new ways of thinking and may lead you to some intriguing answers. If you’re daring enough to take on this mind-expanding challenge, then read on!Written by science communicator and space expert Mark Brake, the easy-to-understand text, intriguing mind-teasers, and incredible thought experiments make this philosophic journey unforgettably fun!

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From prehistory to the present day, colours have shaped our world in more ways than you might expect.In The Stories and Secrets of Colour, young readers can explore the many meanings behind and uses for colour all over the world, from the Tuareg people of North Africa and their striking blue clothes, to why saffron is so expensive and what makes flamingos pink. Through colour, we discover amazing facts about animals and plants, learn how colours have changed the course of history and find out how different colours affect our moods and health.Vivid, imaginative full-spread illustrations from artist Sirjana Kaur are a joyful celebration of colour and award-winning Susie Brook's text reveals how colour is infused into every part of our lives.

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WINNER OF THE SCHOOL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 2021 INFORMATION BOOK AWARD (8–12 CATEGORY)How Many Mice Make an Elephant? And Other Big Questions about Size and Distance introduces children to this tricky maths concept in a fun, relatable way. Fantastically written by Tracey Turner, questions such as 'How many high jumps to the moon?' and 'How many ice cubes make an iceberg?' get children to think about just how high, how big and how far things are, as well as teaching them the maths to work it out! The logic behind each comparison is explained in clear, simple steps for children to follow along, helping them to reach the answer. Beautiful illustrations by Aaron Cushley couldn't be further from a maths text book, making learning maths a truly fun experience.This wonderfully illustrated take on maths-by-stealth includes an introduction by Kjartan Poskitt, author of the bestselling Murderous Maths series."Guaranteed to engage even the most reluctant of young mathematicians... The perfect choice for classrooms or school libraries." – Judges of the School Library Association 2021 Information Book Award (8–12 category)

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This irresistible reading series is sure to fire the imagination of young readers with its exciting range of high-interest topics and its great-looking, easy-to-follow design.Developed with literacy experts, this five-level graded reading series will guide young readers as they build confidence and fluency in their literacy skills and progress towards reading alone.Robots introduces children who can read alone with some help to these incredible inventions. It includes facts about different types of robots and what they do. Children can discover robots that have gone to space, robots that can play music and robots that look a lot like people! See www.kingfisherreaders.com for series information.

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This irresistible reading series is sure to fire the imagination of young readers with its exciting range of high-interest topics and its great-looking, easy-to-follow design.Developed with literacy experts, this five-level graded reading series will guide young readers as they build confidence and fluency in their literacy skills and progress towards reading alone.Bears introduces beginner readers to these wonderful mammals. It includes facts about habitat, families and behaviour. Children can discover how baby bears grow up, hibernate and find food.See www.kingfisherreaders.com for series information.

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There are four books in the series: Electricity and Magnets, Sound and Light, Forces and Motion and Matter and Materials. Each title contains 20 tried and tested experiments. The experiments are all safe to do, use household materials, are manageable but absorbing, and offer rewarding results. Readers are told how long each experiment lasts, what materials are needed and what the results mean. Eye-catching illustrations and engaging text make this the perfect book for the budding scientist!

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How many teeth does a crocodile have? Which is the world's most poisonous animal? How do orcas hunt?Come face to face with the world's top predators on this unforgettable tour of nature's deadliest and scariest hunters.Fast Facts is a new series of high-interest, lower reading ability books aimed at fact-hungry children who enjoy information books but may be less confident readers or have difficulty with the usual quantity and level of text aimed at their age group.

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Nameless is a gripping underworld thriller by bestselling author Jessie Keane.She never forgot, and she'll never forgive . . .In 1941, mixed race Ruby Darke is born into a family that seem to hate her, but why? While her two brothers dive into a life of gangland violence, Ruby has to work in their family store. As she blossoms into a beautiful young woman she crosses paths with aristocrat Cornelius Bray, a chance meeting that will change her life forever. When she finds herself pregnant, and then has twins, she is forced to give her children away. At that point she vows never to trust another man again. As the years pass, Ruby never forgets her babies, and as the family store turns into a retail empire, Ruby wants her children back. But secrets were whispered and bargains made, and if Ruby wants to stay alive she needs to forget the past, or the past will come back and kill her.Nameless is followed by the thrilling sequel, Lawless.

