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Victorians
Explore the Victorians who lived in a time of great progress and change. Find out how factories and towns grew incredibly fast, and the British Empire reached its largest size. Discover the advances in transport, industry and architecture, and learn about the lives of both rich and poor.
Read about Queen Victoria’s long life and reign, the great Victorian buildings, ideas and inventions. Discover the working conditions in the mines and factories and a day in the life of a Victorian schoolchild.
The Explore! series delves into the most fascinating topics around for children at Key Stage 2, looking at the topic through a variety of subjects including design and technology, geography, art, literacy and numeracy.
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£8.50Victorians
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Women in Intelligence: The Hidden History of Two World Wars
A groundbreaking history of women in British intelligence, revealing their pivotal role across the first half of the twentieth century
From the twentieth century onward, women took on an extraordinary range of roles in intelligence, defying the conventions of their time. Across both world wars, far from being a small part of covert operations, women ran spy networks and escape lines, parachuted behind enemy lines, and interrogated prisoners. And, back in Bletchley and Whitehall, women’s vital administrative work in MI offices kept the British war engine running.
In this major, panoramic history, Helen Fry looks at the rich and varied work women undertook as civilians and in uniform. From spies in the Belgian network “La Dame Blanche,” knitting coded messages into jumpers, to those who interpreted aerial images and even ran entire sections, Fry shows just how crucial women were in the intelligence mission. Filled with hitherto unknown stories, Women in Intelligence places new research on record for the first time and showcases the inspirational contributions of these remarkable women.Read more
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Kaputt (New York Review Books Classics)
Curzio Malaparte was a disaffected supporter of Mussolini with a taste for danger and high living. Sent by an Italian paper during World War II to cover the fighting on the Eastern Front, Malaparte secretly wrote this terrifying report from the abyss, which became an international bestseller when it was published after the war. Telling of the siege of Leningrad, of glittering dinner parties with Nazi leaders, and of trains disgorging bodies in war-devastated Romania, Malaparte paints a picture of humanity at its most depraved.Kaputt is an insider’s dispatch from the world of the enemy that is as hypnotically fascinating as it is disturbing.
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£11.40£12.30Kaputt (New York Review Books Classics)
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Most Dangerous Superstition
Actual physical, hold in your hand, read on a beach, sell second-hand or give to a friend, book. When someone looks out at the world and sees all manner of suffering and injustice, stretching back for thousands of years and continuing today, he invariably blames such problems on someone else’s hatred, greed, or stupidity. Rarely will someone consider the possibility that his own belief system is the cause of the pain and suffering he sees around him. But in most cases, it is. The root cause of most of society’s ills–the main source of man’s inhumanity to man–is neither malice nor negligence, but a mere superstition–an unquestioned assumption which has been accepted on faith by nearly everyone, of all ages, races, religions, education and income levels. If people were to recognize that one belief for what it is–an utterly irrational, self-contradictory, and horribly destructive myth–most of the violence, oppression and injustice in the world would cease. But that will happen only when people dare to honestly and objectively re-examine their belief systems. “The Most Dangerous Superstition” exposes the myth for what it is, showing how nearly everyone, as a result of one particular unquestioned assumption, is directly contributing to violence and oppression without even realizing it. If you imagine yourself to be a compassionate, peace-loving, civilized human being, you must read this book.Read more
£22.44Most Dangerous Superstition
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Please, Nurse!: A Student Nurse in the 1950s
Joan Lock’s warm and nostalgic account of her three years of training as a young student nurse in the early 1950s. Perfect for fans of CALL THE MIDWIFE.
When Joan Lock began her formal training as a young nurse in the 1950s, she was unprepared for the strict discipline and long hours which were to follow and quickly realised she was no Florence Nightingale. Her honest and humorous account of the next three years reveals her most intimate experiences of being a nurse: from dealing with temperamental surgeons to fighting off flirtatious patients.
Labelled a trouble-maker, Joan and her friends tested their strict Sisters’ patience as they climbed through windows, slept through lectures and broke every thermometer that passed through their hands. But through it all, Joan found herself touched by the people she met and their heart-warming stories.
