Search results for ""Icon Books""

Margaret Thatcher's political career was one of the most remarkable of modern times. She rose to become the first woman to lead a major Western democracy, serving as British Prime Minister. Admired by Ronald Regan and the United States Congress, "Introducing Thatcherism" looks at the political philosophy behind this influential and controversial woman.

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INTRODUCING guide to the cult author, semiologist and analyzer of advertising, Roland Barthes. Roland Barthes is best known as a semiologist, a student of the science of signs. This sees human beings primarily as communicating animals, and looks at the way they use language, clothes, gestures, hair styles, visual images, shapes and colour to convey to one another their tastes, their emotions, their ideal self-image and the values of their society. Introducing Barthes brilliantly elucidates Barthes' application of these ideas to literature, popular culture, clothes and fashion, and explains why his thinking in this area made him a key figure in the structuralist movement of the 1960s. It goes on to describe how his later insistence on pleasure, the delights of sexual non-conformity, and the freedom of the reader to interpret literary texts in the light of ideologies such as existentialism, Marxism and Freudianism, as well as structuralism itself, continues to make him one of the most dynamic and challenging of modern writers. This is the perfect companion volume to Introducing Semiotics.

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René Descartes is famous as the philosopher who was prepared to doubt everything- even his own physical existence. Most people know that he said 'I think, therefore I am', even if they are not always sure what he really meant by it. Introducing Descartes explains what Descartes doubted, and why he is usually called the father of modern philosophy. It is a clear and accessible guide to all the puzzling questions he asked about human beings and their place in the world. Dave Robinson and Chris Garratt give a lucid account of Descartes' contributions to modern science, mathematics, and the philosophy of mind- and also reveal why he liked to do all of his serious thinking in bed.

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The term 'feminism' came into English usage around the 1890s, but women's conscious struggle to resist discrimination and sexist oppression goes much further back. This completely new and updated edition of "Introducing Feminism" surveys the major developments that have affected women's lives from the 17th century to the present day. "Introducing Feminism" is an invaluable reference book for anyone seeking the story of how feminism reconfigured the world for women and men alike.

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Meditation, Karma, Zen, Tantric and Nirvana are some of the many Buddhist ideas Westerners hear of frequently, even if their meaning has been lost in translation. This vast and complex non-theistic religion is woven into the fabric of Asian civilisations. from India to the Himalayan regions, China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan and elsewhere. What is Buddhism really all about? Introducing Buddha describes the life and teachings of the Buddha, but it also shows that enlightenment is a matter of experiencing the truth individually, and by inspiration which is passed from teacher to student. Superbly illustrated by Borin Van Loon, the book illuminates this process through a rich legacy of stories, explains the practices of meditation, Taoism and Zen, and goes on to describe the role of Buddhism in modern Asia and its growing influence on Western thought.

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Was Marx himself a 'Marxist'? Was his visionary promise of socialism betrayed by Marxist dictatorship? Is Marxism inevitably totalitarian? What did Marx really say? "Introducing Marxism" provides a fundamental account of Karl Marx's original philosophy, its roots in 19th century European ideology, his radical economic and social criticism of capitalism that inspired vast 20th century revolutions. It assesses Marxism's Russian disciples, Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin who forged a ruthless dogmatic Communism. The book examines the alternative Marxist approaches of Gramsci, the Frankfurt School of critical theory and the structuralist Marxism of Althusser in the 1960s. It marshals postmodern interpretations of Marxism and raises the spectre of 'post-Marxism' in Derrida's confrontation with Fukuyama's 'end of history' doctrine.

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Your expert guide to mastering the numbers behind the mysteries of modern mathematics. What with the mysteries of infinity and imaginary numbers, the power of mathematical modelling, and the logic and structures hiding behind real-life situations and digital worlds, the modern landscape of mathematics is an extraordinary place to explore. But how are you expected to navigate this enigmatic and abstract world?Short Cuts: Maths provides the map you need to start exploring seriously big ideas. Puzzling questions prompt 'short cut' answers written by experts in their field, with each one the setting-off point for instructions to help you plot your path through the mathematical maze.

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What is the material basis of the thoughts that occur inside our heads?Where do imaginative, creative, or spiritual thoughts come from - can these really be the product of nerve impulses in the brain? And is the human mind radically different from that of other species, or is our uniqueness more superficial than real? In this book, Oxford biologist John Parrington proposes a radical new theory of human consciousness, arguing that a qualitative leap in consciousness occurred during human evolution as language and the use of tools transformed our brains. Rejecting outdated views of the brain as a hard-wired circuit diagram, he draws on the latest insights from neuroscience to show that meaning is created within our heads through a dynamic interaction of oscillating brain waves. This new model of consciousness not only provides a material basis of our innermost thoughts but also explains why the mind can sometimes go wrong, causing deep mental distress.

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'Moving, funny ... an exquisite story of love, hope, distance and, ultimately, disenchantment.' Mail on Sunday'A sad and truthful fragment of modern history' TLS'Beautifully written' Jenny UglowThe love story of Zippa and Tony is nothing without the context of the Second World War.The war introduced them - they met as blackout wardens in London. It gave them darkened streets to wander in, hand in hand, then, by sending Tony away to officer training camps, it sharpened their hunger for each other, casting a glow over his comings and goings. It turned them into schemers and wanglers against fate and army regulations. It pressed them into marriage, and when the war decided to deploy him to North Africa, it whispered the urgent question of a baby. To which Tony, thinking of the war, replied maybe not; and Zippa, thinking of the war, said yes.In spite of themselves, the war experience was changing them both, and yet both were hanging on, looking back, suspended in memory and time, and living from letter to letter.Decades later, their daughter Julie discovered their letters, and piecing them together began to create a portrait of her parents and their relationship that was completely unfamiliar to her. Vivid, honest and completely absorbing, Damn This War! is a true insight into a wartime love story.

