Search results for ""icon books""
Icon Books Jane Austen the Secret Radical
''A sublime piece of literary detective work that shows us once and for all how to be precisely the sort of reader that Austen deserves.'' Caroline Criado-Perez, GuardianAlmost everything we think we know about Jane Austen is wrong. Her novels don''t confine themselves to grand houses and they were not written just for readers'' enjoyment. She writes about serious subjects and her books are deeply subversive. We just don''t read her properly - we haven''t been reading her properly for 200 years.Jane Austen, The Secret Radical puts that right. In her first, brilliantly original book, Austen expert Helena Kelly introduces the reader to a passionate woman living in an age of revolution; to a writer who used what was regarded as the lightest of literary genres, the novel, to grapple with the weightiest of subjects - feminism, slavery, abuse, the treatment of the poor, the power of the Church, even evolution - at a time, and in a place, when to write about such things directly was seen as a
£10.99
Icon Books To Catch a Spy
The Spycatcher affair remains one of the most intriguing moments in the history of British intelligence and a pivotal point in the public''s relationship with the murky world of espionage and security. It lifted the lid on alleged Soviet infiltration of British services and revealed a culture of law-breaking, bugging and burgling. But how much do we know about the story behind the scandal?In To Catch a Spy, Tim Tate reveals the astonishing true story of the British government''s attempts to silence whistleblower Peter Wright and hide the truth about Britain''s intelligence services and political elites. It''s a story of state-sanctioned cover-up plots; of the government lying to Parliament and courts around the world; and of stories leaked with the intention to mislead and deceive.This is a tale of high treason and low farce. Drawing on thousands of pages of previously unpublished court transcripts, the contents of secret British government files, and original interviews with many of t
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Icon Books Interstellar Tours
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Icon Books The Speed of Sound: Breaking the Barriers between Music and Technology: A Memoir
Thomas Dolby is a five-time Grammy nominee, whose 'She Blinded Me With Science' reached number 5 on the US Billboard charts in 1982, appeared in Breaking Bad, and was even covered by The Muppets...Based on his meticulous notes and journals, The Speed of Sound chronicles Dolby's life in the music business during the eighties; in Silicon Valley through the nineties, and at the forefront of the mobile phone revolution around the turn of the millennium - it was Dolby who created the synthesizer installed today on most mobile phones.With humour and a considerable panache for storytelling, The Speed of Sound is a revealing look behind the curtain of the music industry, as well as a unique history of technology over the past thirty years. From sipping Chablis with Bill Gates to visiting Michael Jackson at his mansion or viewing the Web for the first time on Netscape founder Jim Clark's laptop, this is both the view from the ultimate insider and also that of a technology pioneer whose groundbreaking ideas have helped shape the way we live today.
£9.04
Icon Books Let’s Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World
A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2022'Well-researched and readable' - Financial Times'An absorbing, pacy read' - New Statesman'The story of lycra-clad feminism' Stylist'Canny and informative' - The New YorkerThe untold history of women's exercise culture, from jogging and Jazzercise to Jane Fonda.Author of The Cut's viral article shared thousands of times unearthing the little-known origins of barre workouts, Danielle Friedman explores the history of women's exercise, and how physical strength has been converted into other forms of power.Only in the 60s, thanks to a few forward-thinking fitness pioneers, did women begin to move en masse. In doing so, they were pursuing not only physical strength, but personal autonomy.Exploring barre, jogging, aerobics, weight training and yoga, Danielle Friedman tells the story of how, with the rise of late-20th century feminism, women discovered the joy of physical competence - and how, going forward, we can work to transform fitness from a privilege into a right.
£16.99
Icon Books The Year of the Robin: Watching It All Go Wrong for Charlton Athletic and the World
SHORTLISTED IN THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023 FOR NEW FEMALE SPORTS WRITING'Jen has captured the human (and humorous) side of following a football team. A compelling story hilariously told' Sara Pascoe'From family to football, Jen Offord has captured something we can all relate to. Funny and heartbreaking in equal measure. A must read.' Cariad Lloyd'Hilarious and moving in equal parts' Carrie DunnJen Offord watches it all go wrong for Charlton Athletic and the world.When her beloved Charlton Athletic clinched promotion to The Championship in May 2019, sportswriter Jen Offord splashed out on season tickets for herself and her sceptical brother Michael, setting out to chronicle the south-east London outfit's first season back in the second tier of English football.But this season, more than any other before it, would be a game of two halves. A billionaire takeover backfired spectacularly; the team plummeted into the relegation zone just as Coronavirus swept in to suspend life as we know it.The Year of The Robin is a love letter to the power of football even when there is no football to actually watch, filled with wild characters searching for redemption and wrestling over issues of money, racism and mental health. A funny, sharp and a thought-provoking exploration of the idea of family in unprecedented times and season from which the world may never fully recover.
