Search results for ""penguin books""

'A dazzling tour de force of epic royal history: a compulsive, unputdownable real-life thriller, a gripping portrait of ruthless power politics, and a study of British tyranny ... written with the delicacy and elegance of one of Britain's most brilliant historians at the top of her game' Simon Sebag-MontefiorePhenomenal historian Helen Castor's masterful plume plunges us into the depths of machination and the abyss of tragedy. This is a masterpiece that leaves the reader both satiated and breathless - Olivette Otele, author of African EuropeansIf ever a book of history was blessed with contemporary relevance, this one is. The dumbfounding, delusional, narcissistic King Richard; the white-knuckle ride of Henry IV, dogged all the way by notions of illegitimacy. I feel these men could have been ripped from today's headlines. The book's great achievement is in the storytelling the unfolding drama, the secrets of power and ambition so beautifully controlled in the telling. The Eagle and th

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'You'll never look at your favourite movies and TV shows the same way again. And you shouldn't' Steven Soderbergh 'Insanely readable' Slavoj Zizek'Your book was ... like a bag of pot, with me saying, 'I'm not gonna smoke.' But I was insatiable' Quentin Tarantino on Easy Riders, Raging BullsIn The Sky is Falling! bestselling cultural critic Peter Biskind takes us on a dizzying ride across two decades of pop culture to show how the TV and movies we love - from Game of Thrones and 24 to Homeland and Iron Man - have taught us to love political extremism. Welcome to a darkly pessimistic, apocalyptic world where winter has come, the dead are walking, and ultra violence, revenge and torture are all in a day's work. Welcome to the new normal.

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'The only Lou Reed bio you need to read' The Washington PostOne of Pitchfork's ten best music books of 2023 | A Kirkus Reviews best nonfiction book of 2023'A monumental work filled with first-person accounts of the master's life and a dizzying array of never-before heard details' Michael Imperioli, author of The Perfume Burned His Eyes The most complete and penetrating biography of the rock master, whose stature grows every year.Since his death ten years ago, Lou Reed's living presence has only grown. The great rock-poet presided over the marriage of Brill Building pop and the European avant-garde, and left American culture transfigured. In Lou Reed: The King of New York, Will Hermes offers the definitive narrative of Reed's life and legacy, dramatizing his long, brilliant, and contentious dialogue with fans, critics, fellow artists, and assorted habitués of the demimonde. We witness Reed's complex partnerships with David Bowie, Andy Warhol, John Cale, and Laurie Anderson; track the deadpan wit, street-smart edge, and poetic flights that defined his craft as a singer and songwriter with the Velvet Underground and beyond; and explore the artistic ambition and gift for self-sabotage he took from his mentor Delmore Schwartz. As Hermes follows Reed from Lower East Side cold-water flats to the landmark status he later achieved, he also tells the story of New York City as a cultural capital. The first biographer to draw on the New York Public Library's much-publicized Reed archive, Hermes employs the library collections, the release of previously unheard recordings, and a wealth of recent interviews to give us a new Lou Reed-a pioneer in living and writing about nonbinary sexuality and gender identity, a committed artist who pursued beauty and noise with equal fervor, and a turbulent and sometimes truculent man whose emotional imprint endures.

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Real-life accounts of the world's most notorious pirates, from the Golden Age of Piracy and beyondSpanning three centuries and eight thousand nautical miles, and compiled by a direct descendant of a sailor who waged war with pirates in the early nineteenth century, The Penguin Book of Pirates takes us behind the eye patches, the peg legs, and the skull and crossbones of the Jolly Roger and into the no-man's-land of piracy that is rife with paradoxes and plot twists.Here, in a fascinating array of accounts that include trial transcripts, journalism, ship logs, and more, are the grit and patois of real maritime marauders like the infamous Blackbeard; the pirates who inspired Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, Stede Bonnet in Max's Our Flag Means Death, and the Dread Pirate Roberts in The Princess Bride; the astoundingly egalitarian multi-ethnic and multilingual crews that became enmeshed in historical horrors like the slave tra

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A thrilling study of the greatest of all epic poems, by one of the world''s leading classicistsHomer''s Iliad is the famous epic poem set among the tales of Troy. Its subject is the anger of the hero Achilles and its dreadful consequences for the warring Greeks and Trojans. It was composed more than 2,600 years ago, but still transfixes us with its tale of loss and battle, love and revenge, guided throughout by the active presence of the gods. Its beauty and profound bleakness are intensely moving but great questions remain: where, how and when it was composed and why it has such enduring power?In this compelling book Robin Lane Fox addresses these questions, drawing on a life-long love and engagement with the poem. He argues for a place, a date and a method for its composition, giving us a sense of alternative approaches and grounding his own in discoveries about long heroic poems composed elsewhere in the world, and the ever-growing evidence of archae

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'A rich and readable account of left-wing activism in the West and opposition to Soviet-style communism in the East' Katja Hoyer, The Spectator'A dream, perhaps, but one that still sounds worth fighting for, even beautiful' Stuart Jeffries, The Observer'An ambitious and masterly account of utopian protest in Europe ... Fast-paced, with an eye for telling detail and written with a light touch' Robert GildeaIn post-war Europe, protest was everywhere. On both sides of the Iron Curtain, from Paris to Prague, Milan to Wroclaw, ordinary people took to the streets, fighting for a better world. Their efforts came to a head most dramatically in 1968 and 1989, when mass movements swept Europe and rewrote its history. In the decades between, Joachim C. Häberlen argues, new movements emerged that transformed the nature of protesting. Activism moved beyond traditional demonstrations, from squatting to staging 'happenings' and camping out at nuclear power plants. People protested in the way they d