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From established sports journalist Ben Hunt, the very first biography of the up-and-coming British driver Lando Norris, published on the brink of the British Grand Prix.As the youngest ever British Formula 1 driver, Lando Norris is trailblazing his way through the world of motor racing. After signing as a junior driver for McLaren in 2017, he has since asserted himself as the team's brightest talent and an aspiring world champion.Born to British and Belgian parents and raised in the idylls of south-west England, Lando's childhood reflects how even the calmest of upbringings can create an adrenaline junkie. As one of a new cohort of young drivers seeking to assert their dominance in the sport, Lando is a uniquely modern sportsman, who celebrates learning and personal development, but who nonetheless has the killer instinct required to take him to the very pinnacle of F1.In Lando Norris, motor sport aficionado and journalist Ben Hunt draws on his extensive driver and paddock access to seek to understand what makes Lando tick and examines how this young British driver has been well and truly raised in the mould of a champion.

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'A wise, mild and enviably lucid book about a chaotic scene' - Dwight Garner, New York Times 'Memoirs of fatherhood are rarely so honest or so blunt' - Daniel Engber, Atlantic'Tender and generous' - New York magazineKeith Gessen had always assumed that he would have kids, but couldn't imagine what parenthood would be like, nor what kind of parent he would be. Then, one Tuesday night in early June, Raffi was born, a child as real and complex and demanding of his parents' energy as he was singularly magical. Fatherhood is another country: a place where the old concerns are swept away, where the ordering of time is reconstituted, where days unfold according to a child's needs. Like all parents, Gessen wants to do what is best for his child. But he has no idea what that is. By turns hilarious and poignant, Raising Raffi is a story of what it means to invent the world anew.

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With an incredible list of celebrated contributors including DAVID SEDARIS, NAOMI FRY, PATTI SMITH, SIAN CLIFFORD and JIA TOLENTINO, My First Popsicle revels in the delights of food in all its forms. Edited by ZOSIA MAMET - Shoshanna in Girls - this is a riotous, mouth-watering celebration of jelly, mac and cheese, donuts, the best sandwich in the entire world - and much more. Of all the essentials for survival: oxygen, water, sleep and food, only food is a vast treasure trove of memory and of sensory experience. Food is a portal to culture, to times past, to disgust, to comfort, to love: no matter one's feelings about a particular dish, they are hardly ever neutral. In My First Popsicle, Zosia Mamet has curated some of the most prominent voices in art and culture to tackle the topic of food in its elegance, its profundity and its incidental charm. With contributions from David Sedaris on the joy of a hot dog, Jia Tolentino on the chicken dish she makes to escape reality, Patti Smith on memories of her mother's Poor Man's Cake, Busy Philipps on the struggle to escape the patterns of childhood favourites and more, My First Popsicle is as much an ode to food and emotion as it is to life. After all, the two are inseparable.

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What is knowledge? What makes me, me? Do we have free will? People have been asking such fundamental questions about the nature of reality for centuries, but how can they help us make sense of our existence in a 21st-century world of social media, cyber wars, cloning, artificial intelligence and virtual reality?Short Cuts: Philosophy provides the map you need to travel beyond traditional foundations and explore a diverse array of deep thinkers. Soul-searching questions prompt 'short cut' answers written by experts in their field, with each one the setting-off point for instructions that plot a path through the philosophical landscape.With 'one-stop' graphics visualizing a memorable theory or idea for each concept, and 'route map' glossaries explaining key words and their connections, Short Cuts: Philosophy will help you wrestle with the meaning of ancient and modern philosophical thought.

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AN INTRIGUING AND BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF YORICK WILKS' INSIDERS GUIDE TO AIThe benefits and potential nightmares of artificial intelligence have long inspired science-fiction writers, but in a world where most of us carry a portable device that knows infinitely more than we do, these are increasingly real concerns.Artificial Intelligence is the essential companion to this unsettling science. It surveys the history, philosophies, and current state of AI, and asks key questions such as how should robots think, and can machines really learn? With subjects ranging from the World Wide Web to artificial companions, the book considers such ethical issues as automated warfare, internet surveillance, and fake news, speculating on just how far robots will infiltrate our future.This illustrated edition combines compelling photographs with 'circuit-board' infographics to lift the curtain on the hidden world of AI.

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE RICHARD JEFFERIES AWARD 2023'Roger Morgan-Grenville, one of Britain's leading conservationists' - The HeraldA veteran nature writer walks the length of Britain in pursuit of spring, and of hopeFed up with bleak headlines of biodiversity loss, acclaimed nature writer Roger Morgan-Grenville sets out on a 1,000-mile walk through a British spring to see whether there are reasons to be hopeful about the natural world. His aim is to match the pace at which the oak leaves emerge, roughly 20 miles north each day.Fighting illness, blizzards and his own ageing body, he visits every main habitat between Lymington and Cape Wrath in an epic eight-week adventure, encountering, over and over again, the kindness of strangers and the inspiring efforts of those fighting heroically for nature. With surprising conclusions throughout, what unfolds is both life-affirming and life-changing.