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£7.50£8.50Please, Nurse!: A Student Nurse in the 1950s
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The First World War: An Illustrated History
A. J. P. Taylor was one of the most acclaimed and uncompromising historians of the twentieth century. In this clear, lively and now-classic account of the First World War, he tells the story of the conflict from the German advance in the West, through the Marne, Gallipoli, the Balkans and the War at Sea to the offensives of 1918 and the state of Europe after the war. Containing photographs and maps, this an essential history of the war that ‘cut deep into the consciousness of modern man’.Read more
£10.40£12.30The First World War: An Illustrated History
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Too Few Too Far: The True Story of a Royal Marine Commando
British Commando George Thomsen’s action-filled account of combat during the Falklands War. Seen through the eyes of Section Commander George Thomsen, this inspiring first-hand account, tells of the tension-packed lead up, and the heroic stand, by a tiny band of brothers on one of the most inhospitable islands on the planet – South Georgia. They fought alone – besieged, isolated, and against an overwhelming invasion force – and yet had the enemy reeling on the ropes. This is the story of true British grit, sheer bloody-mindedness, professionalism and ingenuity. The Royal Marines’ courageous action on that extraordinary day changed the balance of the South Atlantic war. This was a modern-day Rorke’s Drift when world events literally took too few too far. Twenty-five years after these events took place, this is George Thomsen’s true story, as told to Malcolm Angel.Read more
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Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the Royal Household
Behind the Throne is, above all, a history of family life.
They ate, entertained their friends and worried about money. Henry VIII kept tripping over his dogs. George II threw his son out of the house. James I had to cut back on the drink bills.
The great difference is that royal families had more help with their lives than most.
Charles I maintained a household of 2,000. Victoria’s medical establishment alone consisted of thirty doctors, three dentists and a chiropodist. Even today, Elizabeth II keeps a full-time staff of 1,200.
A royal household was a community, a vast machine. Everyone, from James I’s Master of the Horse down to William IV’s Assistant Table Decker, was there to smooth the sovereign’s path through life while simultaneously confirming their status.
Here, Adrian Tinniswood uncovers the reality of five centuries of life at the English court, taking you on a remarkable journey, exploring life as it was lived by clerks and courtiers and clowns and crowned heads.
Behind the Throne is a true domestic history of the royal household, a reconstruction of life behind the throne.
‘The most interesting and informative book on British royalty for many years’ Literary Review
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Once A Saint: An Actor’s Memoir
‘A wickedly entertaining new memoir’ Daily Mail
According to the Daily Mail Ian Ogilvy was ‘the undisputed star of 1970s TV as the dashing Simon Templar in Return Of The Saint’. The show turned him into a household name, causing him to be touted as the next James Bond.
From a liberal upbringing in post-war Britain, boarding school escapades and life at RADA, Ogilvy enjoyed an acting career spanning more than fifty years, including TV show Upstairs, Downstairs and films Witchfinder General, No Sex Please: We’re British and Death Becomes Her. His story plays host to a spectacular all-star cast including Boris Karloff, Hayley Mills, Penelope Keith, Derek Nimmo, Timothy Dalton, Derek Jacobi and Meryl Streep, and Ogilvy gives a vivid account from behind the scenes of the Golden Age of television and film.
Once a Saint is an amusing and unvarnished story: a tremendously endearing tale from a working actor. His story is modest and endlessly charming, told in such a way that opens a reader’s heart to him.
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£6.60£10.40Once A Saint: An Actor’s Memoir
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The Dublin Railway Murder: The sensational true story of a Victorian murder mystery
A thrilling investigation of a true Victorian crime at Dublin railway station, shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction 2022.
‘All the shocks and surprises of the best crime fiction’ The Times Crime Club
Dublin, November 1856: George Little, the chief cashier of the Broadstone railway terminus, is found dead, lying in a pool of blood beneath his desk.
Yet there is no sign of a murder weapon and the office door is locked, apparently from the inside. Thousands of pounds in gold and silver are left untouched at the scene of the crime.