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The Times Nature Book of the Year 2020Winner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award A Finalist for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award'Remarkable. If only every endangered species had a guardian angel as impassioned, courageous and pragmatic as Jonathan Slaght' Isabella Tree, author of Wilding'Gripping' Dave Goulson, author of A Sting in the TalePrimorye, a remote forested region near to where Russia, China and North Korea meet in a tangle of barbed wire, is the only place where brown bears, tigers and leopards co-exist. It is also home to one of nature's rarest birds, the Blakiston's fish owl. A chance encounter with this huge, strange bird was to change wildlife researcher Jonathan C. Slaght's life beyond measure.This is the story of Slaght's quest to safeguard the elusive owl from extinction. During months-long journeys covering thousands of miles, he has pursued it through its forbidding territory. He has spent time with the Russians who struggle on in the harsh conditions of the taiga forest. And he has observed how Russia's logging interests and evolving fortunes present new threats to the owl's survival. Preserving its habitats will secure the forest for future generations, both animal and human - but can this battle be won? Exhilarating and clear-sighted, Owls of the Eastern Ice is an impassioned reflection on our relationship with the natural world and on what it means to devote one's career to a single pursuit.'Slaght makes the people, wildlife and landscape of the Russian Far East come alive. I haven't enjoyed a book on remote Russia as much as this since Ian Frazier's Travels in Siberia' Sophy Roberts, author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia'True epic. Powerful, passionate' Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast

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A Sunday Times and Financial Times Book of the YearWhat happens in our brains when we wake up, savour a meal or a glass of wine, walk the dog, stare at a screen, daydream or sleep? World-renowned neuroscientist Susan Greenfield draws on her own pioneering research to illuminate the mystery of consciousness, and how our brains make us who we are. 'Offers tantalising clues to the universe inside our heads' Rob Kingston, Sunday Times, Science Books of the Year'One of the few brain researchers making a serious effort to investigate the rich continuum of conscious thoughts and feelings that underlie every moment of our waking lives' Clive Cookson, Financial Times'An illuminating, engrossing journey' Nature'Her writing is clear, sharp, devoid of difficult jargon and chatty. The brain's complexity comes across vividly' Anil Ananthaswamy, New Scientist

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When the Nazis invaded Hungary in 1944, they sent virtually the entire Jewish population to Auschwitz. A Hungarian Jew and a medical doctor, Dr. Miklos Nyiszli was spared from death for a grimmer fate: to perform "scientific research" on his fellow inmates under the supervision of the infamous "Angel of Death": Dr. Josef Mengele. Nyiszli was named Mengele's personal research pathologist. Miraculously, he survived to give this terrifying and sobering account of the terror of Auschwitz. This new Penguin Modern Classics edition contains an introduction by Richard Evans.

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Mark Twain's great American masterpiece, in a gorgeous new clothbound edition designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. These delectable and collectible Penguin editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the designMark Twain's tale of a boy's picaresque journey down the Mississippi on a raft conveyed the voice and experience of the American frontier as no other work had done before. When Huck escapes from his drunken father and the 'sivilizing' Widow Douglas with the runaway slave Jim, he embarks on a series of adventures that draw him to feuding families and the trickery of the unscrupulous 'Duke' and 'Dauphin'. Beneath the exploits, however, are more serious undercurrents - of slavery, adult control and, above all, of Huck's struggle between his instinctive goodness and the corrupt values of society, which threaten his deep and enduring friendship with Jim.Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on 30th November 1835, in Florida, Missouri. In 1853 he left home, earning a living as an itinerant type-setter, and four years later became an apprentice pilot on the Mississippi, a career cut short by the outbreak of the Civil War. For five years, as a prospector and a journalist, Clemens lived in Nevada and California. In February 1863 he first used the pseudonym 'Mark Twain' as the signature to a humorous travel letter. A trip to Europe and the Holy Land in 1867 became the basis of his first major book, The Innocents Abroad (1869). His numerous subsequent books include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), A Tramp Aborad (1880), The Prince and the Pauper (1882), and his masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin (1885). Twain died on 21st April 1910.'The best book we've had' - Ernest Hemingway

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'An astonishing masterpiece ... a political classic ... has an almost biblical force' Eric HobsbawmThe Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels' revolutionary 1848 summons to the working classes, is one of the most influential political theories ever formulated. After four years of collaboration, the authors produced this incisive account of their idea of Communism, in which they envisage a society without classes, private property or a state. They argue that increasing exploitation of industrial workers will eventually lead to a revolution in which capitalism is overthrown. Their vision transformed the world irrevocably, and remains relevant as a depiction of global capitalism today.Edited with an Introduction by GARETH STEDMAN JONES