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'A man who had such a huge impact on my career and so many other young players at West Ham United. I highly recommend this fantastic read.' FRANK LAMPARD JR'This man passed on the West Ham DNA to the best generation of academy graduates to come through the West Ham system.' RIO FERDINAND'A West Ham United man, a must read for every West Ham United fan.' MARK NOBLEThe autobiography of a West Ham legend - including exclusive interviews with Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole and Mark Noble.Tony Carr is one of the most influential coaches of all time. Having achieved his boyhood dream of signing with West Ham United in 1966 and training alongside the inimitable Bobby Moore, a leg break forced Carr to end his playing career before it had even begun. Not to be deterred, he decided to forge himself a new path and was appointed director of youth football at West Ham in 1973, aged just 23.As Carr tells in this book the very first time, over the next 43 years he honed his craft, becoming hugely admired for identifying and nurturing young talent, guiding multiple generations of international starlets through the ranks at The Academy of Football.In his brilliant, understated style, Tony tells the incredible story of his footballing life. He recounts the highs and lows of his time with West Ham, with tales of the twelve managers he coached under. This unique evocation of a coach's craft includes exclusive interviews with Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole and current West Ham captain Mark Noble as they talk frankly about football and their place within it.

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'Given the bedlam it describes, Raising Raffi is impressively clear-sighted, entertaining and analytical' - Financial Times'A wise, mild and enviably lucid book about a chaotic scene' - Dwight Garner, New York Times'Engaging, accessible, down to earth... There is much wry humour here' - James Cook, Times Literary SupplementKeith Gessen had always assumed that he would have kids, but couldn't imagine what parenthood would be like, nor what kind of parent he would be. Then, one Tuesday night in early June, Raffi was born, a child as real and complex and demanding of his parents' energy as he was singularly magical. Fatherhood is another country: a place where the old concerns are swept away, where the ordering of time is reconstituted, where days unfold according to a child's needs. Like all parents, Gessen wants to do what is best for his child. But he has no idea what that is. Written over the first five years of Raffi's life, Raising Raffi examines the profound, overwhelming, often maddening experience of being a dad. How do you instil in your child a sense of his heritage without passing on that history's darker sides? Is parental anger normal, possibly useful, or is it inevitably destructive? And what do you do, in a pandemic, when the whole world seems to fall apart? By turns hilarious and poignant, Raising Raffi is a story of what it means to invent the world anew.

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** TO BE READ ON BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK FROM 23 JAN 2023 **'As much le Carré as it is Hidden Figures.' AMARYLLIS FOX, author of Life Undercover 'A sweeping epic of a book [which] rescues five remarkable women from obscurity and finally gives them their rightful place in world history ... A book you won't regret reading. Five women you won't forget.' KATE MOORE, author of The Radium Girls'As entertaining as it is instructive.' GENERAL STANLEY MCCRYSTALThe never-before-told story of a small cadre of influential female spies in the precarious early days of the CIA - women who helped create the template for cutting-edge espionage (and blazed new paths for equality in the workplace). In the wake of World War II, four agents were critical in helping build a new organisation now known as the CIA. Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, and Elizabeth Sudmeier, called the 'wise gals' by their male colleagues because of their sharp sense of humour and even quicker intelligence, were not the stereotypical femme fatale of spy novels. They were smart, courageous, and groundbreaking agents at the top of their class, instrumental in both developing innovative tools for intelligence gathering - and insisting (in their own unique ways) that they receive the credit and pay their expertise deserved.Adelaide rose through the ranks, developing new cryptosystems that advanced how spies communicate with each other. Mary worked overseas in Europe and Asia, building partnerships and allegiances that would last decades. Elizabeth would risk her life in the Middle East in order to gain intelligence on deadly Soviet weaponry. Eloise would wield influence on scientific and technical operations worldwide, ultimately exposing global terrorism threats.Meticulously researched and beautifully told, Holt uses firsthand interviews with past and present officials and declassified government documents to uncover the stories of these four inspirational women. Wise Gals sheds a light on the untold history of the women whose daring foreign intrigues, domestic persistence, and fighting spirit have been and continue to be instrumental to the world's security.

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'Staggeringly good... Much like Lisa Taddeo's Three Women, it reads more like a novel than a piece of non-fiction... it does what all great writing should - it puts us into the world of someone else, so completely that days later I find myself missing the couples and wondering how their stories end' Marianne Power, The Times'A profound book on the politics of love, of couples who brave everything and everyone to be together. Told with warmth, truth and humanity, Mansi Choksi's The Newlyweds is an extraordinary look at what it takes to be together in modern India' Nikesh Shukla'Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand youth in India today - or for anyone who believes in the galactic powers of love to change history, personal and political' Suketu MehtaWhat would you risk for love?Twenty-first century India is a culture on fast forward, a society which is changing at breakneck speed, where two out of every three people are under the age of thirty-five. These young men and women grew up with the internet, smartphones and social media. But when it comes to love, the weight of thousands of years of tradition cannot so easily be set aside.An extraordinary work of reportage, The Newlyweds is a portrait of modern India told through the stories of three young couples, who defy their families to pursue love. The lesbian couple forced to flee for a chance at a life together. The Hindu woman and Muslim man who must escape under the cover of night after being harassed by a violent mob. And the couple from different castes who know the terrible risk they run by marrying.Writing with great insight and humanity, Mansi Choksi examines the true cost of modern love in an ancient culture. It is a book that will change the way readers think about love, freedom and hope.

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'Charming, touching and very very funny' Jenny Colgan'Simply too good' Daily MailFrom the author of the Times bestselling A Chip Shop in PoznanONE HOUSE. TWO HOUSEMATES. THREE REASONS TO WORRY: WINNIE AND BEN ARE SEPARATED BY 50 YEARS, A GULF IN CLASS, AND MAJOR DIFFERENCES OF OPINION.When hunting for a room in London, Ben Aitken came across one for a great price in a lovely part of town. There had to be a catch. And there was. The catch was Winnie: an 85-year-old widow who doesn't suffer fools.Full of warmth, wit and candour, The Marmalade Diaries tells the story of an unlikely friendship during an unlikely time. Imagine an intergenerational version of Big Brother, but with only two contestants. One of the pair a grieving and inflexible former aristocrat in her mid-eighties. The other a working-class millennial snowflake. What could possibly go wrong? What could possibly go right?Out of the most inauspicious of soils - and from the author of The Gran Tour - comes a book about grief, family, friendship, loneliness, life, love, lockdown and marmalade.

