53 Products

Despite having written many books about the countryside, including the bestselling Country Wisdom, Rosamond Richardson only picked up a pair of binoculars and started birdwatching in her sixties. In a series of lyrical prose poems, this book charts her growing engagement with the world of birds over a single year, and the joy and serenity it brought. The result is a precisely observed exploration of the importance of nature to one’s mental and emotional wellbeing.

One of the founders of modern Israel, Shimon Peres served his country as prime minister, president and foreign minister. He is best remembered, however, for his unswerving commitment to peace. In this final book, completed shortly before his death in 2016, he reflects on 70 years in politics, the turning points in Israeli history, the qualities required for leadership, and the hard choices that face his nation in the quest for peace.

Physician John Elliotson and his friend Thomas Wakley, founding editor of The Lancet, were well-known medical pioneers in Victorian London. Yet when Elliotson championed the new ‘science’ of mesmerism, which purported to dull surgical pain, their friendship – and Elliotson’s credibility – were severely tested. Against a backdrop of Victorian lecture theatres and hospital wards, the two distinguished men publicly clashed over a technique which, for all its successes and failures, is still little understood.

How did the women of Paris survive the grim years of German occupation – and how, in the aftermath of liberation, did they come to terms with their actions? This first in-depth account of the lives of ordinary women in the occupied city charts the experiences of collaborators and resisters, actresses and prostitutes, teachers and writers, Nazis and Jews, in an atmosphere where sex became currency and life-or-death decisions were faced every day.

From prehistory to the present day, the award-winning historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes explores the many incarnations of ‘a place where stories and histories collide and crackle’: the city of Byzantium-Constantinople-Istanbul. Illustrated with photographs and maps, this fast-paced, epic chronicle traces ancient traders and warriors, Roman, Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman empires, and examines the rulers, religious leaders and ordinary men and women of the city up to the 21st century.

During the 17th century unprecedented numbers of people left England. They were on their way to new lives in the Caribbean and the North American colonies – but what were their motivations for undertaking such a perilous transatlantic voyage? Using contemporary letters, diaries and court records, Evans tells the personal stories of men and women who left their homeland in search of a fortune, for political and religious reasons or because their desperate poverty meant they had little to lose.

‘Thomas Gainsborough lived as if electricity shot through his sinews and crackled at his finger ends.’ A gentle, empathetic family man, he also had a volatile streak that could lead him to slash his paintings, and a loose way of talking that shocked society. This biography reveals how an easygoing Suffolk lad was propelled to the highest echelons of Georgian Bath and London by his vast natural talent, and explores the contradictions of this complex and charismatic painter.

Craig Nelson gives a vivid account of the Japanese surprise attack on the American naval and air forces on 7 December 1941, describing the situation in Japan and the US prior to the attack, the immediate result, and its later, unforeseen consequences.

Widely celebrated as the author of the bestselling novel A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth is also an acclaimed poet. Here, for the first time in one volume, readers can appreciate the beauty and scope of his substantial body of poetic work.

She predicted the financial crisis, Brexit and Trump. Now Pippa Malgrem shares the signals that predict the next surprise – not in the ruminations of economists and political pundits, but in the everyday world around us. Changes in fashion, the arts and the high street all provide clues, if we know how to read them. In an age of social unrest, she shows us who is building the future – and how to be part of it.

‘First we must seize power’, Lenin told Trotsky in 1917. ‘Then we decide what to do with it.’ This compelling biography draws on long-suppressed documents to present a nuanced portrait of this complex, emotional man. It charts his long years in exile, his decisive seizure of power, and his intense relationships with his wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, and his lover, Inessa Armand, examining how this sensitive nature lover came to create a new kind of state.

Graham Greene called him ‘the greatest novelist of my generation’; Hilaire Belloc thought he was possessed by the devil. Written with the family’s support and drawing on unpublished letters, diaries and memoirs, the compelling new biography reassesses the life and career of the author of Brideshead Revisited: his troubled relationship with his father, his early homosexual affairs, his conversion to Catholicism, his wartime service, his happy second marriage, his drug-induced madness, and his sharp tongue and devastating wit.

Once the all-conquering bad boy of tennis, John McEnroe is increasingly better known for his insightful commentaries and opinions on the game. In this memoir he reflects on his playing years but also on his life since, developing new careers in broadcasting and art dealing, and bringing up a large family. Still competing in senior tournaments and recently coach to Milos Raonic, he also has plenty to say on the state of modern tennis.

The Himalayas beckon…and we go. Following a meandering path across the mountains, Robert Twigger explores a landscape of pilgrimage and revelation, of massacre and invasion, and of unutterable calm. Unravelling real and invented journeys, and the unexpected links between them, he encounters incredible stories from a unique cast of mountaineers and mystics, pundits and prophets. The result is a sweeping, enthralling and surprising journey through the dramatic history of the world’s greatest mountain range.