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A true story of murder and vengeance, a shattered community and a miscarriage of justice that echoes down the decadesOctober 1971. Nineteen-year-old Una Lynskey vanishes near her home in Co. Meath. In the weeks that follow, and on flimsy grounds, gardaí identify three young local men as suspects. Within days of her body being found, one of the three is beaten to death by members of Una's family.The entire sequence of events is a tragedy in a quiet rural community - the wrong men jailed, no one ever facing justice - and becomes one of the most notorious failures in Irish policing and judicial history.In Who Killed Una Lynskey?, award-winning journalist Mick Clifford has built a compelling portrait of the case from interviews with the surviving main players, as well as exclusive access to the files of a private investigator who uncovered information the gardaí missed - or ignored.A timely, humane and compulsive read, this is a ground-break

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WINNER OF THE 2024 PULITZER PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE''A deeply immersive portrait of daily life in Israel and the West Bank'' The Best Books to Understand the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Financial Times''Brims over with just the sort of compassion and understanding that is needed at a time like this a book that speaks with deep and authentic truth of ordinary lives trapped in the jaws of history'' ObserverA gripping, intimate story of one heartbreaking day in Palestine that reveals lives, loves, enmities, and histories in violent collisionMilad is five years old and excited for his school trip to a theme park on the outskirts of Jerusalem, but tragedy awaits: his bus is involved in a horrific accident. His father, Abed, rushes to the chaotic site, only to find Milad has already been taken away. Abed sets off on a jour

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''A complete delight'' Mia Sheridan, author of Archer''s Voice''A beautiful romance'' Lauren Ho, author of Last Tang Standing-----It's the Athens 2024 Olympics and Zeke and Olivia are there to win.Zeke Moyo is the star athlete of Team GB. He's in Athens to claim the title of fastest man in the world.Olivia Nkomo has landed a career-making internship, finally earning her seat at the table.Then Zeke and Olivia collide literally on the first day of the games, and something unexpected begins.But the competition is stirring up uncomfortable memories from Zeke's past. And Olivia's dream job is turning into a nightmare.Will love become a hurdle? Or could running beside the right person change the whole game?Set against a sizzling, hot Greek summer filled with sunshine and souvlaki, Rufaro Faith Mazarua's Let The Games Begin is a page-turning love story that will

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''THE PERFECT SUMMER READ'' GLAMOURLord of the Flies meets And Then There Were None . . . but with Instagram and too much Prosecco.-Poppy Greer is getting married and four of her old schoolmates are to be her trusted bridesmaids. They may have drifted but true friendships last a lifetime, don''t they? Plus, who would pass on a free first-class ticket to white sands and bottomless cocktails on a private Caribbean island?But the women have underestimated their host, and each other. And as their darkest secrets are revealed, the trip of their dreams becomes the hen do from hell.Will anyone make it off the island alive?

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DISCOVER THE SUSPENSE-FILLED NEW THRILLER FROM NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER CLAIRE DOUGLAS ''Outstanding. A terrific family drama'' The Sunday Times ''Claire Douglas at her masterful best - twisty, surprising, and extraordinarily clever. I loved it'' Andrea Mara ---- You've known her all your life . . .Or have you?Tasha and sister Alice look alike, but couldn't be more different.Tasha's married with kids, settled near their home town of Bristol.While Alice travels the world with her husband. Yet each trusts the other with her life.So when Tasha wants a break,Alice offers to stay in her home with the kids, so her sister can have a holiday. Tasha knows they're in safe hands.She couldn't be more wrong.The call sends Tasha rushing home.Alice is in intensive care.Her husband is dead.The police are hunting for suspects and motives.<

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A chilling letter. A wrong conviction. One last chance to find the real killer . . . The chilling and heart-pounding new novel from Norwegian superstar Jørn Lier HorstINSPIRATION FOR THE HIT BBC FOUR SHOW WISTING'Up there with the best of the Nordic crime writers' THE TIMES_______In 1999, seventeen-year-old Tone Vaterland was killed on her way home from work.Desperate for a conviction the police deemed the investigation an open-and-shut case and sent her spurned boyfriend, Danny Momrak, down for murder.But twenty years later William Wisting receives a puzzling letter. It suggests the wrong man was convicted for Tone's death.And the real murderer is still out there.Wisting is quickly thrown into a terrifying race against time where he must find the sender, decipher this mysterious letter and catch the real killer - before they strike again . . ._______Praise for Jørn Lier Horst'Horst, a former Norwegian police detective, is often compared to Sweden's Henning Mankell for his moody, sweeping crime dramas' New York Times'Jørn Lier Horst writes some of the best Scandinavian crime fiction . . . His books are superbly plotted and addictive, the characters wonderfully realized' Yrsa Sigurdardóttir'One of the most brilliantly understated crime novelists writing today' Sunday Times

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Brought to you by Penguin.Dawn French, number one bestselling author and comedian, returns with her joyously funny, heart-warming new novel.Dawn French is back with a gloriously funny, completely irresistible, and beautifully written novel. Prepare to laugh, cry and everything in-between in another unputdownable instalment from one of the world's best loved comedians and authors.© Dawn French 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