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Icon Books Dark Matter and Dark Energy: The Hidden 95% of the Universe
'Clear and compact ... It's hard to fault as a brief, easily digestible introduction to some of the biggest questions in the Universe' Giles Sparrow, BBC Four's The Sky at Night, Best astronomy and space books of 2019: 5/5All the matter and light we can see in the universe makes up a trivial 5 per cent of everything. The rest is hidden. This could be the biggest puzzle that science has ever faced.Since the 1970s, astronomers have been aware that galaxies have far too little matter in them to account for the way they spin around: they should fly apart, but something concealed holds them together. That 'something' is dark matter - invisible material in five times the quantity of the familiar stuff of stars and planets.By the 1990s we also knew that the expansion of the universe was accelerating. Something, named dark energy, is pushing it to expand faster and faster. Across the universe, this requires enough energy that the equivalent mass would be nearly fourteen times greater than all the visible material in existence.Brian Clegg explains this major conundrum in modern science and looks at how scientists are beginning to find solutions to it.
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Icon Books Ghost Riders: Operation Cowboy, the World War Two Mission to Save the World's Finest Horses
April 1945. As Alliedbombs rain down on Europe, a 400-year-old institution looks set to be wiped offthe face of the Earth. The famous white Lipizzaner stallions of the SpanishRiding School in Vienna, unique and precious animals representing centuries ofcareful breeding, are scattered across rural Austria and Czechoslovakia inareas soon to be swallowed up by Soviet forces - there, doubtless, to becomerations for the Red Army. Their only hope lies withthe Americans: what if a small, highly mobile US task force could be sent deepbehind German lines, through fanatical SS troops, to rescue the horses beforethe Soviets arrive. Just five light tanks, a handful of armoured cars and jeeps,and 300 battle-weary GIs must plunge headlong into the unknown on a rescuemission that could change the course of European history. So beginsOperation Cowboy, the greatest Second World War story that has never been fullytold. GIs will join forces with surrendered German soldiers and liberatedprisoners of war to save the world's finest horses from fanatical SS and theruthless Red Army in an extraordinary battle during the last few days of thewar in Europe.
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Icon Books Saving Capitalism: For The Many, Not The Few
'A very good guide to the state we're in' Paul Krugman, New York Review of Books'A well-written, thought-provoking book by one of America's leading economic thinkers and progressive champions.' Huffington PostDo you recall a time when the income of a single schoolteacher or baker or salesman or mechanic was enough to buy a home, have two cars, and raise a family?Robert Reich does - in the 1950s his father sold clothes to factory workers and the family earnt enough to live comfortably. Today, this middle class is rapidly shrinking: American income inequality and wealth disparity is the greatest it's been in eighty years.As Reich, who served in three US administrations, shows, the threat to capitalism is no longer communism or fascism but a steady undermining of the trust modern societies need for growth and stability.With an exclusive chapter for Icon's edition, Saving Capitalism is passionate yet practical, sweeping yet exactingly argued, a revelatory indictment of the economic status quo and an empowering call to action.
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Icon Books How to Win a Roman Chariot Race: Lives, Legends and Treasures from the Ancient World
Who first thought of atoms? How much can you learn about archaeology from an oil lamp? Who came up with the theory of the 'wandering womb'?Oxford Classicist Jane Hood delves into the history, culture, literature, mythology and philosophy of ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, using her expert eye to unearth unexpected gems, glittering fragments and quotable nuggets from a lost world.From ancient cosmetics to the earliest known computer, from the deciphering of ancient languages to the amazing things the Romans did with concrete, this is the essential miscellany for all curious minds, whether you learned the Classics at school or not.
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Icon Books Nine Musings on Time
Time travel is a familiar theme of science fiction, but is it really possible?Surprisingly, time travel is not forbidden by the laws of physics - and John Gribbin argues that if it is not impossible then it must be possible. Gribbin brilliantly illustrates the possibilities of time travel by comparing familiar themes from science fiction with their real-world scientific counterparts, including Einstein's theories of relativity, black holes, quantum physics, and the multiverse, illuminated by examples from the fictional tales of Robert Heinlein, Larry Niven, Carl Sagan and others. The result is an entertaining guide to some deep mysteries of the Universe which may leave you wondering whether time actually passes at all, and if it does, whether we are moving forwards or backwards. A must-read for science fiction fans and anyone intrigued by deep science.
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Icon Books The Army That Never Was
The Army That Never Was: D-Day and the Great Deception tells the remarkable story of the deceptions, hoaxes and misdirections carried out by the Allies ahead of the most pivotal moment of the Second World War - the D-Day invasion. The most audacious of these schemes aimed to convince German forces that plans to storm Normandy were a mere sideshow, and featured a fictitious army led by General Patton and furnished with hundreds of real-world dummy landing craft, tanks and aircraft. New research reveals a hidden link with Britain's film industry, as the fascinating behind-the-scenes story of this dramatic gambit is explored in detail. Full of fascinating characters from the US, Britain and Germany, this compelling and propulsive narrative explores one of the most remarkable secret campaigns of the Second World War.