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A perfect introduction to poetry for young children. A First Poetry Book is packed with fabulous poems, created to enjoy in school and at home.From pets to pirates, seasons to space, and mermaids to minibeasts – this topic-based poetry collection, edited by Pie Corbett and Gaby Morgan, is ideal for 5 to 7-year-olds.

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She thought she'd seen the back of the Delaneys. How wrong could she be . . .Ruthless is the fifth book in the compelling Annie Carter series by hit crime writer Jessie Keane. Annie Carter should have demanded to see their bodies lying on a slab in the morgue, but she really believed the Delaney twins were gone from her life for good. Now sinister things are happening around her and Annie Carter is led to one terrifying conclusion: her bitter enemies, the Delaney twins, didn't die all those years ago. They're back and they want her, and her family, dead. This isn't the first time someone has made an attempt on her life,yet she's determined to make it the last. Nobody threatens Annie Carter and lives to tell the tale . . .Continue this gripping series with Stay Dead.

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The iron wheel began to spin, slowly at first, then faster and faster. The room grew darker. As the light lessened, so did the sound. Deeba and Zanna stared at each other in wonder. The noise of the cars and vans and motorbikes outside grew tinny . . . The wheel turned off all the cars and turned off all the lamps. It was turning off London. Zanna and Deeba are two girls leading ordinary lives, until they stumble into the world of UnLondon, an urban Wonderland where all the lost and broken things of London end up . . . and some of its lost and broken people too. Here discarded umbrellas stalk with spidery menace, carnivorous giraffes roam the streets, and a jungle sprawls beyond the door of an ordinary house. UnLondon is under siege by the sinister Smog and its stink-junkie slaves; it is a city awaiting its hero. Guided by a magic book that can’t quite get its facts straight, and pursued by Hemi the half-ghost boy, the girls set out to stop the poisonous cloud before it burns everything in its path. They are joined in their quest by a motley band of UnLondon locals, including Brokkenbroll, boss of the broken umbrellas, Obaday Fing, a couturier whose head is an enormous pincushion, and an empty milk carton called Curdle.Winner of the Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book, China Miéville’s Un Lun Dun is an extraordinary vivid creation;is populated by astonishing frights and delights that will thrill the imagination.

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In Kristen Hannah's Night Road the consequence of one terrible night changes a group of young people's lives forever.'Movingly written and plotted . . . you’ll keep turning the pages until the last racking sob.' - The Daily MailLexi and Mia are inseparable from the moment they start high school. Different in so many ways – Lexi is an orphan and lives with her aunt on a trailer park, while Mia is a golden girl blessed with a loving family, and a beautiful home. Yet they recognize something in each other which sets them apart from the crowd, and Mia comes to rely heavily on Lexi’s steadfast friendship.Mia’s beloved, and incredibly good-looking, twin brother Zach, finds life much less complicated than his sister. He'd always sailed through life easily achieving whatever he, and his family, wanted and expected – but then he fell in love.The summer they graduated is a time they will always remember, and one they could never forget. It is a summer of love, best friends, shared confidences and promises. Then one moment one night changes them all forever. As hearts are broken, loyalties challenged and hopes dashed, the time has come to leave childhood behind and learn to face the future.Selected for the UK's TV Book Club Summer Read.

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The Burning is the sixth thrilling installment in Matthew Hall's twice CWA Gold Dagger nominated Coroner Jenny Cooper series, from the creator of BBC One's Keeping Faith.A family tragedy. A buried secret. What lies hidden in the flames?A dense, bitterly cold fog has settled over the Wye Valley when Bristol Coroner Jenny Cooper is called to the scene of a dreadful tragedy: in the village of Blackstone Ley, a house has burned to the ground with three members of a family inside.Though evidence of foul play is quickly uncovered, it isn't long before the police investigation is drawn to a close. It seems certain that the fire was started by one of the victims, Ed Morgan, in a fit of jealous rage. But their infant son is still missing and Ed had left a message for his surviving wife, Kelly Hart, telling her that she would never find the child . . .As Jenny prepares the inquest, she finds herself troubled by the official version of events. What could have provoked Ed's murderous rampage? How might the other, guarded inhabitants of the village have been involved? And what could the connection be with the mysterious abduction of a little girl ten years ago?Battling to suppress gruelling events in her own life, Jenny soon becomes entangled in another perplexing inquiry that may have surprising links to this one. Can she unearth Blackstone Ley's secrets, before it's too late?The Burning is followed by the seventh book in the Coroner Jenny Cooper series, A Life to Kill.The Jenny Cooper novels have been adapted into a hit TV series, Coroner, made for CBC and NBC Universal starring Serinda Swan and Roger Cross.