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England, 1470.A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.The Yorkist king Edward IV is driven out of England, his wife and children forced to seek sanctuary from the House of Lancaster. Yet rage and humiliation prick Edward back to greatness. He lands at Ravenspur, with a half-drowned army and his brother Richard at his side. Though every hand is against them, though every city gate is shut, they have come home. The brothers York will not go quietly into banishment. Instead, they choose to attack. Yet neither Edward nor Richard realize that the true enemy of York has yet to reveal himself. Far away, Henry Tudor has become a man. He is the Red Dragon - 'the man of destiny' who seeks to end the Wars of the Roses. His claim will carry him to Bosworth Field.There will be silence and the mourning of queens. There will be self-sacrifice and terrible betrayals. Two royal princes will be put to death. There will be an ending -- and a new royal house will stand over them all.Praise for Conn Iggulden's Wars of the Roses series:'A tough, pacy chronicle of bloody encounters, betrayals and cruelties. Superb' Daily Mail'Iggulden is a master storyteller and makes our blood flow faster' Sunday Express'Iggulden breathes new life into the darkest and most dramatic of times, with a flair for both the huge scale and human interest of it all' Star'Pacey and juicy, and packed with action' Sunday Times'Iggulden is in a class of his own when it comes to epic, historical fiction' Daily Mirror'Absorbing and bloody' The Times'One of our finest historical novelists' Daily Express

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READ THE ABSORBING NEW PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE BETRAYALS AND THE GOOD GIRLFiona Neill has the sharpest eyes and ears for the nuance of family dynamics. The Haven is a brilliant character led thriller' Lisa Jewell, Number One bestselling author of None of This is True----The holiday was supposed to bring them together . . . But has it torn them apart? Cass Sawyer wakes up in the woods. She doesn't know what's happened, or why she is alone. But she recognises where she is. The Haven. An off-grid retreat the setting for what was meant to be the perfect family holiday.As Cass searches her surroundings, memories begin to trickle through. Her father's erratic behaviour. Her mother's pleas that they go back to town. The Haven's unnerving, free-spirited leader. The strange girls that hung on his every word. And a nag

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'Everyone's going to be talking about the twists and turns of The Honeymoon' Good HousekeepingYou won't be able to put down this addictive psychological thriller from the bestselling author of HOME TRUTHS___________ It should be paradise. But it's turned into a nightmare . . . For as long as she can remember, Jemma has been planning the perfect honeymoon. Two weeks in a five-star luxury resort in the Maldives with absolute privacy is everything she's been dreaming about. But what happens next wasn't part of the plan... Because the man Jemma married a week ago has just disappeared from the island without a trace. And now her perfect new life is vanishing just as quickly before her eyes. Is there anyone on the island she can trust? And above all - where has her husband gone? __________ 'Endlessly gripping . . . It's a stomach-flipping humdinger of a thriller. We'll be pushing it into the hands of all our friends' Heat 'Will keep you on the edge of your seat' Prima 'Expect twists and turns on every page' Take a Break

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Discover the classic mystery from Dick Francis, one of the greatest thriller writers of all time'Incredibly enjoyable and will deliver its kicks again and again' 5***** Reader Review'You can always depend on Dick Francis for an engrossing adventure' 5***** Reader Review'Edge-of-seat stuff, a real page turner' 5***** Reader Review______Daniel Roke owns a stud farm in Australia. He's young, smart, hard-working and desperate for some excitement - all of which makes him the ideal candidate for the Earl of October, who has come visiting. The Earl is concerned about a horse-doping scandal that is destroying English racing. He wants to pay Daniel to come back with him, pose as a highly corruptible stable lad and discover who is behind it. But when Daniel agrees, he doesn't realise just how close he'll have to get to find the truth.Nor how determined the criminals will be to prevent him living long enough to tell anyone . . .Packed with intrigue and hair-raising suspense, For Kicks is just one of the many blockbuster thrillers from legendary crime writer Dick Francis.Praise for Dick Francis:'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing' Daily Mirror'The narrative is brisk and gripping and the background researched with care . . . the entire story is a pleasure to relish' Scotsman'Dick Francis's fiction has a secret ingredient - his inimitable knack of grabbing the reader's attention on page one and holding it tight until the very end' Sunday Telegraph'A regular winner . . . as smooth, swift and lean as ever' Sunday Express'The master of suspense and intrigue' Country Life'Francis writing at his best' Evening Standard'Still the master' Racing Post

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A Kurt Austin NUMA files adventure, The Pharaoh's Secret is a gripping, action-packed and suspense-filled tale that delves into the mysteries of Ancient Egypt and is set in and beside the sparkling Mediterranean Sea.A deadly poisonOn the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa a mysterious ship runs aground, explodes and releases a poisonous black mist. As the island's inhabitants fall where they stand, someone sends a distress call.A rescue missionKurt Austin and the NUMA team are diving for antiquities when they pick up the call. As the only vessel for hundreds of miles, they attempt to rescue survivors. But something is very wrong about this incident. A secret conspiracyTasked with finding who might be responsible, Kurt uncovers a secretive organization that is using the knowledge and power of the Ancient Egyptians to destabilize northern Africa. If he doesn't find out why and how to stop them, millions will die . . .Praise for Clive Cussler'Cussler is hard to beat' Daily Mail'The Adventure King' Sunday Express'Nobody does it better... nobody!' Stephen Coonts'Just about the best storyteller in the business' New York Post'Oceanography's answer to Indiana Jones. Exotic locations, ruthless villains, and many narrow escapes-Cussler's fans come for swashbuckling and he delivers' Associated Press