Augustus Guy, Ireland’s most experienced detective, teams up with Dublin’s leading lawyer to investigate the murder – but the case defies all explanation. Then a local woman comes forward, claiming to know the killer…
‘An intriguing and compelling true-crime whodunnit’ Irish Times
‘A true-crime masterclass… As compelling as any thriller’ Philip Gray, author of Two Storm Wood
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The Death of Rugby: Neil Back’s Story
Fourteen years since his autobiography, Size Doesn’t Matter, English rugby’s most decorated flanker, Neil Back, returns with a tale of triumphs, heartaches and broken promises. From his anti-hero role as ‘The Hand of Back’ in Leicester Tigers’ European Cup triumph over Munster, to Grand Slam glory and the 2003 World Cup with England, Neil is never far from the story. The Death of Rugby dissects the Lions’ disastrous 2005 tour of New Zealand, the ousting of his mentor Dean Richards from Leicester Tigers, and Neil’s three years in charge of Leeds, before being recruited by The Rugby Football Club, and why Neil and his colleagues had to walk away, despite an unbeaten season, and league and cup double. Neil deals with the adjustment from professional sportsman into family and regular working life, despite a critical illness in 2013, which has shaped his perspective on life.Read more
£14.10£18.00The Death of Rugby: Neil Back’s Story
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The People’s Game: How to Save Football: THE AWARD WINNING BESTSELLER
*WINNER OF BEST SPORTS WRITING AT THE SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023*
*Out now: Includes brand new material*
THE AWARD-WINNING SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
‘Neville at his authentic best. [He] is the closest thing to a spokesman there is for English football.’ Sunday Times
‘Brilliant.’ Mail on Sunday
‘Gary Neville usually talks a lot of sense, and writes it too . . . Neville’s words are timely.’ Henry Winter, The Times
__________The beautiful game is under threat. The greed and selfishness of the biggest clubs is harming the sport, with smaller clubs struggling for financial survival and supporters being left behind.
It’s time to fix football.
__________Football is the people’s game. A sport accessible to everyone and enjoyed by millions around the world.
But football is broken. Beneath the glamourous sheen of the Premier League, it’s a game that’s rusting and rotten. The growing influence and wealth of the biggest teams is harming the game, leaving fans out of pocket and smaller clubs clinging to survival. The European Super League, which looked to eradicate competition in favour of guaranteed profits, was just the beginning.
This isn’t what football is about. Something’s got to change. Enough is enough.
Gary Neville has had a front-row seat in football for over 30 years, witnessing the sport at every level – as a player, a coach, a pundit and an owner. Most of all, he’s a fan. Shocked by the state of the game, Gary looks to find out how we got into this mess, who’s responsible, and what we can do about it.
The People’s Game is Gary’s vision for a brighter future. Drawing on interviews with those at the epicentre of the sport’s biggest issues – from the role of ownership to the lack of funding in the football league, the rise in racism, ownership models and the future of the women’s game – he explains how football has sleepwalked into this mess and offers a new path forward. With stories from his own playing career, as well as insight into some of the biggest footballing decisions in recent history, this is a total look at the game today.
This is a passionate, personal and critical account of how football lost its soul, and what we can do to get it back.
__________Read more
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My Life and Rugby: The Autobiography
The Sunday Times bestseller
‘A genuine super-coach’ – Stephen Jones, Sunday Times
Brilliant, honest, combative – Eddie Jones is a gigantic yet enigmatic figure in world rugby and a true legend of the game. In My Life and Rugby he tells his story for the first time, including the full inside story of England’s 2019 World Cup campaign.
Since taking over as head coach of England in 2015, Eddie Jones has orchestrated a complete revival of the national team. He has won the Six Nations Championship back-to-back, including England’s first Grand Slam in a generation and their first-ever whitewash of Australia in their own backyard, as well as taking them on their longest-ever winning streak, matching the world record held by the All Blacks.