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'Quite simply, and quite ridiculously, one of the funniest and most illuminating books I have ever read. I thought I was obsessive, but Keith Kahn-Harris is playing a very different sport. He really has discovered the whole world in an egg.' Simon Garfield'There is a delicious humour implicit in every page . . . [the book] is filled with a sense of wonder, gazing at languages that neither the writer nor reader understands . . . The Babel Message was such fun that I even went out and bought a Kinder Surprise Egg.' - Mark Forsyth, The SpectatorA thrilling journey deep into the heart of language, from a rather unexpected starting point.Keith Kahn-Harris is a man obsessed with something seemingly trivial - the warning message found inside Kinder Surprise eggs:WARNING, read and keep: Toy not suitable for children under 3 years. Small parts might be swallowed or inhaled.On a tiny sheet of paper, this message is translated into dozens of languages - the world boiled down to a multilingual essence. Inspired by this, the author asks: what makes 'a language'? With the help of the international community of language geeks, he shows us what the message looks like in Ancient Sumerian, Zulu, Cornish, Klingon - and many more. Along the way he considers why Hungarian writing looks angry, how to make up your own language, and the meaning of the heavy metal umlaut.Overturning the Babel myth, he argues that the messy diversity of language shouldn't be a source of conflict, but of collective wonder. This is a book about hope, a love letter to language.'This is a wonderful book. A treasure trove of mind-expanding insights into language and humanity encased in a deliciously quirky, quixotic quest. I loved it. Warning: this will keep you reading.' - Ann Morgan, author of Reading the World: Confessions of a Literary Explorer

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'The Far Land swells in the cause and effect of actions of passion. Brandon Presser's fascinating narrative of the relentless consequences of the Bounty mutineers asks: were they brave or damned? They lived so very troubled ever after. You can't make this stuff up!' TOM HANKS'The Far Land hits a lot of my pleasure centers: remote islands, then-and-now non-fiction, historical mysteries and forthright travelogues. The first night I started reading, I dreamed about Pitcairn Island.' MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD, 2021 Booker Prize shortlisted and 2022 Women's Prize for Fiction shortlisted author of Great Circle**WINNER OF THE 2022 LOWELL THOMAS TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD** A THRILLING TALE OF POWER, OBSESSION AND BETRAYAL AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD In 1808, an American merchant ship happened upon an uncharted island in the South Pacific and unwittingly solved the biggest nautical mystery of the era: the whereabouts of a band of fugitives who, after seizing their vessel, had disappeared into the night with their Tahitian companions.Seven generations later, the island is still inhabited by descendants of the original mutineers, marooned like modern castaways.In 2018, Brandon Presser went to live among its families; two clans bound by circumstance and secrets. There, he pieced together Pitcairn's full story: an operatic saga that holds all visitors in its mortal clutch - even the author.Told through vivid historical and personal narrative, The Far Land goes beyond the infamous mutiny on the Bounty, offering an unprecedented glimpse at life on the fringes of civilization, and how, perhaps, it's not so different from our own.

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An eye-opening account from inside an ultra-secret Customs unitMark Perlstrom is no stranger to money laundering, drug smuggling and crooked firms.In the late 1980s he started working for HM Customs and was quickly thrown in the deep end, joining Operation C-Chase, an undercover investigation that penetrated Pablo Escobar's mighty Medellin cartel, brought down the corrupt BCCI bank and stopped London's gangs from moving their ill-gotten gains around the capital.As part of the Uniforms - the new, secret, anti-money-laundering squad - high-speed car chases, bugging homes and spying on targets was day-to-day business. Told by a true insider and revealing never-before-told-secrets of the industry, India Uniform Nine lays bare the intense rivalry between crime-fighting organisations and how that leads to corruption, chaos and some scarcely believable antics in the covert world. And how Mark's own operation was nearly scuppered by a US Customs bungle.

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'A riveting read ... a dark story of murder and deceit with verve and insight' John Woolf, author of The Wonders THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A 19TH-CENTURY CIRCUS LEGENDOn 28 November 1911 a retired showman died violently at his home in North London. Known to the world as Lord George Sanger, he was once the biggest name in show business, and was venerated as a national institution.The death of Britain's wealthiest showman read like a popular crime thriller: a merciless killer; a famous victim; sensational media headlines; a desperate manhunt laced with police incompetencies and a dramatic denouement few could have anticipated. But for over a century, questions have persisted about the murder.Weaving in the story of George's rise to fame and the history of Britain's entertainment industry, The Killing of Lord George uses previously unpublished archive material to reconstruct the events leading up to the death and reveal the true story behind the brutal crime that shocked Edwardian England.

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After over a decade of Bitcoin, which has now moved beyond lore and hype into an increasingly robust star in the firmament of global assets, a new and more important question has arisen. What happens beyond Bitcoin? The answer is decentralised finance - 'DeFi'.Tech and finance experts Steven Boykey Sidley and Simon Dingle argue that DeFi - which enables all manner of financial transactions to take place directly, person to person, without the involvement of financial institutions - will redesign the cogs and wheels in the engines of trust, and make the remarkable rise of Bitcoin look quaint by comparison. It will disrupt and displace fine and respectable companies, if not entire industries.Sidley and Dingle explain how DeFi works, introduce the organisations and individuals that comprise the new industry, and identify the likely winners and losers in the coming revolution.