As Director of the National Portrait Gallery and the V&A, Sir Roy Strong was a leading figure in Britain’s cultural life. His second volume of diaries begins as he leaves the public stage to devote himself to writing and his love of gardening. With a rich and diverse cast of characters including Tony Blair, Judi Dench, Elton John, Laurence Olivier, Harold Pinter, Margaret Thatcher and the Queen, it casts a wryly humorous eye over the turn of the millennium.

The late AA Gill was widely acclaimed as one of the finest journalists of our time. This selection of recent pieces, made by Gill himself before his untimely death, shows him at his most perceptive, brilliant and funny. He tackles life-drawing, designs his own tweed, spends a day at Donald Trump’s university, and contemplates his cancer diagnosis. Above all, he addresses that most urgent of contemporary issues, the refugee crisis, reporting from Lampedusa, Lebanon and Calais with anger and compassion.

Having stolen the show ahead of a cast of stars in Las Vegas, the 'Godfather of Soul', James Brown, shunned the after-show glad-handing and left; 'Kill 'em and leave,' he remarked to his friend, civil-rights activist Al Sharpton. This biography uses the recollections of people close to Brown, such as Sharpton, to piece together the story of a man who was notoriously secretive and evasive about his private life.

Inspired by the 150th anniversary of Jules Verne’s adventure novel, astronomer David Whitehouse turns his attention from the stars to what lies beneath our own planet’s surface. He describes how the science of seismology developed, explains its most significant discoveries and takes the reader to laboratories where scientists work to reproduce the conditions of intense pressure found deep inside the Earth, and to the site in Russia where years of drilling created a hole that descends more than 12,000 metres.

In a pilgrimage back through four billion years of evolution, Dawkins and Wong follow the history of our genes in search of the microbial beginnings of life. As they encounter other species – from chimpanzees to fungi and bacteria – they listen to each evolutionary ‘tale’, shedding light on such topics as speciation and extinction, and reveal how intimately humans are connected with all life on Earth. This revised and expanded edition takes into account a decade of new research.

The Easter Rising in April 1916 saw civilian deaths, the destruction of a large part of Dublin and the true beginning of Irish independence. Coogan's account of this turning-point in Irish history introduces the major players and the ideas that drove them, and vividly describes the events which they set in train. He also examines how the British government's mishandling of the aftermath had the effect of galvanizing popular support for the rebels.

Described by the Financial Times as ‘an excellent antidote to prejudice’, this concise account of Muslim history emphasizes the importance of rethinking the Western mistrust of Islam which dates back to the time of the Crusades. As well as challenging stereotypes and highlighting how the faith has inspired scholars, mystics and poets, it reveals how Islam’s ‘sacralization of history’ means that the religion, its past history and current events are woven together especially closely.

When two ocean liners, one British the other Argentine, were pressed into military service at the outbreak of the First World War, each was disguised as the other vessel. When they met by chance in the South Atlantic – to the utter surprise of both captains – a tremendous battle ensued. Erstwhile war correspondent Colin Simpson draws on the ships’ logs, survivors’ accounts and official archives to tell the tale. Bears old cover price.

How much do we really know about the place we call home? This sweeping narrative tells how the British landscape has evolved over 12,000 years of human habitation. Epic in scope, it charts the age-old relationship between people and place and the deep-rooted tensions between town and country. From henge to high-rise, from Snowdonia to suburbia, it explores the way we have shaped the land and it has shaped us, and assesses the prospect of a sustainable future.

Kate Summerscale re-opens the case of the gruesome Road Hill murder of 1860, but models her meticulously researched account on the country-house murder mystery – the genre originally inspired by this real murder and its investigation by Jonathan Whicher, one of Scotland Yard's very first detectives. 'The best whodunnit of the year – and it's all true' (Tatler).

Kipling is one of the most celebrated yet most controversial of English poets. His ‘If…’ is often cited as England’s favourite poem, yet its creator is either admired or reviled as a jingoistic champion of empire. Drawing on previously unpublished material about his years in India, England and America, plus recently discovered letters that shed intriguing light on his marriage and other close relationships, this masterly biography presents a nuanced and sympathetic interpretation of the writer and the man.

The London-based chef Nina Parker has visited the fishing town of St Tropez every year since childhood. In this book she presents a very personal journey around the historic town, the surrounding area and Provencal cuisine. From breakfast to drinks and canapes, dinner and dessert, she presents recipes in the ‘Riviera style of cooking’, with strong, fresh flavours and colourful Mediterranean ingredients.