Eddie Jones is one of the most experienced and decorated coaches in Rugby Union. His career has spanned four World Cups: from the 2003 final, working with South Africa when they won in 2007, and causing the greatest upset in the history of the game in 2015 when he masterminded the Japanese victory over South Africa. Most recently, he led England on their incredible run at the 2019 World Cup, culminating in a stunning victory against the All Blacks before falling to South Africa in the final.
Learning from the extreme highs and lows of his own playing career – including the numerous successes playing for Randwick and New South Wales but also the painful disappointment of never playing for Australia – he shows what it takes to be the best in the world and how everything he has learned about the game, both on and off the pitch, has gone into plotting England’s route to the top of world rugby.
Written with Donald McRae, twice winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award and three-time Sports Feature Writer of the Year, My Life and Rugby is the story of one of the most compelling and singular figures in rugby. Told with unflinching honesty, this is the ultimate rugby book for all fans of the sport.
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£5.70£19.00My Life and Rugby: The Autobiography
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The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir
As seen in The Last Movie Stars documentary – the raw, candid, unvarnished memoir of an icon. The greatest movie star of the past 75 years covers everything: his traumatic childhood, his career, his drinking, his thoughts on Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, his greatest roles, acting, his intimate life with Joanne Woodward, his innermost fears and passions and joys. With thoughts/comments throughout from Joanne Woodward, Tom Cruise and many others.
In 1986, Paul Newman and his closest friend, screenwriter Stewart Stern, began an extraordinary project. Stuart was to compile an oral history, to have Newman’s family and friends and those who worked closely with him, talk about the actor’s life. And then Newman would work with Stewart and give his side of the story. The only stipulation was that anyone who spoke on the record had to be completely honest. That same stipulation applied to Newman himself. The project lasted five years.
The result is an extraordinary memoir, culled from thousands of pages of transcripts. The book is insightful, revealing, surprising. Newman’s voice is powerful, sometimes funny, sometimes painful, always meeting that high standard of searing honesty. The additional voices – from childhood friends and Navy buddies, from family members and film and theater collaborators such as Tom Cruise, George Roy Hill, Martin Ritt, and John Huston – that run throughout add richness and color and context to the story Newman is telling.
Newman’s often traumatic childhood is brilliantly detailed. He talks about his teenage insecurities, his early failures with women, his rise to stardom, his early rivals (Brando and Dean), his first marriage, his drinking, his philanthropy, the death of his son Scott, his strong desire for his daughters to know and understand the truth about their father. Perhaps the most moving material in the book centers around his relationship with Joanne Woodward – their love for each other, his dependence on her, the way she shaped him intellectually, emotionally and sexually.
THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF AN ORDINARY MAN is revelatory and introspective, personal and analytical, loving and tender in some places, always complex and profound.
Praise for Paul Newman
‘One of the greatest screen actors of all time and a beautiful man.’ Daniel Craig‘He set the bar too high for the rest of us. Not just actors, but all of us.’ George Clooney
”He was my hero.’ Julia Roberts
‘Paul was an American Icon.’ President Bill Clinton
‘The ultimate cool guy, who men wanted to be like and women adored. He was an American icon, a brilliant actor, a Renaissance man and a generous but modest philanthropist … Newman entertained millions in some of Hollywood’s most memorable roles ever, and brightened the lives of amny more, especially seriously ill children, through his charitable works.’ Arnold Schwarzenegger
‘Sometimes God makes perfect people and Paul Newman was one of them.’ Sally Field
‘One of the very finest screen actors of our time. Newman spanned the gap between the golden days of Hollywood, the 40s and 50s with actors like Cary Grant and James Stewart and Clark Gable, and the present lot represented by Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise’ Sir Michael Parkinson
‘Newman was a fine driver, who was famous in Hollywood for doing his own stunt driving as often as not.’ Ron Dennis, Formula 1’s McLaren Chief
‘To say he was an extraordinary man would be an understatement. he saw himself as a working actor, not a movie star, and insisted that everyone else did the same. There was no ego, no entourage, no hangers on. Only Paul, his script and his incredible spirit. One can say this about very few people, but he was a truly great man. It seems to me to be one of the great 20th-century lives: he was famously generous, with his extraordinary and unstinting work for his charities, he was a shining example of how to use global fame for the greater good, and most of all he was one of the great movie actors of this or any other age. [Directing Newman] was the highlight of my professional life.’ Sam Mendes
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The Rescue: The True Story of the SAS Mission to Save Hostages from the Taliban
The thrilling retelling of a real-life hostage rescue mission, by SAS hero and million-selling author, Andy McNab.