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Discover the classic mystery from Dick Francis, one of the greatest thriller writers of all time'Suspense, intrigue, what more could you want? Dick Francis at his best' 5***** Reader Review'A dazzlingly good read. Francis writes heroes who are truly heroic, and villains so truly villainous that each encounter with them raises your temperature' 5***** Reader Review______Steeplechase jockey Kit Fielding has just ridden another winner for his patron - the Princess - when his distraught twin sister Holly comes to him with terrible news. A newspaper is printing stories which will put her husband, Bobby Allardeck, and his stables out of business.Putting aside the age-old Fielding-Allardeck feud, Kit decides to try to find out who is behind these cruel stories. This, he quickly discovers, puts a lot of noses out of joint. Not one to be put off easily, he keeps digging, upsetting powerful and ruthless people who'll do anything to protect themselves.But this is family and Kit will risk everything - including his neck - to find the truth . . .Packed with intrigue and hair-raising suspense, Break In is just one of the many blockbuster thrillers from legendary crime writer Dick Francis.Praise for Dick Francis:'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing' Daily Mirror'The narrative is brisk and gripping and the background researched with care . . . the entire story is a pleasure to relish' Scotsman'Dick Francis's fiction has a secret ingredient - his inimitable knack of grabbing the reader's attention on page one and holding it tight until the very end' Sunday Telegraph'A regular winner . . . as smooth, swift and lean as ever' Sunday Express'The master of suspense and intrigue' Country Life'Francis writing at his best' Evening Standard'Still the master' Racing Post

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It's Mrs Pteranodon's birthday and Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don want to do something special. At the Big Pond, they find the perfect surprise gifts for their Mum.

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Discover the explosive seventh instalment in the Lorien Legacies series by Pittacus Lore, the bestselling author of I AM NUMBER FOUR'Exhilarating . . . Each book grows more and more cataclysmic and heroic' 5***** Reader Review'This series is consistently captivating. It makes me shiver to think about it' 5***** Reader Review______It is the end.And the final battle will commence . . . with Earth as the battlefield.If they stand together, if they are united, if they are one . . . there will be a slim chance of victory.The Mogadorian invasion has come to Earth, and they have all but won the battle for our planet. Their warships loom over our most populous cities and no army will risk making a move against them.The Garde are all that stand in their way . . . but they are no longer alone in this fight. Human teens from across the globe, like John Smith's best friend, Sam Goode, have begun to develop Legacies of their own.The Garde have always known there is power in numbers. If they can find these new allies and join forces with them, they just might be able to win this war.The time has come for the Garde to make their final stand.True power lies in the numbers . . .Praise for Pittacus Lore:'Tense, exciting, full of energy' Observer'Relentlessly readable' The Times'Set to eclipse Harry Potter and moody vampires. Pittacus Lore is about to become one of the hottest names on the planet' Big Issue'Tense, keeps you wondering' Sunday TimesPerfect for fans of The Hunger Games - I Am Number Four is the first book in Pittacus Lore's Lorien Legacies series and is now a major Disney film.

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From twice-Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Steve Coll comes Private Empire, winner of the FT/GOLDMAN SACHS BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2012The oil giant ExxonMobil makes more money annually than the GDP of most countries; has greater sway than US embassies abroad; and spends more on lobbying than any other corporation. Yet to outsiders it is a mystery. In Private Empire, award-winning reporter Steve Coll tells the truth about the world's most powerful and shadowy company.From the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989 to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, via Moscow, the swamps of the Niger Delta and the halls of Congress, he reveals a story of dictators, oligarchs, civil war, blackmail, secrecy and ruthlessness. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and newly declassified documents, this is a chilling portrait of unchecked power.Reviews:'Magisterial ... a revealing history of our time' New York Review of Books'Meticulous, multi-angled and valuable ... Coll's prose sweeps the earth like an Imax camera' Dwight Garner, The New York Times 'Jaw-dropping reading' Kirkus Reviews'The definitive work on its subject ... at every stop there are vivid anecdotes, sharp insights and telling details' Ed Crooks, Financial TimesAbout the author:Steve Coll is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Bin Ladens. He is president of the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy institute headquartered in Washington, D.C., and a staff writer for The New Yorker. He won a Pulitzer prize for explanatory journalism while working at the Washingon Post. He is the author of six other books, including the bestseller Ghost Wars, which won him a second Pulitzer prize. He lives in Washington and New York.

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Hone your grill skills for the barbecue season with Jamie Oliver's ultimate guide from his Food Tube channel and barbecue expert, DJ BBQ'With the recipes in this book, your barbecue will never be the same again' Jamie OliverThis is the short and sweet cookbook that's to the point and super indulgent: containing 50 of the very best recipes that you'll reach for every time you barbecue.From meat to fish, veg to sides, Jamie will also equip you with a whole load of useful tips and cooking techniques that will appeal to outdoor cooks everywhere - whether you're already an expert or just starting out.DJ BBQ's smokin' hot recipes include:- CHERRY-WOOD smoked chicken- SCALLOPS with CHILLI GARLIC BUTTER- BODACIOUS BURGERS- Classic TEXAS BRISKET- Mouth-watering PULLED PORK- Kick-ass FISH TACOS and GRILLED TOMATO SLABSLearn how to transform your barbecue with all the heat of The BBQ Book, and throw together a feast that will tempt everyone back for seconds.Discover more from Jamie's Food Tube series, including The Cake Book, The Pasta Book and The Family Cookbook.