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Icon Books UPROAR
**A brilliant new history of Georgian Britain through the eyes of the artists who immortalised it, by one of the UK''s most exciting young historians**''Alice Loxton is the star of her generation ... the next big thing in history'' DAN SNOW''Vivid, pacey and endlessly engaging, this brilliant debut brings the late Georgian period dazzlingly to life. Irresistible stuff'' TRACY BORMANLondon, 1772: a young artist called Thomas Rowlandson is making his way through the grimy backstreets of the capital, on his way to begin his studies at the Royal Academy Schools. Within a few years, James Gillray and Isaac Cruikshank would join him in Piccadilly, turning satire into an artform, taking on the British establishment, and forever changing the way we view power. Set against a backdrop of royal madness, political intrigue, the birth of modern celebrity, French revolution, American independence and the Napoleonic Wars, UPROAR! follows the satirists as they lampoon those in power, from the Prince R
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Icon Books The 50 Greatest Wonders of the World
Machu Picchu, the Acropolis, the Great Rift Valley: these are some of the most beautiful, mysterious and awe-inspiring places on the planet. Award-winning travel writer Aaron Millar reveals the greatest wonders of the world and the insider secrets on how to see them. From where to catch the perfect sunrise over the Grand Canyon to how to swim up to the very edge of the Victoria Falls, this is a road map for discovering the greatest experiences of your life. There are wonders of our future too: the Large Hadron Collider, the most complicated machine ever built; the International Space Station, the greatest international peacetime collaboration in history; the Rio Carnival, the biggest party on the planet. The 50 Greatest Wonders of the World reminds us how fantastically inspiring our planet really is, and how we're a part of it.
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Icon Books The Jay The Beech and the Limpetshell
''Generous, moving and alive. A gift'' - Tim Dee, author of Greenery''Intelligent, thought-provoking and always, always interesting'' - Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment''Smyth writes with warmth and engaging perception about our relationship and understanding of the natural world on our doorsteps'' - Jon Dunn, author of The Glitter in the Green''Fresh and tender and playful'' - Patrick Galbraith, author of In Search of One Last SongWeren''t they richer, rock pools, wasn''t the seashore busier, when I was a kid?Richard Smyth had always been drawn to the natural world, but when he became a father he found a new joy and a new urgency in showing his kids the everyday wild things around them. As he and his children explore rockpools in Whitley Bay, or the woods and moors near his Yorkshire home, he imagines the world they might inhabit as they grow up. Through different objects discovered on their wanderings - a beech leaf, a jay feather, a limpetshell - Smyth examines his own pa
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Icon Books 100 Years of Leeds United: 1919-2019
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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Icon Books The 50 Greatest Walks of the World
Barry Stone, author of 1001 Walks You Must Experience Before You Die, delves into some of the lesser-known aspects of the world's most famous - and not-quite-famous-yet - trails.The perfect accompaniment to practical guidebooks, Stone relates how slings and carabiners kept him from falling headlong off the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and reports on the progress of the continental-wide monster, the Trans Canada Trail, gaps in which are still being filled by countless grass-roots communities.With walks that will appeal to everyone regardless of ability, The 50 Greatest Walks of the World includes British classics such as the Pennine Way, Offa's Dyke Path, and the Old Man of Hoy as well as personal favourites such as Italy's Cinque Terre Classic and the Isle of Skye's Trotternish Ridge, one of Britain's finest ridge traverses with almost 2,500m of ascents. Whether it's a climb, a stroll, or a life-changing slog, this book has the walk for you.
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Icon Books Artificial Intelligence: Modern Magic or Dangerous Future?
Artificial intelligence has long been a mainstay of science fiction and increasingly it feels as if AI is entering our everyday lives, with technology like Apple's Siri now prominent, and self-driving cars almost upon us.But what do we actually mean when we talk about 'AI'? Are the sentient machines of 2001 or The Matrix a real possibility or will real-world artificial intelligence look and feel very different? What has it done for us so far? And what technologies could it yield in the future?AI expert Yorick Wilks takes a journey through the history of artificial intelligence up to the present day, examining its origins, controversies and achievements, as well as looking into just how it works. He also considers the future, assessing whether these technologies could menace our way of life, but also how we are all likely to benefit from AI applications in the years to come.Entertaining, enlightening, and keenly argued, this is the essential one-stop guide to the AI debate.
£8.99
Icon Books George Russell: A Biography
From James Gray, author of the bestselling Max Verstappen, comes the very first biography of Lewis Hamilton's designated successor George Russell, published to mark the British Grand Prix.From dominating the karting tracks of East Anglia to the top of the podium in Formula 3 and Formula 2, George Russell has now fully established himself as a rising Formula 1 star. After cutting his teeth as a driver with Williams, in 2022 he signed a lucrative contract with Mercedes, highlighting the extent of his raw talent.Driving for Mercedes, Russell has been confirmed as the designated successor to none other than Lewis Hamilton. As Hamilton's heir-apparent, will this protégé manage to follow in the footsteps of the greatest F1 driver of all time?Sports journalist and author of Max Verstappen James Gray traces how George Russell has been setting the racing track alight since the age of seven and how he is now destined to become the successor to the crown of British motor racing.