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** LONGLISTED FOR THE JAMES CROPPER WAINWRIGHT PRIZE LONGLIST 2022 ** 'Really packs a punch' Aja Barber, author of Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism'Will open the minds of even the most ardent denier of climate change and/or systemic racism. If there's one book that will help you to be an effective activist for climate justice, it's this one' Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu'Accessible. Poignant. Challenging' Nnimmo Bassey, environmentalist and author of To Cook a Continent: Destructive Extraction and the Climate Crisis in AfricaWhen we talk about racism, we often mean personal prejudice or institutional biases. Climate change doesn't work that way. It is structurally racist, disproportionately caused by majority White people in majority White countries, with the damage unleashed overwhelmingly on people of colour. The climate crisis reflects and reinforces racial injustices.In this eye-opening book, writer and environmental activist Jeremy Williams takes us on a short, urgent journey across the globe - from Kenya to India, the USA to Australia - to understand how White privilege and climate change overlap. We'll look at the environmental facts, hear the experiences of the people most affected on our planet and learn from the activists leading the change.It's time for each of us to find our place in the global struggle for justice.'Climate Change Is Racist is a significant intervention in climate change studies and activism. Jeremy Williams crafts an accessible, intersectional analysis that is essential reading for those seeking to diversify climate change activism and confront historical, structural racism(s).' Professor Robert Beckford, Director of the Institute for Climate and Social Justice, University of Winchester

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'Quite simply, and quite ridiculously, one of the funniest and most illuminating books I have ever read. I thought I was obsessive, but Keith Kahn-Harris is playing a very different sport. He really has discovered the whole world in an egg.' Simon Garfield'There is a delicious humour implicit in every page . . . [the book] is filled with a sense of wonder, gazing at languages that neither the writer nor reader understands . . . The Babel Message was such fun that I even went out and bought a Kinder Surprise Egg.' - Mark Forsyth, The SpectatorA thrilling journey deep into the heart of language, from a rather unexpected starting point.Keith Kahn-Harris is a man obsessed with something seemingly trivial - the warning message found inside Kinder Surprise eggs:WARNING, read and keep: Toy not suitable for children under 3 years. Small parts might be swallowed or inhaled.On a tiny sheet of paper, this message is translated into dozens of languages - the world boiled down to a multilingual essence. Inspired by this, the author asks: what makes 'a language'? With the help of the international community of language geeks, he shows us what the message looks like in Ancient Sumerian, Zulu, Cornish, Klingon - and many more. Along the way he considers why Hungarian writing looks angry, how to make up your own language, and the meaning of the heavy metal umlaut.Overturning the Babel myth, he argues that the messy diversity of language shouldn't be a source of conflict, but of collective wonder. This is a book about hope, a love letter to language.'This is a wonderful book. A treasure trove of mind-expanding insights into language and humanity encased in a deliciously quirky, quixotic quest. I loved it. Warning: this will keep you reading.' - Ann Morgan, author of Reading the World: Confessions of a Literary Explorer

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'A superb book and a must-read for any City fan.' - DANIEL TAYLOR, senior writer, The Athletic'A thorough and delicious retelling of perhaps not the most successful of European journeys, but definitely the most interesting ... Fantastic.' - DAVID MOONEY, BBC Radio 5 Live'A book that brilliantly explodes the myth that City have no history or pedigree in Europe.' - SIMON MULLOCK, chief football writer, Sunday MirrorTHE ESSENTIAL NEW HISTORY OF MANCHESTER CITY'S EUROPEAN TRIUMPHS AND TRAGEDIESFEATURING A FOREWORD BY CITY LEGEND FRANCIS LEEAs one of the first English sides to taste glory in Europe, lifting the Cup Winners' Cup in 1970, City looked set for life among the continent's elite. But as their domestic fortunes went from bad to worse to absolute calamity, the wilderness returned.Avid City fan and respected journalist Simon Curtis dusts off the details of some truly intoxicating away days. Filled with tales of the club's travelling support and the evocative accounts of the journalists who saw the team of the Seventies, Curtis tells the story of a club steeped in history, defiantly refusing to bow to pomp and ceremony as it goes about lifting the ultimate prize.After a spectacular rebuild and having achieved all there is to achieve on the domestic stage, including a record-breaking 100-point season in 2017-18, City's deep-pocketed owners have their sights firmly set on European glory once more. Yet for all their recent success at home, they are anything but welcome guests at Europe's top table.

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**WINNER OF THE HISTORY AND TRADITION CATEGORY, EAST ANGLIAN BOOK AWARDS 2020****SHORTLISTED FOR THE TASMANIAN LITERARY AWARD 2022****LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2021** 'A real page-turner ... a warning about what happens when the rich and powerful dress up their avarice as "progress" - a lesson we could do with learning today.' Dixe Wills, BBC Countryfile magazine FROM A MULTI-AWARD-WINNING HISTORIAN, AN ARRESTING NEW HISTORY OF THE BATTLE FOR THE FENS.Between the English Civil Wars and the mid-Victorian period, the proud indigenous population of the Fens of eastern England fought to preserve their homeland against an expanding empire. After centuries of resistance, their culture and community were destroyed, along with their wetland home - England's last lowland wilderness. But this was no simple triumph of technology over nature - it was the consequence of a newly centralised and militarised state, which enriched the few while impoverishing the many.In this colourful and evocative history, James Boyce brings to life not only colonial masters such as Oliver Cromwell and the Dukes of Bedford but also the defiant 'Fennish' them- selves and their dangerous and often bloody resistance to the enclosing landowners. We learn of the eels so plentiful they became a kind of medieval currency; the games of 'Fen football' that were often a cover for sabotage of the drainage works; and the destruction of a bountiful ecosystem that had sustained the Fennish for thousands of years and which meant that they did not have to submit in order to survive.Masterfully argued and imbued with a keen sense of place, Imperial Mud reimagines not just the history of the Fens, but the history and identity of the English people.