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Set in an unnamed African country, V. S. Naipaul's A Bend in the River is narrated by Salim, a young man from an Indian family of traders long resident on the coast. He believes The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it. So he has taken the initiative; left the coast; acquired his own shop in a small, growing city in the continent’s remote interior and is selling sundries – little more than this and that, really – to the natives. This spot, this ‘bend in the river’, is a microcosm of post-colonial Africa at the time of Independence: a scene of chaos, violent change, warring tribes, ignorance, isolation and poverty. And from this rich landscape emerges one of the author’s most potent works – a truly moving story of historical upheaval and social breakdown.

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In Half a Life we are introduced to the compelling figure of Willie Chandran. Springing from the unhappy union of a low-caste mother and a father constantly at odds with life, Willie is naively eager to find something that will place him both in and apart from the world. Drawn to England, and to the immigrant and bohemian communities of post-war London, it is only in his first experience of love that he finally senses the possibility of fulfilment. In its humorous and sensitive vision of the half-lives quietly lived out at the centre of our world, V. S. Naipaul’s graceful novel brings its own unique illumination to essential aspects of our shared history. ‘Parts are as sly and funny as anything Naipaul has written. Nobody who enjoys seeing English beautifully controlled should miss this novel’ – John Carey, Sunday Times

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From the Master of Horror, James Herbert's Others, private investigator Nicholas Dismas is hired to track down a missing baby stolen away at birth, he finds himself immersed in a grim underworld of lies and deceit. His investigations ultimately lead him to a mysteriously located place with the seemingly innocent name of Perfect Rest, a nursing home where the elderly can live out their days in peace . . . But appearances can be deceptive and Dismas discovers the shadowy presence of the Others lurking in the hidden rooms and passages of Perfect Rest. His own dark heart is called into question in the events that follow and, in an astonishing and spectacular finale, Dismas finally resolves the enigma of his existence and answers the disturbing questions . . . who and what are the Others?

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Apocalyptic survival at its most terrifying. The third in the Rats trilogy, international bestseller James Herbert's Domain pits man against mutant rats, who are back with a vengeance.The long-dreaded nuclear conflict. The city torn apart, shattered, its people destroyed or mutilated beyond hope. For just a few, survival is possible only beneath the wrecked streets – if there is time to avoid the slow-descending poisonous ashes. But below, the rats, demonic offspring of their irradiated forebears, are waiting. They know that Man is weakened, become frail. Has become their prey . . .Start the Master of Horror's chilling series from the beginning with The Rats and Lair.

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From the author whose books inspired the BBC series All Creatures Great and Small, It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet is the second volume of James Herriot's classic memoirs; a book for all those who find laughter and joy in animals, and who know and understand the magic and beauty of Britain’s wild places.Lesson number one: When taking a cow’s temperature the old-fashioned way, never let go of the thermometer . . . Now firmly ensconced in the sleepy Yorkshire village of Darrowby, recently qualified vet James Herriot has acclimatized to life with his unpredictable colleagues, brothers Siegfried and Tristan Farnon. But veterinary practice in the 1930s was never going to be easy, and there are challenges on the horizon, from persuading his clients to let him use his ‘modern’ equipment, to becoming an uncle (to a pig called Nugent). Throw in his first encounters with Helen, the beautiful daughter of a local farmer, and this year looks to be as eventful as the last . . .