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Icon Books The Science of Music: How Technology has Shaped the Evolution of an Artform
Music is shaped by the science of sound. How can music - an artform - have anything to do with science? Yet there are myriad ways in which the two are intertwined, from the basics of music theory and the design of instruments to hi-fi systems and how the brain processes music.Science writer Andrew May traces the surprising connections between science and music, from the theory of sound waves to the way musicians use mathematical algorithms to create music.The most obvious impact of science on music can be seen in the way electronic technology has revolutionised how we create, record and listen to music. Technology has also provided new insights into the effects that different music has on the brain, to the extent that some algorithms can now predict our reactions with uncanny accuracy, which raises a worrying question: how long will it be before AI can create music on a par with humans?
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Icon Books Biomimetics: How Lessons from Nature can Transform Technology
An exploration of the transformative ways in which nature has inspired the technological advancement of humankind.Biomimetics literally means emulating biology - and in a broader sense the term covers technological advances where the original inspiration came from nature. The Earth is a vast laboratory where the mechanisms of natural selection have enabled evolutionary solutions to be developed to a wide range of problems. In this new title in the Hot Science series, science writer Brian Clegg looks at how humans have piggybacked on natural experimentation, redeploying a solution to create things that make our lives easier. He looks at how the hooks on burdock seeds inspired the creation of Velcro, how the stickiness of the feet of geckos and frogs has been used to create gripping surfaces, such as tyre treads, and how even the most basic optical enhancement in the form of spectacles is itself a form of biomimetics.
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Icon Books The Brontesaurus: An A–Z of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë (and Branwell)
Did Charlotte Brontë take opium? Did the Reverend Brontë carry a loaded pistol? What, precisely, does 'wuthering' mean?Distinguished literary critic John Sutherland takes an idiosyncratic look at the world of the Brontës, from the bumps on Charlotte's head to the nefarious origins of Mr Rochester's fortune, by way of astral telephony, letterwriting dogs, an exploding peat bog, and much, much more. Also features 'Jane Eyre abbreviated' by John Crace, author of the Guardian's 'Digested Reads' column - read Charlotte Brontë's masterpiece in five minutes!
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Icon Books The 50 Greatest Churches and Cathedrals of Great Britain
Britain is well-known for its churches and cathedrals; buildings of great architecture and religious grandeur that form many of our recognisable skylines. But these grand structures are also full of facts, histories and stories that you may not have been aware of. Did you know that there are only three cathedrals in Britain without a ringing bell? Or that St Davids Cathedral, nestled away in a Welsh valley, has a very unique choir, where the top line is sung only by female choristers, aged eight to eighteen? How about that the Great Pyramids in Egypt were the world's tallest structures for over 3,870 years, until the construction of Lincoln Cathedral in 1311? Award-wining travel writer and editor Sue Dobson takes us on a journey around the United Kingdom, showing us her highlights while providing fascinating details and stories along the way.
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Icon Books The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country
* NOW WITH A NEW CHAPTER *'A hugely enjoyable romp through the pleasures and pitfalls of setting up home in a foreign land.'- GuardianGiven the opportunity of a new life in rural Jutland, Helen Russell discovered a startling statistic: Denmark, land of long dark winters, cured herring, Lego and pastries, was the happiest place on earth.Keen to know their secrets, Helen gave herself a year to uncover the formula for Danish happiness.From childcare, education, food and interior design to SAD and taxes, The Year of Living Danishly records a funny, poignant journey, showing us what the Danes get right, what they get wrong, and how we might all live a little more Danishly ourselves.In this new edition, six years on Helen reveals how her life and family have changed, and explores how Denmark, too - or. her understanding of it - has shifted. It's a messy and flawed place, she concludes - but can still be a model for a better way of living.
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Icon Books Suarez: The Remarkable Story Behind Football's Most Explosive Talent
Bestselling football biographer Luca Caioli tackles his most controversial subject yet - Barcelona, Uruguay and former Liverpool forward Luis Suárez.When in late September 2013 Luis Suárez returned from a landmark ten-match ban for biting an opponent, one in a long line of high-profile misdemeanours, it seemed unlikely that he would ever win over his critics.In the months that followed he scored an astonishing 31 times, propelling Liverpool back into the Champions League following a four-year absence. The World Cup in Brazil followed but Suárez saw his action-packed tournament curtailed after just two games, two goals and one moment of madness, with favourable comparisons to Messi and Ronaldo once again overshadowed by those with Jekyll and Hyde.Acclaimed football biographer Luca Caioli provides an in-depth look at one of football's most enigmatic characters, from humble Uruguayan beginnings to his big-money move to Barcelona in July 2014.
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Icon Books Atomic: The First War of Physics and the Secret History of the Atom Bomb 1939-49
Spanning ten historic years, from the discovery of nuclear fission in 1939 to 'Joe-1', the first Soviet atomic bomb test in August 1949, Atomic is the first fully realised popular account of the race between Nazi Germany, Britain, America and the Soviet Union to build atomic weapons.Rich in personality, action, confrontation and deception, Jim Baggott's book tells an epic story of science and technology at the very limits of human understanding.