It is 2012 and in Northern Afghanistan, an international crisis has erupted.
A group of aid workers have been kidnapped by local insurgents and are now hidden in a winding mountain region. After attempts to negotiate a deal with the bandits fail, and with the lives of the hostages hanging in the balance, there is only option…
SAS and Navy SEALs are sent in to find and free them.
The Rescue is the action-packed story of the special forces’ attempts to save the hostages from almost certain death. Drawing on classified sources and using his own personal insight into the inner-workings of these units, Andy McNab gives a page-turning account of this incredible mission.
A heart-pounding true story of covert scouting missions, dangerous parachute jumps and fighting to survive in the face of impossible odds, this is the SAS like you’ve never read before.
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Witty Putdowns and Clever Insults: A Playbook and Analysis: Master the art, unlock its secrets, understand its impact, consider its psychology, and … by dipping into the…
Master the art of Witty Putdowns and clever Insults and become the life of the party, even if you’ve always struggled with jokes! Conquer social battles in no time, or protect yourself from verbal jabs.
Are you tired of feeling dumbstruck and underprepared when targeted with a verbal affront?
Ever wished you could light up the room with an intelligent, witty comeback instead of fumbling for words?
Do you try to shirk away from confronting verbal bullies because you’re afraid you’ll be left speechless and vanquished?
Have you considered why people use insults and how to deal with verbal abuse?
Contrary to popular belief, delivering razor-sharp putdowns is not exclusive to the inherently witty. It’s a craft that can be honed with the right guidance and ample practice. Likewise, swift replies are not always the product of spontaneity but can be prepared in advance. By building an arsenal of putdowns and insults, you can always stand ready with a fitting retort, regardless of the scenario!
While some may posit that silence is the most effective answer to an insult, an adroit, playful retort often defuses tension and boosts your self-assuredness.
“Witty Putdowns and Clever Insults,” is a comprehensive guide to help you navigate the fascinating world of jibes and zingers. Here, you will–- Delve into a detailed exploration of wit and sophisticated verbal sparring,
- Master the fine art of well-timed sarcastic comebacks in banter battles,
- Explore the rich and historical roots of instant retorts,
- Gain a sound understanding of the subtle distinctions in global repartee,
- Employ effective techniques to shield yourself from snide remarks,
- Learn techniques to effortlessly deflect any disdainful and stinging remarks,
- Probe the fascinating subconscious impact elicited by punchy zingers,
- Graciously maneuver the intricate battleground of eloquent wordsmiths,
- Dissect the anatomy of biting rebukes to comprehend their true power,
- Unravel the intricate psychological foundations underpinning putdowns,
- And discover a vast repertoire from renowned comeback connoisseurs.
If you want to elevate your conversational prowess, become a maestro at delivering sharp-witted comments, and acquire the skills to protect yourself from hurtful verbal blows, then “Witty Putdowns & Clever Insults” is the quintessential guide you need. Don’t remain frozen in a verbal duel.
Gift yourself the power of wit and resilience.
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Grace: Her Lives – Her Loves: The startling royal exposé
Movie legend, princess, tragic heroine. The moment Grace Kelly stepped into the spotlight in 1950, the world was entranced. In this definitive biography of Hollywood’s sweetheart, Robert Lacey looks behind the fairytale facade to reveal the real story of Princess Grace of Monaco, as she became. Gaining unprecedented access to her family and friends, he tells the story of a complex and conflicted woman determined to live her dream. The bestselling biographer also reveals new details about Grace’s tragic early death in a car accident that sent shockwaves around the world, and lifts the lid on the affairs that rocked her marriage to Prince Rainier III. This enhanced edition from Apostrophe Books also provides access to 103 photographs, video, links to newsreel footage and trailers to 12 of Grace Kelly’s films.Read more
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Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly
Get ready for another trip back to Clarkson’s Farm this Christmas with the brand new bestseller from our favourite wellie-wearing wannabe farmer, Jeremy Clarkson
Welcome back to Clarkson’s Farm. Since taking the wheel three years ago Jeremy’s had his work cut out. And it’s now clear from hard-won experience that, when it comes to farming, there’s only one golden rule:
Whatever you hope will happen, won’t.