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'A manifesto for twenty-first-century leadership packaged in a fun and engaging story. Buy this book and get it in the hands of everyone in your company' Darren Hardy, publisher, Success magazineBen is a young manager who has been charged with persuading 500 employees to agree to a merger. Facing an impossible battle, he seeks the advice of an old friend, who introduces him to eccentric Aunt Elle.In the week leading up to the crucial employee vote, Aunt Elle teaches Ben about the power of influence and positive persuasion. Ben also meets with the company's top executives, coming back with a new leadership lesson each time. Ben finally learns the critical principle so many people in power fail to grasp: it's not about me, it's about you.Written with a light touch and filled with practical advice, this book will resonate with all who aspire to influential leadership.

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AS HEARD ON THE DIARY OF A CEO PODCAST WITH STEVEN BARTLETTFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of The School of LifeThis is a book about how to optimise your mental health. Written with kindness and sympathy, it is a practical guide to emotional well-being, calm and psychological maturity. Alain de Botton explores how we can cope with a variety of mental challenges, from the mild to the severe. It considers how and why we can get overly anxious or low; how we can best understand our pasts and how they shape us; and how we can build resilience, so as to live wisely alongside certain difficulties.At heart this is a book about psychological happiness about discovering equilibrium and meaning, and finding our way to connection and joy.This book does a wonderful job of making you realise that the thing you're going through, and the way that you are, isn't evidence of your inadequacy. It's actually evidence that you are

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'A joyful examination of two artists from different centuries and the unlikely parallels in their life and work' Guardian'An ardent fan letter from Hornby that makes you want to reread Great Expectations whilst listening to Sign o'the Times' Vogue_____________________The essential gift for lovers of Prince, Dickens and everyone in between!In Nick Hornby's completely joyous and original new book two great figures share the stage. Charles Dickens and Prince. Two wildly different artists who caught fire and lit up the world in ways no others could. Where did their magic come from? How did they work so hard and produce so much? How did they manage or give in to the restlessness and intensity of their creativity? How did they use it, and did it kill them?With wit, curiosity and deep admiration Nick Hornby traces their extraordinary lives - from their difficult beginnings to the women they fell for to their limitless energy for work, to their money and the movies - and brilliantly illuminates their very particular kind of genius.'I love this. It's smart and funny and elegantly persuasive' Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, author of Becoming Dickens

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The No. 1 BestsellerBiography of the Year, Irish Book Awards 2023The Last Word Listeners'' Choice Award, Irish Book Awards 2023''One of the best [books] I have read about the complexities of poverty . . . one of the most remarkable people you will ever meet'' GuardianLike young girls everywhere Katriona O'Sullivan grew up bright, enthusiastic, curious. But she was also surrounded by abject poverty and chaos, and after she became pregnant and homeless at 15, what followed was five years of barely surviving. Yet today Katriona is an award-winning academic whose work explores barriers to education for girls like her.What set Katriona on this unexpected path were the mentors and supporters who truly saw her. The teachers who showed her how to wash in the school toilets or turned up at her door to convince her to sit at least one GCSE. The community worker who encouraged her to apply for training schemes. The friend who i

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BY THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING, PRIZE-WINNING STUFF MATTERS Sometimes explosive, often delightful, occasionally poisonous, but always fascinating: the secret lives of liquids, from one of our best-known scientists________________A series of glasses of transparent liquids is in front of you: but which will quench your thirst and which will kill you? And why? Why does one liquid make us drunk, and another power a jumbo jet? From the bestselling author of Stuff Matters comes a fascinating tour of these surprising or sinister substances - the droplets, heartbeats and ocean waves we all encounter every day. Structured around a plane journey, encountering water, wine, oil and more, Miodownik shows that liquids are agents of death and destruction as well as substances of wonder and fascination. His unique brand of scientific storytelling brings them and their mysterious properties alive in a captivating new way.________________'A truly delightful read' Jim Al-Khalili, author of Paradox 'An exhilarating, eye-opening ride' Philip Ball, science writer and author of H2O'Exciting, anarchic and surprising' Katy Guest, The Guardian 'A thrilling read, from start to finish' Tim Radford, author of The Consolations of Physics

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'Dave Alred is the coach who helped Jonny Wilkinson keep his cool. We can all learn from him' Matthew Syed, bestselling author of Black Box Thinking and Rebel Ideas'Dave Alred is a genius. There is simply no-one around to match him in his field' Jonny Wilkinson _____________________________LEARN TO THRIVE UNDER PRESSURE WITH A LEADING PERFORMANCE COACHPressure is everywhere. Whether it's the stress of hitting an important work deadline, an upcoming job interview, or an end of year exam, it gets the better of us all sometimes. So, how can we achieve our best under pressure and use it to our advantage?In The Pressure Principle, Dave Alred shares eight practical, ground-breaking lessons that you can easily apply to your day-to-day life to help you deal effectively with pressure and perform at your very best. After years of teaching, researching, and coaching, Alred has seen first-hand the consequences that pressure can produce and has created the ultimate universal guide to overcoming this for anyone who needs it. His lessons include:· Mastering the physical symptoms of anxiety· Understanding the power of language · Improving our skills and ability to think effectively when under pressure · The power and importance of practice · Managing our expectations under pressure· Alleviating sensory shut down when extreme pressure hitsNo matter what life throws at you, Dave Alred will equip you with the techniques to face it. _____________________________'Dr Dave Alred is one of the world's most respected performance coaches' Mr Porter'Dave Alred's infectious enthusiasm is legitimate [...] The principles are universal' Telegraph