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Icon Books Introducing Jung: A Graphic Guide
'Clever and witty.' Susie Orbach, GuardianCarl Gustav Jung was the enigmatic and controversial father of analytical psychology.This updated edition of Introducing Jung brilliantly explains the theories that underpin Jung's work, delves into the controversies that led him to break away from Freud and describes his near psychotic breakdown, from which he emerged with radical new insights into the nature of the unconscious mind - and which were published for the first time in 2009 in The Red Book.Step by step, Maggie Hyde demonstrates how it was entirely logical for him to explore the psychology of religion, alchemy, astrology, the I Ching and other phenomena rejected by science in his investigation of his patients' dreams, fantasies and psychic disturbances.
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Icon Books Introducing Marx: A Graphic Guide
Compact INTRODUCING guide to the influential philosopher, sociologist and economist. INTRODUCING MARX - A GRAPHIC GUIDE explores the life of the most famous Socialist figure, from his early years to meeting Engels in1842. It provides a readable, understandable biography of Karl Marx as well as a fundamental account of his original philosophy, its roots in 19th century European ideology, his radical economic and social criticism of capitalism that inspired vast 20th century revolutions.
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Icon Books Introducing Political Philosophy: A Graphic Guide
Essential illustrated guide to key ideas of political thought. Philosophers have always asked fundamental and disturbing questions about politics. Plato and Aristotle debated the merits of democracy. The origins of society, the state and government authority were issues addressed by Hobbes, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx and many other philosophers. Introducing Political Philosophy explains the central concepts of this intriguing branch of philosophy and presents the major political theorists from Plato to Foucault. How did governments get started? Why should they be obeyed? Could we live without them? How much power should they have? Is freedom a right? Which is the best form of government? In the wake of consumerism and postmodernism, our need for a better grasp of political ideas is greater than ever. Dave Robinson's account of this complex subject is always clear, informative and accompanied by the entertainingly inventive illustrations of Judy Groves.
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Icon Books Do You Think You're Clever?: The Oxford and Cambridge Questions
What happens if I drop an ant?What books are bad for you?What percentage of the world's water is contained in a cow?The Oxbridge undergraduate interviews are infamous for their unique ways of assessing candidates, and from these peculiar enquiries, professors can tell just how smart you really are. John Farndon has collected together 75 of the most intriguing questions taken from actual admission interviews and gives full answers to each, taking the reader through the fascinating histories, philosophies, sciences and arts that underlie each problem.This is a book for everyone who likes to think they're clever, or who thinks they'd like to be clever. And cleverness is not just knowing stuff, it's how laterally, deeply and interestingly you can bend your brain. Guesstimating the population of Croydon, for example, opens a chain of thought from which you can predict the strength of a nuclear bomb ...and that's just the start of it.
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Icon Books Introducing Philosophy: A Graphic Guide
Philosophers have always enjoyed asking awkward and provocative questions, such as: What is the nature of reality? What are human beings really like? What is special about the human mind and consciousness? Are we free to choose who we are and what we do? Can we prove that God exists? Can we be certain about anything at all? What is truth? Does language provide us with a true picture of the world? How should we behave towards each other? Do computers think? Introducing Philosophy is a comprehensive graphic guide to the thinking of all the significant philosophers of the Western world from Heraclitus to Derrida. It examines and explains their key arguments and ideas without being obscure or solemn. Lively and accessible, it is the perfect introduction to philosophers and philosophical ideas for anyone coming to the subject for the first time.
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Icon Books Introducing Psychology: A Graphic Guide
What is psychology? When did it begin? Where did it come from? How does psychology compare with related subjects such as psychiatry and psychotherapy? To what extent is it scientific? Introducing Psychology answers all these questions and more, explaining what the subject has been in the past and what it is now. The main "schools" of thought and the sections within psychology are described, including Introspection, Biopsychology, Psychoanalysis, Behaviourism, Comparative (Animal) Psychology, Cognitive Approaches (including the Gestalt movement), Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology and Humanism. The key figures covered include: Freud, Pavlov, Skinner, Bandura, Piaget, Bowlby, Maslow and Rogers, as well as many lesser-known but important psychologists.
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Icon Books The Box with the Sunflower Clasp: Uncovering a Jewish Family's Flight to Wartime Shanghai
'A transfixingly readable amalgam of memoir and history... Superbly written and researched.... [Meller] has turned the raw material of her life into literature'Ian Thomson, author of Primo LeviRachel Meller was never close to her aunt Lisbeth, a cool, unemotional woman with a drawling Viennese-Californian accent, a cigarette in her hand. But when Lisbeth died, she left Rachel an intricately carved Chinese box with a sunflower clasp. Inside the box were photographs, letters and documents that led Rachel to uncover a story she had never known: that of a passionate Jewish teenager growing up in elegant Vienna, who was caught up by war, and forced to flee to Shanghai.Far from home, in a strange city, Lisbeth and her parents build a new life - a life of small joys and great hardship, surrounded by many others who, like them, have fled Hitler and the Nazis. 1930s Shanghai is a metropolis where the old rules do not apply - a city of fabulous wealth and crushing poverty, where disease is rife, and gangsters rub shoulders with rich émigrés; where summer brings unspeakable heat, and winter is bitterly cold; and where European refugees build a community and, maybe, a young woman can find love.Set against a backdrop of the war in the Far East, The Box with the Sunflower Clasp is a sweeping family memoir that tells the hidden history of the Jews of Shanghai. Rachel Meller writes with elegance and insight as she examines what it means to survive, and what the legacy of displacement and war might mean for the generation that comes afterwards.