Enthusiastic schemes to diversify have met with stubborn opposition from the red trouser brigade, defeat at the hands of Council Planning department, and predictable derision from Kaleb – although, to be fair, even Lisa had doubts about Jeremy’s brilliant plan to build a business empire founded on rewilding and nettle soup. And only Cheerful Charlie is still smiling about the stifling amount of red tape that’s incoming . . . But he charges by the hour.
Then there are the animals: the sheep are gone; the cows have been joined by a rented bull called Break-Heart Maestro;. the pigs are making piglets; and the goats have turned out to be psychopaths.
But despite the naysayers and (sometimes self-inflicted) setbacks, Jeremy remains irrepressibly optimistic about life at Diddly Squat. Because It’s hard not to be when you get to harvest blackberries with a vacuum cleaner.
And, after all, it shouldn’t just be Break-heart Maestro who gets to enjoy a happy ending . . .
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£10.20Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly
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The Duke: 100 Chapters in the Life of Prince Philip
The Archbishop of Canterbury called him ‘bloody rude’, courtiers feared he was ‘a foreign interloper out for the goodies’, daughter-in-law Sarah Ferguson found him ‘very frightening’ and the Queen Mother labelled him ‘the Hun’. Journalists have continually portrayed him as a gaffe-prone serial philanderer, with European outlets going way off-piste and claiming he has fathered 24 illegitimate children. Prince Philip says ‘the impression the public has got is unfair’, though there is no self-serving autobiography and his interviews with broadcasters or writers are done grudgingly. The Duke sets out to explore the man behind the various myths, drawing on interviews with relations, friends and courtiers and the Duke’s own words. It brings to life some rare aspects of his character, from a love of poetry and religion to his fondness for Duke Ellington and his fascination with UFOs. It also explains why for over seven decades he has been the Queen’s ‘strength and stay’ – and why he is regarded by many as a national treasure.
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The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown
For seventy years, Queen Elizabeth ruled over an institution and a family. During her lifetime she was constant in her desire to provide a steady presence and to be a trustworthy steward of the British people and the Commonwealth. In the face of her uncle’s abdication, in the uncertainty of the Blitz, and in the tentative exposure of her family and private life to the public via the press, Elizabeth became synonymous with the crown.
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But times change. Recent years have brought grief and turmoil to the House of Windsor, and even as England celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, there were calls for a changing of the guard.In The New Royals, journalist Katie Nicholl provides a nuanced look at Elizabeth’s remarkable and unrivalled reign, with new stories from Palace courtiers and aides, documentarians, and family members. She examines King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla’s decades in waiting and beyond-where “The Firm” is headed as William and Kate present the modern faces of an ancient institution. In the wake of Harry and Meghan leaving the Royal Family and Prince Andrew’s spectacular fall from grace, the royal family must reckon with its history, the light and the dark, in order to chart a course for Britain beyond its Queen and to show that it is an institution capable of leadership in an ever-changing modern world.
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Victorian Murders
This book features fifty-six Victorian cases of murder covered in the sensational weekly penny journal the Illustrated Police Newsbetween 1867 and 1900. Some of them are famous, like the Bravo Mystery of 1876, the Llangibby Massacre of 1878 and the Mrs Pearcey case of 1890; others are little-known, like the Acton Atrocity of 1880, the Ramsgate Mystery of 1893 and the Grafton Street Murder of 1894. Take your ticket for the house of horrors.Read more
£9.10£10.40Victorian Murders
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Genie: A Scientific Tragedy
“A tragic tale of obsession, exploitation, and lost souls. And the questions Rymer poses about human experience and experiments on humans make the story both intellectually absorbing and emotionally disturbing. Genie is a wondrous feat of storytelling and investigative journalism, compulsively readable while forcing us to think hard about our own humanity.” –Amy Tan, New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club
The compelling story of a young woman’s emergence into the world after spending her first 13 years strapped to a chair in a closed room, and her rescue and exploitation by scientists hoping to gain new insight into language acquisition.