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Penelope Lively's Booker Prize winning classic, Moon Tiger is a haunting story of loss and desire, published here as a Penguin Essential for the first time.Claudia Hampton - beautiful, famous, independent, dying.But she remains defiant to the last, telling her nurses that she will write a 'history of the world . . . and in the process, my own'. And it is her story from a childhood just after the First World War through the Second and beyond. But Claudia's life is entwined with others and she must allow those who knew her, loved her, the chance to speak, to put across their point of view. There is Gordon, brother and adversary; Jasper, her untrustworthy lover and father of Lisa, her cool conventional daughter; and then there is Tom, her one great love, found and lost in wartime Egypt.'Leaves its traces in the air long after you've put it away' Anne Tyler'A complex tapestry of great subtlety. Lively writes so well, savouring the words as she goes' Daily Telegraph'Very clever: evocative, thought-provoking and hangs on the mind long after it is finished' Literary Review

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'The funniest person in the world' Caitlin Moran'My comfort read. The best diaries ever written - with apologies to Samuel Pepys, Bridget Jones and me' ADAM KAYThe hilarious SEVENTH BOOK in Sue Townsend's bestselling series, sees Adrian fall in love, be inconvenienced by the war and face his new nemesis: a swan from the local canal . . . _____________ Wednesday April 2nd My birthday. I am thirty-five today. I am officially middle-aged. It is all downhill from now. A pathetic slide towards gum disease, wheelchair ramps and death. Adrian Mole is middle-aged but still scribbling. Working as a bookseller and living in Leicester's Rat Wharf; finding time to write letters of advice to Tim Henman and Tony Blair; locked in mortal combat with a vicious swan called Gielgud; measuring his expanding bald spot; and trying to win-over the voluptuous Daisy . . . Adrian yearns for a better more meaningful world. But he's not ready to surrender his pen yet...______________ 'Hilarious. Deft, gleeful mockery impales modish fads, from home make-overs to new-age crazes, while fiercer irony is trained on the country's involvement with Iraq' Sunday Times 'Richly comic ... stuffed full of humour, tragedy, vanity, pathos and, very occasionally, wisdom' Guardian 'Completely hilarious, laugh-out-loud, a joy' Daily Mirror

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Peace Work is volume seven of Spike Milligan's outrageous, hilarious, legendary War Memoirs.'I had not informed my parents of my return, I wanted it to be a lovely surprise; it was, for me, they were away ...'The seventh and last volume of Spike Milligan's memoirs sees our hero returning from war and Italy ... but to what? Aside from shooting large, inaccurate guns at Germans, all he has done for five long years is blow a trumpet, tell rude jokes and write and perform sketches for the entertainment of bored and murderous soldiers - who on earth is going to pay a civilian to do more of that? From the giddy heights of Hackney Empire to a Zurich Freak Show and beyond, Spike makes his way through the backwaters of showbiz, first as band musician then as one-man wild-act and eventually in the company of a group of like-minded comedians called Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine and Peter Sellers. They decide to call themselves The Goons...'Desperately funny, vivid, vulgar' Sunday Times 'Milligan is the Great God to all of us' John Cleese 'The Godfather of Alternative Comedy' Eddie Izzard 'That absolutely glorious way of looking at things differently. A great man' Stephen Fry Spike Milligan was one of the greatest and most influential comedians of the twentieth century. Born in India in 1918, he served in the Royal Artillery during WWII in North Africa and Italy. At the end of the war, he forged a career as a jazz musician, sketch-show writer and performer, before joining forces with Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe to form the legendary Goon Show. Until his death in 2002, he had success as on stage and screen and as the author of over eighty books of fiction, memoir, poetry, plays, cartoons and children's stories.

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One of the most powerful books in the social sciences ever written' Thomas Piketty''The twentieth century''s most prophetic critic of capitalism'' ProspectPolanyi's revolutionary work is a must-read' Mariana MazzucatoKarl Polanyi''s landmark 1944 work is one of the earliest and most powerful critiques of unregulated markets. Tracing the history of capitalism from the great transformation of the industrial revolution onwards, he shows that there has been nothing ''natural'' about the market state. Instead of reducing human relations and our environment to mere commodities, the economy must always be embedded in civil society. Describing the ''avalanche of social dislocation'' of his time, Polanyi's hugely influential work is a passionate call to protect our common humanity.Polanyi''s vision for an alternative economy re-embedded in politics and social relations offers a refreshing alternative' GuardianPo