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A Swedish crime writer as thrilling as Mankell, a detective as compelling as Wallander . . . Håkan Nesser's The Inspector and Silence is the fifth gripping crime novel in the Van Veeteren series.In the heart of summer, the country swelters in a fug of heat. In the beautiful forested lake-town of Sorbinowo, Sergeant Merwin Kluuge's tranquil existence is shattered when he receives a phone call from an anonymous woman. She tells him that a girl has gone missing from the summer camp of the mysterious The Pure Life, a religious sect buried deep in the woods. Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is recruited to help solve the mystery. But Van Veeteren's investigations at The Pure Life go nowhere fast. The strange priest-like figure who leads the sect – Oscar Yellineck – refuses even to admit anyone is missing. Things soon take a sinister turn, however, when a young girl's body is discovered in the woods, raped and strangled; and Yellineck himself disappears. Yet even in the face of these new horrors, the remaining members of the sect refuse to co-operate with Van Veeteren, remaining largely silent. As the body count rises, a media frenzy descends upon the town and the pressure to find the monster behind the murders weighs heavily on the investigative team. Finally Van Veeteren realizes that to solve this disturbing case, faced with silence and with few clues to follow, he has only his intuition to rely on . . .The Inspector and Silence is followed by the sixth book in the series, The Unlucky Lottery.

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A Swedish crime writer as thrilling as Mankell, a detective as compelling as Wallander . . . Chief Inspector Van Veeteren delves into a dark family mystery in the sixth book in Håkan Nesser's Van Veeteren series, The Unlucky Lottery. Four friends celebrate winning the lottery. Just hours later, one of them – Waldemar Leverkuhn – is found in his home, stabbed to death. With Chief Inspector Van Veeteren on sabbatical, working in a second hand bookshop, the case is assigned to Inspector Münster. But when another member of the lottery group disappears, as well as Leverkuhn's neighbour, Münster appeals to Van Veeteren for assistance. Soon Münster will find himself interviewing the Leverkuhn family, including the eldest – Irene – a resident of a psychiatric clinic. And as he delves deeper into the family's history, he will discover dark secrets and startling twists, which not only threaten the clarity of the case – but also his life . . .The Unlucky Lottery is followed by the seventh book in the series, Hour of the Wolf.

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Cormac McCarthy plumbs the depths of human degradation in Child of God, his most brutally violent, shocking work. From the author of Blood Meridian and The Road.1960s, Tennessee. Lester Ballard is a violent, solitary and introverted young backwoodsman, dispossessed on his ancestral land. Homeless, indulging in voyeurism, he is accused of rape.When he is released from jail, he begins to haunt the hilly landscape – preying upon its population, unleashing his impulse for sexualised violence.Commonplace humanity becomes grotesque and, as the story hurtles toward its unforgettable conclusion, McCarthy depicts the most sordid aspects of life with empathy and lyricism.'A powerful and talented writer, able to elicit compassion for his protagonist however terrible his action' – Sunday TimesPraise for Cormac McCarthy:‘McCarthy worked close to some religious impulse, his books were terrifying and absolute’ – Anne Enright, author of The Green Road and The Wren, The Wren'His prose takes on an almost biblical quality, hallucinatory in its effect and evangelical in its power' – Stephen King, author of The Shining and the Dark Tower series'[I]n presenting the darker human impulses in his rich prose, [McCarthy] showed readers the necessity of facing up to existence' – Annie Proulx, author of Brokeback Mountain

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In this riveting book, Michael Burleigh sets Nazi Germany in a European context, showing how the Third Reich's abandonment of liberal democracy, decency and tolerance was widespread in the Europe of the period. He shows how a radical, pseudo-religious movement, led by an oddity with dazzling demagogic talents, seemed to offer salvation to a German exhausted by war, depression and galloping inflation. 'This is a monumental book.' Richard Overy, Sunday Telegraph 'If I had to recommend one book on the Third Reich, this would be it.' Daniel Johnson, Daily Telegraph 'It is a breathtaking achievement, at once broader and deeper than any other single volume ever published on the subject. Indeed I would go further: it is the product of authentic historical genius.' Niall Ferguson, Sunday Times 'Happily, Michael Burleigh now fills that bibliographical gap, with a readable and highly knowledgeable account of that ghastly period. You will never be bored by this extraordinary book.' Andrew Roberts, Mail on Sunday

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‘Shroud will not be easily surpassed for its combination of wit, moral complexity and compassion. It is hard to see what more a novel could do’ Irish TimesDark secrets and reality unravel in Shroud, the second of John Banville's three novels to feature Cass Cleave, alongside Eclipse and Ancient Light. Axel Vander, distinguished intellectual and elderly academic, is not the man he seems. When a letter arrives out of the blue, threatening to unveil his secrets – and carefully concealed identity – Vander travels to Turin to meet its author. There, muddled by age and alcohol, unable always to distinguish fact from fiction, Vander comes face to face with the woman who has the knowledge to unmask him, Cass Cleave. However, her sense of reality is as unreliable as his, and the two are quickly drawn together, their relationship dark, disturbed and doomed to disaster from its very start.