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'Half Lives shines a light on the shocking history of the world's toxic love affair with a deadly substance, radium. Unnerving, fascinating, informative and truly frightening.' Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Five'The story of this supposed cure-all in everyday 20th century life is fascinating and well told.' Brian Maye, Irish TimesLucy Jane Santos presents the surprising history of radium in everyday life.Of all the radioactive elements discovered at the end of the 19th century, it was radium that became the focus of both public fascination and entrepreneurial zeal.Half Lives tells the fascinating, curious, sometimes macabre story of the element through its ascendance as a desirable item - a present for a queen, a prize in a treasure hunt, a glow-in- the-dark dance costume - to its role as a supposed cure-all in everyday 20th-century life, when medical practitioners and business people (reputable and otherwise) devised ingenious ways of commodifying the new wonder element, and enthusiastic customers welcomed their radioactive wares into their homes. Historian Lucy Jane Santos - herself the proud owner of a formidable collection of radium beauty treatments - delves into the stories of these products and details the gradual downfall and discredit of the radium industry through the eyes of the people who bought, sold and eventually came to fear the once-fetishized substance.She reveals a new history of radium, one in which the stories of those previously dismissed as quacks and fools are brought to life, as part of a unique examination of the interplay between science and popular culture.

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An accessible and hard-hitting look at the facts behind air pollution in everyday life.Take a deep breath. You'll do it 20,000 times a day. You assume all this air is clean; it's the very breath of life.But in Delhi, the toxic smog is as bad for you as smoking 50 cigarettes a day. Even a few days in Paris, London or Rome is equivalent to two or three cigarettes. Air pollution is implicated in six of the top ten causes of death worldwide, including lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, and dementia. Breathless gives us clear facts about air pollution in our everyday lives, showing how it affects our bodies, how much of it occurs in unexpected places (indoors, inside your car), and how you can minimise the risks.Rooted in the latest science, including real-time air-quality experiments in city streets and ordinary homes, it will allow you to make up your own mind about the risks and trade-offs of modern living - wherever in the world you are.

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**THE FANS. THE PLAYERS. THE POMPEY FAMILY. YOU KNOW THEIR NAMES, NOW IT'S TIME FOR THEIR STORY** At the start of the 2019-20 League One season, award-winning sports reporter Neil Allen set out to follow the fortunes of a team in the hunt for promotion. By the time it came to an end, the football almost felt like an afterthought. Covering the highs and lows of a season like no other, Allen offers an exclusive insight into a club and a fanbase that has known more hardship than most, exploring the vital role a football club plays when the football is taken away. Given unparalleled access, Allen interviews current players and club legends, the fans who saved the club in 2013 and those now tasked with ensuring its survival. The essential profile of Portsmouth Football Club, its fans and its recent history.

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WINNER OF THE FRANCO-BRITISH SOCIETY LITERARY AWARD 2020'Art is a Tyrant recounts [Bonheur's] life with no little brio.' Michael Prodger, The Times Books of the Year 2020 'A diligently researched, beautifully produced and insistently sympathetic biography.' Kathryn Hughes, GuardianA new biography of the wildly unconventional 19th-century animal painter and gender equality pioneer Rosa Bonheur, from the author of the acclaimed Mistress of Paris and Renoir's Dancer.Rosa Bonheur was the very antithesis of the feminine ideal of 19th-century society. She was educated, she shunned traditional 'womanly' pursuits, she rejected marriage - and she wore trousers. But the society whose rules she spurned accepted her as one of their own, because of her genius for painting animals. She shared an intimate relationship with the eccentric, self-styled inventor Nathalie Micas, who nurtured the artist like a wife. Together Rosa, Nathalie and Nathalie's mother bought a chateau and with Rosa's menagerie of animals the trio became one of the most extraordinary households of the day. Catherine Hewitt's compelling new biography is an inspiring evocation of a life lived against the rules.

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'A lively and readable account' Spectator'A fine book ... well-written and well-researched' Washington TimesIn less than six hours in August 1942, nearly 1,000 British, Canadian and American commandos died in the French port of Dieppe in an operation that for decades seemed to have no real purpose. Was it a dry-run for D-Day, or perhaps a gesture by the Allies to placate Stalin's impatience for a second front in the west? Historian David O'Keefe uses hitherto classified intelligence archives to prove that this catastrophic and apparently futile raid was in fact a mission, set up by Ian Fleming of British Naval Intelligence as part of a 'pinch' policy designed to capture material relating to the four-rotor Enigma Machine that would permit codebreakers like Alan Turing at Bletchley Park to turn the tide of the Second World War.'A fast-paced and convincing book ... that clears up decades of misinformation about the ignoble raid' Toronto Star

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**WINNER OF THE STARTUP INSPIRATION CATEGORY OF THE 2020 BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS**'It's impossible to read this book without being inspired and energised ... Essential reading for any start-up or entrepreneur, at any stage of the journey.' - Alison Jones, Host of The Extraordinary Business Book Club podcast and author of This Book Means Business'Genuinely fresh and jargon-free' - Financial TimesHow to Have a Happy Hustle shares the secrets of innovation experts and startup founders to help you make your ideas happen. If you're looking for fulfilment outside the day job, have an idea but don't know where to start, or are held back by a lack of confidence, experience, time or money, Bec Evans will help you get off the starting blocks with this complete guide to making your ideas happen. There's no getting away from it - hustling is hard work - but with practical tools, inspiring stories, science-backed research and guidance every step of the way, you'll find what makes you happy as you build your side hustle.