The conductor Christian Thielemann chronicles his ardent personal and professional engagement with Richard Wagner’s music, describes his own journey from Berlin Orchestral Academy to Bayreuth, and appraises each of Wagner’s operas in turn. Translated by Anthea Bell.

Casual weekday suppers, slow-cooked dinners, light lunches and celebratory feasts: all the recipes in this book are cooked in a single pot, whether casserole, saucepan, roasting dish or frying pan. Blanche Vaughan shows how one-pot cooking is full of possibility and variety with recipes from across the world, including curries, tagines, paella and pasta bakes along with traditional English dishes such as Sussex Pond Pudding.

One of the most admired and most prolific American novelists, Elmore Leonard (1925–2013) was a copywriter in a Detroit ad agency during the 1950s, writing his fiction before and after work. Unpublished at his death, these 15 razor-sharp stories date from those early years. With a foreword by Peter Leonard, the writer’s son.

Growing up in a humble shack in America’s poorest state, Elvis Presley dreamed that success would free him from poverty. So how did he become dependent on bank loans even after achieving huge worldwide fame, and why did he despise his own movies and songs, even fearing that he would be forgotten after his death? This biography focuses on identifying the origins of the contradictions and frailties that lay behind Elvis’s charming, confident onstage persona.

When his beloved wife died in 1861, Robert Browning's world collapsed and his future looked bleak indeed. Knowing that he needed to move on, but with an overwhelming desire to cling to Elizabeth's memory, he left Italy and returned to London after 15 years away, to bring up his son alone and endeavour to rebuild his life and his career. Pamela Neville-Sington's biography is moving story of love, loss, death and redemption at the heart of the Victorian literary establishment.

In this magnificently illustrated and authoritative guide to the animal population of Britain, past and present, Duff Hart-Davis discusses the lives and habitats of mammals, birds, insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and domestic and farm animals. He also examines traces of important species that have become extinct, and outlines our changing historical relationship with the creatures around us - from competition and exploitation to conservation. Slightly off-mint.

A magnificent portrait of the Lakes, with Rob Talbot's landscape photography and Whiteman's text describing every aspect of the region, from its geology to literary and artistic connections.

Margot Asquith was perhaps the most daring and unconventional Prime Minister's wife in British history. Stylish, witty and outspoken, she transformed 10 Downing Street into a glittering social and intellectual salon. Drawing on unpublished material from personal papers and diaries, this absorbing book recreates the emotional and political turmoil of the period when Herbert Asquith's government was beset by unrest from suffragettes, strikers and Irish nationalists, and the world was spiralling towards war.

At the beginning of the Second World War experts feared that rationing, a shortage of medical resources, the spread of disease via evacuation and air-raid shelters, and the psychological impact of bombardment would wreck the nation's health. This eye-opening account tells how, through a combination of planning and improvisation, doctors, nurses, social workers, scientists, nutritionists, Boy Scouts and tea ladies ensured that Britain ended the war in better health than ever before, and paved the way for the NHS and the welfare state.

Joanna Lumley is not only a star of stage and screen but a national treasure. Luckily her magpie instincts have preserved a hoard of memorabilia that make this illustrated memoir a visual feast, with photos from her Indian childhood to the present. There are souvenirs of her early modelling career, her celebrated roles in The New Avengers, The Pink Panther and Absolutely Fabulous and, of course, the causes about which she feels passionate. Felt tip mark on lower trimmed edge.

In this magical memoir, Antonia Fraser recalls her idiosyncratic upbringing with inimitable humour and style. Packed with incident and anecdote, it vividly evokes her childhood in Oxford where her father, the future Lord Longford, was a don, her education at a convent school, wartime evacuation to a romantic Elizabethan manor house, and her 'deeply, gloriously, heroically eccentric' great-uncle, Lord Dunsany. Above all, it charts her growing fascination with the subject to which she would devote her adult life: history.

Margot Asquith was perhaps the most daring and unconventional Prime Minister's wife in British history. Stylish, witty and outspoken, she transformed 10 Downing Street into a glittering social and intellectual salon. Drawing on unpublished material from personal papers and diaries, this absorbing book recreates the emotional and political turmoil of the period when Herbert Asquith's government was beset by unrest from suffragettes, strikers and Irish nationalists, and the world was spiralling towards war.

Republished to mark the 50th anniversary of Churchill's death, this volume brings together all the writings on the USA from his History of the English Speaking Peoples (1956–8). Written with characteristic wit and historical insight, it spans American history from Columbus' discovery of the New World to the Cold War, and is imbued with the love and affection that the author felt for the USA – his mother's homeland. Edited by Churchill's grandson and with a new preface by Andrew Roberts.