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Haunting in every sense, White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi is a spine-tingling tribute to the power of magic, myth and memory.High on the cliffs near Dover, the Silver family is reeling from the loss of Lily, mother of twins Eliot and Miranda, and beloved wife of Luc. Miranda misses her with particular intensity. Their mazy, capricious house belonged to her mother’s ancestors, and to Miranda, newly attuned to spirits, newly hungry for chalk, it seems they have never left. Forcing apples to grow in winter, revealing and concealing secret floors, the house is fiercely possessive of young Miranda . . .

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Out of the Ordinary is Jon Ronson at his inimitable best: hilarious, thought-provoking and with an unerring eye for human frailty – not least his own.Jon Ronson's subjects have included people who believe that goats can be killed by the power of a really hard stare, and people who believe that the world is ruled by twelve-foot lizard-men. In Out of the Ordinary, a collection of his journalism from the Guardian, he turns his attention to irrational beliefs much closer to home, investigating the ways in which we sometimes manage to convince ourselves that all manner of lunacy makes perfect sense – mainstream, domestic, ordinary insanity. Whether he finds himself promising his son that he will be at his side for ever, dressed in a Santa costume, or trying to understand why hundreds of apparently normal people would suddenly start speaking in tongues in a Scout hut in Kidderminster, he demonstrates repeatedly how we all succumb to deeply irrational beliefs that grow to inform our everyday existence.

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A fascinating insight into the complexity, history and unpredictability of Iraq from Rory Stewart, bestselling author of Politics on the Edge and host of hit podcast The Rest Is Politics.By September 2003, six months after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the anarchy had begun. Rory Stewart, a young British diplomat, was appointed as the Coalition Provisional Authority's deputy governor of a province of 850,000 people in the southern marshland region. There, he and his colleagues confronted gangsters, Iranian-linked politicians, tribal vendettas and a full Islamist insurgency.Occupational Hazards is Rory Stewart's inside account of the attempt to rebuild a nation, the errors made, the misunderstandings and insurmountable difficulties encountered. It reveals an Iraq hidden from most foreign journalists and soldiers. Stewart is an award-winning writer, gifted with extraordinary insight into the comedy, occasional heroism and moral risks of foreign occupation.'Beautifully written, highly evocative . . . a joy to read' – John Simpson'A marvellous book . . . a devastating narrative' – Simon Jenkins'Absolutely absorbing' – Ken Loach'Strikes gut and brain at once' – James Meek'Wonderfully observed, wise, evocative' – Observer

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'Totally absorbing and highly readable account of a remarkable life . . . genuinely revelatory' The Times'A colossal book about a colossal life, a spectacular journey across the entire twentieth century' Daily MailWritten with complete access to the Queen Mother’s personal letters and diaries, William Shawcross's riveting biography is the truly definitive account of this remarkable woman, whose life spanned the twentieth century. Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes Lyon, the youngest daughter of the Earl of Strathmore, was born on 4 August 1900. Drawing on her private correspondence and other unpublished material from the Royal Archives, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother vividly reveals the witty girl who endeared herself to soldiers convalescing at Glamis in the First World War; the assured young Duchess of York; the Queen, at last feeling able to look the East End in the face at the height of the Blitz; the Queen Mother, representing the nation at home and abroad throughout her long widowhood.'This splendid biograpy captures something of the warm glow that she brought to every event and encounter. It also reveals a deeper and more interesting character, forged by good sense, love of country, duty, humour and an instinct for what is right. This is a wonderful book, authoritative, frank and entertaining' - Daily Telegraph

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Orphan Molly Moon was found as a baby in a box marked 'Moon's Marshmallows'. For ten miserable years she's lived under the cruel rule of Miss Adderstone in grim Hardwick House. But her life changes overnight when she finds a mysterious book on hypnotism and discovers an amazing talent - the power to make people do anything she want them to. Escaping from the orphange, Molly flies to New York in search of fame and fortune. But her adventures in hypnotism lead her into the clutches of a dangerous enemy . . .