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'Rousing, hopeful and important reading' - Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible WomenHad enough? Feeling hopeless? Don't give up - join the rebellion.Activist, journalist, founding leader of the Women's Equality Party and 'modern-day suffragette' (Evening Standard) Sophie Walker presents an inspiring, five-step journey to incorporating activism into our lives.Featuring stories of new and seasoned activists - including Amika George and Jack Monroe - campaigning on a range of issues from reproductive rights and poverty to the environment and access to education - the book shows us how to see activism not as a series of pitched battles but as a positive, lifelong learning experience.Escape the numbing effects of despair, learn to channel anger, arm yourself with hope, practise perseverance and connect with others compassionately.Five Rules for Rebellion explains how we can convert our confusion and impatience into a powerful force for change.'Thoroughly engaging, empowering and inspiring ... blows invigorating air into the weary world of politics and makes you want to get out there NOW and do something about it' - Ailbhe Smyth, co-director of Together For Yes and convenor of Coalition to Repeal the 8th Amendment

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Operation Swallow is the true story of how a small group of American soldiers, inspired by a charismatic but reluctant leader named Hans Kasten, worked to save hundreds of fellow servicemen from a Nazi plan to turn Jewish prisoners of war into concentration camp slaves.It begins in the snowy forests of the Ardennes during Christmas 1944 and ends at the charnel house of Buchenwald concentration camp in spring 1945. It is a remarkable battle of wills between a young GI thrust into a leadership position he didn't want and an SS officer who will stop at nothing to complete his orders.Written from personal testimonies and official documents, it is an escape story replete with courage, sacrifice, torture, despair and salvation. Even more remarkably, it is a story that has barely been told before, a chapter of US military history that the American government tried to suppress for decades - and an uplifting story that deserves to be widely known.

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Develop and improve your relationship with teenagers. The teenage years are complex, exciting and often turbulent. Growth, development and learning are intrinsic to this period and every teenage experience is different. For anyone who cares about a teenager's wellbeing, development and learning, this Practical Guide offers a theoretically informed way of thinking about, understanding and actually living with teenagers. Focusing on the three major issues prevalent in teenage years: achievement, belonging and control, and the behaviours that fall within these categories, experienced professional educational psychologist Kairen Cullen expertly draws upon a wealth of experience and the different psychological theories and approaches that can be used to address each issue.

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UPDATED TO INCLUDE ALL THE ACTION FROM THE CLUB'S TITLE-WINNING CENTENARY YEAR.THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH LEEDS UNITED'Every up and down at Leeds United. Essential reading.' Phil HayThe definitive history of Leeds United's first century. 100 Years of Leeds United tells the story of a one-club city and its unique relationship with its football team. Since its foundation in 1919, Leeds United Football Club has seen more ups and downs than most, rising to global fame through an inimitable and uncompromising style in the 70s, clinching the last Division One title prior to the Premier League's inauguration in 1992, before a spectacular fall from grace at the start of the 21st century.United finally restored their top flight status after a sixteen-year wait with an unstoppable promotion campaign in the club's 100th year; the transformation under manager Marcelo Bielsa fittingly reminiscent of those instigated by Howard Wilkinson and Don Revie decades earlier.In 100 Years of Leeds United, Chapman delves deep into the archives to discover the lesser-known episodes, providing fresh context to the folkloric tales that have shaped the club we know today, painting the definitive picture of the West Yorkshire giants.

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Overcome fears, manage negativity and improve your life. Using the tools of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), understand your behaviour and how to change negative patterns, learn how to think differently about problematic situations, put your worries into perspective and start to feel better, achieving and exceeding your goals.Clinical psychologists Clair Pollard and Elaine Iljon Foreman offer activities to support you, stories to provide perspective and a clear framework to guide you. This Practical Guide will help you to develop effective coping strategies, so that you can think more constructively, act more calmly, and feel better about yourself.Part of the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme.

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'Adam Plowright's excellent book captures the strangeness of Macron's life' Evening StandardTHE FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF EMMANUEL MACRON IN ENGLISHFrom total unknown to one of Europe's most powerful men in just a few years, at 39, France's youngest leader since Napoleon is intent on conquering the world stage. But what lies beneath the façade of this youthful, ultra-confident and calculating president? How did someone from small-town France assemble -- in just 12 months -- the network, team and finances to win the presidency? Now elected, can he make the French feel better about themselves? Can he rally Europe around him and turn the tide of right-wing nationalism sweeping the continent? Critically, what will his presidency mean for Britain?Featuring never-before printed interviews with key members of Macron's team, his friends, mentors and political detractors, acclaimed Paris-based journalist Adam Plowright asks: can the shine on this brilliant new president last? And for how long?

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Extraterrestrial life is a common theme inscience fiction, but is it a serious prospect in the real world? Astrobiologyis the emerging field of science that seeks to answer this question.The possibility of life elsewhere in the cosmosis one of the most profound subjects that human beings can ponder. AstrophysicistAndrew May gives an expert overview of our current state of knowledge, lookingat how life started on Earth, the tell-tale 'signatures' it produces, and howsuch signatures might be detected elsewhere in the Solar System or on the many 'exoplanets'now being discovered by the Kepler and TESS missions.Along the way the book addresses key questions such as the riddle of Fermi'sparadox ('Where is everybody?') and the crucial role of DNA and water - they'reessential to 'life as we know it', but is the same true of alien life? And the reallybig question: when we eventually find extraterrestrials, will they be friendlyor hostile?