£22.50
Icon Books Obsessive, Intrusive, Magical Thinking
Obsessive was, still is, my natural state, and I never wondered why. I didn't mind, didn't know that other people could feel at peace. I always felt like a raw nerve, but then, I thought that everyone did. Writer and journalist Marianne Eloise was born obsessive. What that means changes day to day, depending on what her brain latches onto: fixations with certain topics, intrusive violent thoughts, looping phrases. Some obsessions have lasted a lifetime, while others will be intense but only last a week or two. Obsessive, Intrusive, Magical Thinking is the culmination of a life spend obsessing, offering a glimpse into Marianne's brain, but also an insight into the lives of others like her. From death to Medusa, to Disneyland to fire, to LA to her dog, the essays explore the intersection of neurodivergence, fixation and disorder, telling the story of one life underpinned and ultimately made whole by obsession. AUTHOR: Marianne Eloise is a writer and journalist. She covers topics like TV, film, digital culture, neurodiversity, wellness and alternative music, for outlets including The Cut, the New York Times, Courier, Vulture, i-D, Guardian and more.
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Icon Books Written: How to Keep Writing and Build a Habit That Lasts
'What a lovely, friendly book. Made me feel cheerful, buoyant, less alone and keen to get on with my writing. Highly recommended.' Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of Write It All Down'If you want to go from "writing" to "written", then you need this book.' Graham Allcott, author of How to be a Productivity Ninja**With a Foreword by OLIVER BURKEMAN, author of the Sunday Times bestseller Four Thousand Weeks**Do you ever wish you could find more time to write? Do you ever feel frustrated that other things get in the way? Perhaps you're stuck at the start, mired in the middle or just can't get back into the writing groove?Writing is important to many of us - for our careers, studies, businesses or creative fulfilment - but sitting down and doing it can feel impossible. We often struggle to give it the attention it deserves. We can't find time. Our focus is torn. Distractions are everywhere. Our inner critic keeps telling us we're no good.But what if you could find a highly effective writing habit that was perfect for you?Bec Evans and Chris Smith have helped thousands of people stop procrastinating, overcome their blocks and reach their writing goals. Now, they've turned their successful approach into this life-changing book that anyone can use to write more productively and with less stress.Packed full of tried and tested advice, stories you can relate to and the latest research from psychology and neuroscience, Written gives you the tools you need to start writing, keep going - and finish.
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Icon Books One Day in August: Ian Fleming, Enigma, and the Deadly Raid on Dieppe
'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
£12.99
Icon Books Saving Freud: A Life in Vienna and an Escape to Freedom in London
'Astonishing... In the American journalist Andrew Nagorski this tale has found its ideal narrator'SEBASTIAN FAULKS, Sunday Times'[A] thrilling book, as edge-of-your-seat gripping as any heist movie'Kathryn Hughes, Guardian Book of the Day'A gripping masterpiece'BRETT KAHR, Freud Museum LondonMarch 1938: German soldiers are massing on the Austrian border, on the cusp of fulfilling Hitler's dream of absorbing the country into the Third Reich. Many Jews make frantic plans to flee to safety. But one of the most famous men in the world, unable to contemplate leaving his beloved Vienna, is not among them. His name is Sigmund Freud.Saving Freud is the story of a great man's life, and of the extraordinary people who managed to prolong it, by convincing him to escape to London: the Welsh physician who brought psychoanalysis to Britain; Napoleon's great-grandniece; an American ambassador; Freud's devoted daughter, Anna; and the doctor who risked his own life by staying at Freud's side.In examining the histories of both Freud and his closest circle, Andrew Nagorski brilliantly evokes the story of Europe in the first half of the Twentieth Century. This is a tale of a great city, a collapsing empire, a rising terror - and of a man who would change the way we think.
£10.99
Icon Books Money, Magic, and How to Dismantle a Financial Bomb: Quantum Economics for the Real World
Money has many apparently magical properties. It can be created out of the void - and vanish without so much as a puff of smoke. It can flash through space. It can grow without limit. And it can blow up without warning.David Orrell argues that the emerging discipline of quantum economics, of which he is at the forefront, is the key to shattering the illusions that prevent us from understanding money's true nature.In this colourful tour of the history, philosophy and mathematics of money, Orrell demonstrates how everything makes much more sense when we replace our classical economic models with ones based on quantum probability - and reveals the explosive reality of what is left once the illusions are stripped away.
£22.50
Icon Books Buy Better, Consume Less: Create Real Environmental Change
** One of Refinery29's Essential Books For Surviving 2022 **How to spot greenwashing, stop consuming and demand a more sustainable future.Climate change is now a mainstream conversation topic, and yet every week our recycling piles are still overflowing and we're faced with a steady stream of brands trying to persuade us to buy their eco-friendly products in our quest to live sustainably.For too long, corporations have shifted the eco-responsibility onto us, the consumers. It's time to push back and demand change.In Buy Better, Consume Less, #EthicalHour founder Sian Conway-Wood provides practical tips on how to stop consuming, advice on how to see through corporations' greenwashing, and steps to hold them accountable. In doing so we can create demand for sustainability in supply chains, and put pressure on decision makers to implement systemic change that puts people and planet above profit.