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This revised collection of poems gathers together Charles Causley’s poetry spanning a period of more than fifty years and includes previously unpublished work as well as some of his poems for children.‘There are poems in this superb volume that will shine for as long as there are humans to read them’ –Kevin Crossley-Holland, Times Educational Supplement

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Often funny, sometimes chilling and always thought-provoking, journalist Jon Ronson's Sunday Times bestseller The Men Who Stare at Goats is a story so unbelievable it has to be true.In 1979 a secret unit was established by the most gifted minds within the US Army. Defying all known military practice – and indeed the laws of physics – they believed that a soldier could adopt a cloak of invisibility, pass cleanly through walls, and, perhaps most chillingly, kill goats just by staring at them. They were the First Earth Battalion. And they really weren't joking. What's more, they're back and fighting George Bush's War on Terror. Inspired the film starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor.

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In the summer after the Anglo-Irish Agreement, when tension was high in Northern Ireland, Colm Tóibín walked along the border from Derry to Newry. Bad Blood is a stark and evocative account of this journey through fear and hatred, and a report on ordinary life and the legacy of history in a bleak and desolate landscape. Tóibín describes the rituals – the marches, the funerals, the demonstrations – observed by both communities along the border, and listens to the stories which haunt both sides. With sympathy and insight Bad Blood captures the intimacy of life along one of the most contested strips of land in Western Europe.

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‘A beautiful, beguiling book full of resonances that continue to sound long after you’ve turned the final page. Its imagining is magical, its execution dazzlingly skilful.’ Sunday Tribune Ghosts opens with a shipwreck, leaving a party of sightseers temporarily marooned on an island. The stranded castaways make their way towards the big isolated house which is home to the reclusive Professor Silas Kreutznaer and his laconic assistant, Licht, but it is also home to another, unnamed presence . . . Onto this seemingly haunted island, where a strange singing hangs in the air, John Banville drops an intriguing cast of characters – including a murderer – and weaves a tale where the details are clear but the conclusion polymorphous – shifting appearances, transformations and thwarted assumptions make this world of uneasy calm utterly enthralling.

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‘What distinguished Clare is an unspectacular joy and a love for the inexorable one-thing-after-anotherness of the world’ Seamus Heaney John Clare (1793-1864) was a great Romantic poet, with a name to rival that of Blake, Byron, Wordsworth or Shelley – and a life to match. The ‘poet’s poet’, he has a place in the national pantheon and, more tangibly, a plaque in Westminster Abbey’s Poets’ Corner, unveiled in 1989. Here at last is Clare’s full story, from his birth in poverty and employment as an agricultural labourer, via his burgeoning promise as a writer – cultivated under the gaze of rival patrons – and moment of fame, in the company of John Keats, as the toast of literary London, to his final decline into mental illness and the last years of his life, confined in asylums. Clare’s ringing voice – quick-witted, passionate, vulnerable, courageous – emerges through extracts from his letters, journals, autobiographical writings and poems, as Jonathan Bate brings this complex man, his revered work and his ribald world, vividly to life.

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Ian Knight's Warriors in Scarlet is a comprehensive and stirring history of the Victorian army between 1837 to 1860, from the Battle of Bossendon Wood to the Crimean War, a period of seismic change.An acclaimed military historian, Knight draws on first-hand accounts to show us the reality of life for the British soldier in this era – the drudgery of peace-time service, the excitement and privations of posting overseas, the floggings and desertions, the regimental pride and comradeship. The rapid expansion of the empire saw the army fighting in small wars across the world and Knight reveals the brutal reality of this colonial conflict from both sides. British soldiers trained in tactics that had beaten Napoleon were forced to adapt when faced with warriors with very different skills fighting on their home ground.Knight vividly recreates the action, from bloody skirmishes in Southern Africa and siege warfare in New Zealand to disasters like the 1842 retreat from Kabul and Chillianwalla in the Punjab – but shows that in reality the army won more than four-fifths of the battles they fought in this era. He describes how, by 1860 with their redcoats increasingly replaced by khaki, the British army was a more professional, efficient and increasingly ruthless fighting force.'Impressively researched and highly readable analysis' – Tony Pollard, Professor of Conflict History and Archaeology, University of Glasgow

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