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'Adam Plowright's excellent book captures the strangeness of Macron's life' Evening StandardTHE FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF EMMANUEL MACRON IN ENGLISHFrom total unknown to one of Europe's most powerful men in just a few years, at 39, France's youngest leader since Napoleon is intent on conquering the world stage. But what lies beneath the façade of this youthful, ultra-confident and calculating president? How did someone from small-town France assemble -- in just 12 months -- the network, team and finances to win the presidency? Now elected, can he make the French feel better about themselves? Can he rally Europe around him and turn the tide of right-wing nationalism sweeping the continent? Critically, what will his presidency mean for Britain?Featuring never-before printed interviews with key members of Macron's team, his friends, mentors and political detractors, acclaimed Paris-based journalist Adam Plowright asks: can the shine on this brilliant new president last? And for how long?

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WINNER OF THE 2017 ROYAL SOCIETY INSIGHT INVESTMENT SCIENCE BOOK PRIZEWhat the judges said: 'Every man and woman should read this book on gender bias ... an important, yet wickedly witty, book.' 'Fine's entertaining and thoughtful book is a valuable addition to the discussion about gender.' Ian Critchley, Sunday Times 'In addition to being hopeful, Fine is also angry. We should all be angry. Testosterone Rex is a debunking rumble that ought to inspire a roar.' Guardian'A densely packed, spirited book, with an unusual combination of academic rigour and readability ... The expression "essential reading for everyone" is usually untrue as well as a cliché, but if there were a book deserving of that description this might just be it.' Antonia Macaro, Financial TimesTestosterone Rex is the powerful myth that squashes hopes of sex equality by telling us that men and women have evolved different natures. Fixed in an ancestral past that rewarded competitive men and caring women, these differences are supposedly re-created in each generation by sex hormones and male and female brains.Testosterone, so we're told, is the very essence of masculinity, and biological sex is a fundamental force in our development. Not so, says psychologist Cordelia Fine, who shows, with wit and panache, that sex doesn't create male and female natures. Instead, sex, hormones, culture and evolution work together in ways that make past and present gender dynamics only a serving suggestion for the future - not a recipe.Testosterone Rex brings together evolutionary science, psychology, neuroscience and social history to move beyond old 'nature versus nurture' debates, and to explain why it's time to unmake the tyrannical myth of Testosterone Rex.For fans of Fine - whose Delusions of Gender 'could have far-reaching consequences as significant as The Female Eunuch' (Viv Groskop, Guardian) - and thousands of new readers, this is an upbeat, timely and important contribution to the debate about gender in society.

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I Think Therefore I Am, Existentialism, Dialectical Materialism? The Socratic Method and Deconstruction? Sure, you know what they all mean. That is, you've certainly heard of them. But do you know enough about them to join a dinner party debate or dazzle the bar with your knowledge?30-Second Philsophies takes a revolutionary approach to getting a grip on the 50 most significant schools of philosophy. The book challenges leading thinkers to quit fretting about the meaning of meaning for a while and explain the most complex philosophical ideas - using nothing more than two pages, 300 words, and a metaphorical image. Here, in one unique volume, you have the chance to pick the potted brains of our leading philosophers and understand complex concepts such as Kant's Categorical Imperative without ending up in a darkened room with an ice pack on your head.

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Long before the European Enlightenment, scholars and researchers working from Samarkand in modern-day Uzbekistan to Cordoba in Spain advanced our knowledge of astronomy, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, medicine and philosophy.From Musa al-Khwarizmi who developed algebra in 9th century Baghdad to al-Jazari, a 13th-century Turkish engineer whose achievements include the crank, the camshaft and the reciprocating piston.Ehsan Masood tells the amazing story of one of history's most misunderstood yet rich and fertile periods in science, via the scholars, research, and science of the Islamic empires of the middle ages.

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Among the military leaders of the Second World War, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz remains a deeply enigmatic figure. As chief of the German submarine fleet he earned Allied respect as a formidable enemy. But after he succeeded Hitler - to whom he was unquestioningly loyal - as head of the Third Reich, his name became associated with all that was most hated in the Nazi regime.Yet Doenitz deserves credit for ending the war quickly while trying to save his compatriots in the East - his Dunkirk-style operation across the Baltic rescued up to 2 million troops and civilian refugees.Historian Barry Turner argues that while Doenitz can never be dissociated from the evil done under the Third Reich, his contribution to the war must be acknowledged in its entirety in order to properly understand the conflict.An even-handed portrait of Nazi Germany's last leader and a compellingly readable account of the culmination of the war in Europe, Karl Doenitz and the Last Days of the Third Reich gives a fascinating new perspective on a complex man at the heart of this crucial period in history.

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'Queer: A Graphic History Could Totally Change the Way You Think About Sex and Gender' ViceActivist-academic Meg-John Barker and cartoonist Jules Scheele illuminate the histories of queer thought and LGBTQ+ action in this groundbreaking non-fiction graphic novel.From identity politics and gender roles to privilege and exclusion, Queer explores how we came to view sex, gender and sexuality in the ways that we do; how these ideas get tangled up with our culture and our understanding of biology, psychology and sexology; and how these views have been disputed and challenged.Along the way we look at key landmarks which shift our perspective of what's 'normal' - Alfred Kinsey's view of sexuality as a spectrum, Judith Butler's view of gendered behaviour as a performance, the play Wicked, or moments in Casino Royale when we're invited to view James Bond with the kind of desiring gaze usually directed at female bodies in mainstream media.Presented in a brilliantly engaging and witty style, this is a unique portrait of the universe of queer thinking.

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