£14.99
Icon Books How to be a Girl: A Mother’s Memoir of Raising her Transgender Daughter
** Includes foreword from Susie Green, CEO of charity Mermaids ** Mama, something went wrong in your tummy. And it made me come out as a boy instead of a girl. When Marlo Mack's three year old says these words, she's not surprised - but she's completely unprepared. Marlo gave birth to a beautiful baby boy - M - and brushed his pleas for pink clothes and dresses aside as a young child's playful experimentation with gender. But when her son begs to be put back in her tummy because he came out wrong, she knows she must listen more closely.How to Be a Girl is a raw and unflinching memoir of a mother grappling with her child's transition. Always wanting to support M, Marlo - whose podcast of the same name has over 1.3 million downloads - finds her liberal values surprisingly challenged, and as she learns more about gender and its varied expressions, she questions what being a girl - or a boy, or something else entirely - really means.
£14.99
Icon Books The Illustrated Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language
A NEW, BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED HARDBACK EDITION OF THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER, PUBLISHED ON ITS TENTH ANNIVERSARY.'Witty and erudite ... stuffed with the kind of arcane information that nobody strictly needs to know, but which is a pleasure to learn nonetheless.' Nick Duerden, Independent.'Particularly good ... Forsyth takes words and draws us into their, and our, murky history.' William Leith, Evening Standard.The Etymologicon is an occasionally ribald, frequently witty and unerringly erudite guided tour of the secret labyrinth that lurks beneath the English language.What is the actual connection between disgruntled and gruntled? What links church organs to organised crime, California to the Caliphate, or brackets to codpieces?Mark Forsyth's riotous celebration of the idiosyncratic and sometimes absurd connections between words is a classic of its kind: a mine of fascinating information and a must-read for word-lovers everywhere.'Highly recommended' Spectator
£20.00
Icon Books A Pretoria Boy: The Story of South Africa’s ‘Public Enemy Number One’
'A stalwart anti-racist and anti-apartheid campaigner.' Doreen (Baroness) Lawrence'From fighting for Nelson Mandela's freedom to exposing his betrayal under Jacob Zuma, a 50 year story of constant campaigning.' Sir Trevor McDonald, broadcasterThe powerful and timely story of Peter Hain's political life fighting South African apartheid and modern-day corruption.Peter Hain has had a dramatic 50-year political career, in Britain and his native South Africa. This is the story of that extraordinary journey, from Pretoria to the House of Lords.Hain vividly describes his anti-apartheid parents' arrest and harassment in the early 1960s, the hanging of a close white family friend, and enforced London exile in 1966. After organising militant anti-Springbok demonstrations he became 'Public Enemy Number One' in the South African media. Narrowly escaping jail for disrupting all-white South African sports tours, he was framed for bank robbery and nearly assassinated by a bomb.He used British parliamentary privilege to expose looting and money laundering in President Jacob Zuma's administration, informed by his government 'deep throat', and likely influenced Zuma's resignation. Hain ends by exhorting South Africa to reincarnate Nelson Mandela's vision and integrity for the future.Praise for A Pretoria Boy:'Peter's gripping story and his passionate activism resonates with me over our common (African) childhood and exile in Britain.' Natasha Kaplinsky, broadcaster'A tour de force over an extraordinary half century of campaigning for justice.' Helen Clark, former New Zealand Prime Minister and United Nations Development Chief'Talk about courage and chutzpah - this young 'un helped topple apartheid!' Ronnie Kasrils, former ANC underground chief and Minister
£20.00
Icon Books Astroquizzical – The Illustrated Edition: Solving the Cosmic Puzzles of our Planets, Stars, and Galaxies
A beautifully illustrated, enlightening edition of astronomer Jillan Scudder's exploration of our universe.Looking up at the night sky, it is almost impossible to imagine that we can trace our common ancestry with the distant stars and galaxies back over 13.8 billion years.Astroquizzical explores this connection by travelling back through the generations of the cosmic family tree, from Earth (parent) to the stars (grandparents), galaxies (great grandparents) and first atoms of the Big Bang (great-great grandparents). On the journey, the reader is invited to become 'astroquizzical' by asking the questions and investigating the many scientific mysteries of how the universe was formed and how it works.This updated and illustrated edition combines beautifully curated space images with ten sketchbook 'thought experiments' to create a uniquely accessible guide to the science of Earth's place among the planets, stars, and galaxies.