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An astonishing memoir of the Holocaust through the eyes of a child, and an exquisite meditation on memory and trauma Aharon Appelfeld was the beloved only child of middle-class Jewish parents living in what is now Ukraine at the outbreak of World War Two. Their peaceful life is upended when soldiers invade their town. His mother is shot dead in her own garden. The then-seven-year-old Aharon does not witness her murder, but he does hear her scream.Aharon and his father are sent to a concentration camp and separated. Memory and trauma combine to create a patchwork of reminiscences. Aharon is ten years old when he escapes from the camp into the forests of Ukraine, and is overwhelmed by the sight of an apple tree laden with fruit.Living off the land for two years before making the long journey south to Italy and eventually Israel and freedom, Appelfeld finally found a home in which he could make a life for himself, eventually becoming one of Israel's most

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Read this book . . . what a gift of lyric language and style, of emotion purified by pain this is' Los Angeles TimesFleeing an abusive home, Katerina, a teenager in 1880s Ukraine, is taken in by a Jewish family, finding safety in their warmth and rituals. When a pogrom is wrought upon the family, she is alone again. Decades later, having suffered and retaliated for that suffering, an elderly Katerina is released from prison at the end of World War Two, and is devastated to find a world emptied of its Jews. Ever the outsider, she realizes that she has survived only to bear witness to the fact they ever existed at all. Described by Aharon Appelfeld as being about what is inseparable from me', this extraordinary novel tells, with moving simplicity, the story of a people; of life's horror and beauty.Appelfeld reimagines the place of his own origins through a perspective that in its generosity of feeling recalls Tolstoy and Chekhov' The New York Times Boo

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''A masterpiece ... the greatest novel of the Holocaust'' The Guardian A haunting, dreamlike portrayal of the encroaching horror of the Holocaust onto a genteel MittelEuropean resort town Badenheim, a resort town near the forests of Vienna, is preparing for the arts festival of the summer season. The hotel workers and local tradespeople rush to prepare the small town for the influx of vacationers. But just as the season is getting into full swing, a small note appears on a municipal notice board: the Sanitation Department is announcing an increase in its jurisdiction. No one knows what the Sanitation Department is, but no matter the festival carries on.Soon inspectors are spread all over town, bringing estrangement, suspicion and mistrust wherever they go. Meanwhile, the guests carry on pursuing their pleasures and the townspeople attend to their troubles. Then another announcement appears: all Jews must register with the Sanitation Department

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How King George VI and Queen Elizabeth saved the monarchy George VI should never have been king. But when Edward VIII abdicated in 1936, his younger brother shy, sensitive, and afflicted with a stutter found himself on the throne. Only with his confident wife Elizabeth's support, guidance, and love, was he was able to overcome his insecurities and become the exceptional leader the British needed in this, their darkest hour. Not only did they steer the monarchy out of crisis but the royal couple also raised their daughter Princess Elizabeth to become a beacon of inspiration, devotion and duty.----George VI and Elizabeth is a vivid history that captures the courage of a couple whose actions saved a monarchy. It is also a largely unknown love story. A deeply moving marvel' Peggy Noonan, columnist for The Wall Street JournalSally Bedell Smith takes us into the inner sanctum of the Windsors, giving us an intimate and gripping port

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IT WAS THE PERFECT DAY OUT . . .UNTIL THEY NEVER CAME BACK.READ THE EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT NEW DAVID RAKER THRILLER FROM THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING MASTER OF THE MISSING PERSON MYSTERY, TIM WEAVERFiendishly serpentine and utterly compulsive' Louise Candlish These books are unputdownable. If you haven''t yet met Raker, you''re in for a treat' Mick Herron---One family . . . On a beautiful summer''s day, at a remote lake in the middle of Dartmoor, three members of the Fowler family take a dinghy out onto the water, leaving mother Sarah at the shore.Less than sixty seconds later, she checks to see where they are.The boat is drifting in the middle of the lake. It''s empty.Sarah''s family have completely vanished.One killer . . .At the Skyline Casino in London, the security team have just made a headline-grabbing arrest: they''ve spotted

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A sparkling exploration of direction, by the acclaimed author of A History of the World in 12 MapsNorth, south, east and west: almost all societies use the four cardinal directions to orientate themselves, to understand who they are by projecting where they are. For millennia, these four directions have been foundational to our travel, navigation and exploration and are central to the imaginative, moral and political geography of virtually every culture in the world. Yet they are far more subjective and various sometimes contradictory than we might realize.The Four Points of the Compass takes the reader on a journey of directional discovery. Jerry Brotton reveals why Hebrew culture privileges east; why Renaissance Europeans began drawing north at the top of their maps; why the early Islam revered the south; why the Aztecs used five colour-coded cardinal directions; and why no societies, primitive or modern, have ever orientated th

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''One of the most powerful books of the year'' Daily Mail''Nobody can make the serious funny and the funny serious quite like Ruby.'' - Alastair CampbellDear Reader,Checking into a mental clinic wasn''t exactly on my radar in 2022. Writing about it wasn''t either. But here we are.I spent a lifetime trying to create a ''front'' to give everyone the illusion that all is well. It wasn''t, and it isn''t. Now I look back and I think, ''what the f*ck was that all about?''I began the book trying to find meaning by going on various, life-changing journeys, I ended up in a mental clinic; obviously things didn''t work out the way I expected. This is the story of what happened after the mental car crash . . . From then on, the journey had to turn inward. It turns out I wasn''t looking for meaning, I was looking for home.I''m not a fiction writer. I can''t fake it. I could say I rode into the sunset, but life isn''t like that

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