£19.99
Icon Books The Alien Perspective: A New View of Humanity and the Cosmos
'Often-complex ideas are explained with clarity and precision, but this is clearly a passion project for the author, and the book soars where he deploys more poetic language, as when musing on the deeper themes that arise from his central question. ... If you've ever looked up at the sky and pondered on the big questions of life in the Universe, this is essential reading.' BBC Sky at Night magazineAstronomer and science writer David Whitehouse takes us on a journey through the evolving cosmos as he considers humankind's place in the universe - and how our survival depends on otherworldly perspectives.From the Earth to the depths of outer space, this inspiring book shows how human evolution has been intertwined with the workings of the cosmos from the very beginning, and what the far-distant future may hold, both for the universe and for ourselves.Given enough time, Whitehouse contends, we must communicate with intelligent aliens whose divergent perspective will transform our understanding of the universe. First contact may even come sooner than we think. We have already transmitted signals towards promising exoplanets. If, say, Gliese 581d harbours life, the return signal could reach us in 2051.Drawing the thread of human consciousness from the cave to the cosmos, the acclaimed author of Apollo 11: The Inside Story charts our future journey to the end of space and time and considers whether something of humanity could remain at the end of it all.
£17.99
Icon Books Five Days: Baltimore's Fiery Reckoning
'An illuminating portrait of Baltimore ... Readers will be enthralled' Publishers Weekly A kaleidoscopic account of five days in the life of a city on the edge, told through eight characters on the front lines of the uprising that overtook Baltimore and riveted the world.When Freddie Gray was arrested for possessing an 'illegal knife' in April 2015, he was, by eyewitness accounts that video evidence later confirmed, treated 'roughly' as police loaded him into a vehicle. By the end of his trip in the police van, Gray was in a coma from which he would never recover.In the wake of a long history of police abuse in Baltimore, this killing felt like the final straw - it led to a week of protests empowered by the Black Lives Matter movement, then five days described alternately as a riot or an uprising.New York Times bestselling author Wes Moore tells the story of the five days through his own observations and through the eyes of other Baltimoreans: Partee, a conflicted black captain of the Baltimore Police Department; Jenny, a young white public defender who's drawn into the violent centre of the uprising herself; Tawanda, a young black woman who'd spent a lonely year protesting the killing of her own brother by police; and John Angelos, scion of the city's most powerful family and executive vice president of the Baltimore Orioles, who had to make choices of conscience he'd never before confronted.Each shifting point of view contributes to an engrossing, cacophonous account of a moment in history with striking resemblances to far more recent events, which is also an essential cri de coeur about the deeper causes of the violence and the small seeds of hope planted in its aftermath.
£14.99
Icon Books The Gran Tour: Travels with my Elders
'Both moving and hilarious' Spectator, Books of the Year'A tale of gloriously eccentric British pensioners. Aitken rivals Alan Bennett in the ear he has for an eavesdropped remark ... boy, can he write.' Daily Mail, Book of the WeekFROM THE AUTHOR OF THE TIMES BESTSELLING A CHIP SHOP IN POZNAN.One millennial, six coach trips, one big generation gap.When Ben Aitken learnt that his gran had enjoyed a four-night holiday including four three-course dinners, four cooked breakfasts, four games of bingo, a pair of excursions, sixteen pints of lager and luxury return coach travel, all for a hundred pounds, he thought, that's the life, and signed himself up. Six times over.Good value aside, what Ben was really after was the company of his elders - those with more chapters under their belt, with the wisdom granted by experience, the candour gifted by time, and the hard-earned ability to live each day like it's nearly their last.A series of coach holidays ensued - from Scarborough to St Ives, Killarney to Lake Como - during which Ben attempts to shake off his thirty-something blues by getting old as soon as possible.
£10.99
Icon Books Come Fly the World: The Women of Pan Am at War and Peace
** Chosen as a May 2021 pick for The Fearless Book Club by Nobel Peace Prize-Winner, Malala Yousafzai **Travel writer Julia Cooke's exhilarating portrait of Pan Am stewardesses in the Mad Men era.Glamour, danger, liberation: in the Jet Age, Pan Am offered young women the world. Come Fly the World tells the story of the stewardesses who served on the iconic Pan American Airways between 1966 and 1975 - and of the unseen diplomatic role they played on the world stage.Alongside the glamour was real danger, as they flew soldiers to and from Vietnam and staffed Operation Babylift - the dramatic evacuation of 2,000 children during the fall of Saigon. Cooke's storytelling weaves together the true stories of women like Lynne Totten, a science major who decided life in a lab was not for her, to Hazel Bowie, one of the relatively few African American stewardesses of the era, as they embraced the liberation of a jet-set life.In the process, Cooke shows how the sexualized coffee-tea-or-me stereotype was at odds with the importance of what they did, and with the freedom, power and sisterhood they achieved.
£16.99
Icon Books Seven Pillars of Science: The Incredible Lightness of Ice, and Other Scientific Surprises
John Gribbin, author of Six Impossible Things, shortlisted for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize, presents a tour of seven fundamental scientific truths that underpin our very existence.These 'pillars of science' also defy common sense. For example, solid things are mostly empty space, so how do they hold together? There appears to be no special 'life force', so how do we distinguish living things from inanimate objects? And why does ice float on water, when most solids don't? You might think that question hardly needs asking, and yet if ice didn't float, life on Earth would never have happened.The answers to all of these questions were sensational in their day, and some still are. Throughout history, science has been able to think the unthinkable - and Gribbin brilliantly shows the surprising secrets on which our understanding of life is based.
£9.99