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£10.90Genie: A Scientific Tragedy
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Mind Game: The Secrets of Golf’s Winners
Eye-opening contributions from the stars of game make this a powerful, groundbreaking investigation into the mind of the professional golfer. The perfect gift for Father’s Day.
* SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS *
Professional golf is the most remorseless of sports, unique in the complexity of its demands. Technical perfection must be produced in short, concentrated bursts of synchronised movement. Huge mental strength is required.
Why, then, do we know so little about what it takes to succeed – even survive – at the highest level?
What separates the good from the great? What are the rituals of preparation and execution?
How does an elite team come together?
In a truly groundbreaking exposé of professional golf, Michael Calvin and Thomas Bjorn – captain of the 2018 European Ryder Cup Team – capture the distinctive nature of the game, and the principles and philosophies of players who dominate the world rankings. With unprecedented access to the European Tour players, and in-depth interviews with the European Ryder Cup team, Calvin reveals a sport which operates entirely within the finest margins of excellence.
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£8.70£9.50Mind Game: The Secrets of Golf’s Winners
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Vivien Leigh
This biography of Vivien Leigh concentrates on her as a person, rather than as the famous actress or as the wife of Sir Laurence Olivier. The author has written biographies of “Gladys”, “Duchess of Marlborough” and “Cecil Beaton”.Read more
£3.20Vivien Leigh
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The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw: The Robin Friday Story (Mainstream Sport)
Robin Friday was an exceptional footballer who should have played for England. He never did. Robin Friday was a brilliant player who could have played in the top flight. He never did.
Why? Because Robin Friday was a man who would not bow down to anyone, who refused to take life seriously and who lived every moment as if it were his last. For anyone lucky enough to have seen him play, Robin Friday was up there with the greats. Take it from one who knows: ‘There is no doubt in my mind that if someone had taken a chance on him he would have set the top division alight,’ says the legendary Stan Bowles. ‘He could have gone right to the top, but he just went off the rails a bit.’ Loved and admired by everyone who saw him, Friday also had a dark side: troubled, strong-minded, reckless, he would end up destroying himself. Tragically, after years of alcohol and drug abuse, he died at the age of 38 without ever having fulfilled his potential.
The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw provides the first full appreciation of a man too long forgotten by the world of football, and, along with a forthcoming film based on Friday’s life, with a screenplay by co-author Paolo Hewitt, this book will surely give him the cult status he deserves.
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Rugby: Talking A Good Game: The Perfect Gift for Rugby Fans
Ian Robertson joined the BBC during the golden age of radio broadcasting and was given a crash course in the art of sports commentary from some of the greatest names ever to sit behind a microphone: Cliff Morgan and Peter Bromley, Bryon Butler and John Arlott. Almost half a century after being introduced to the rugby airwaves by his inspiring mentor Bill McLaren, the former Scotland fly-half looks back on the most eventful of careers, during which he covered nine British and Irish Lions tours and eight World Cups, including the 2003 tournament that saw England life the Webb Ellis Trophy and “Robbo” pick up awards for his spine-tingling description of Jonny Wilkinson’s decisive drop goal.
He reflects on his playing days, his role in guiding Cambridge University to a long spell of Varsity Match supremacy and his relationships with some of the union code’s most celebrated figures, including Sir Clive Woodward and Jonah Lomu. He also writes vividly and hilariously of his experiences as a horse racing enthusiast, his meetings with some of the world’s legendary golfers and his dealings with a stellar cast of sporting outsiders, from Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor to Nelson Mandela. It is a hugely entertaining story that begins in a bygone rugby age, yet has much to say about the game in the here and now.
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Codex Seraphinianus: 40th Anniversary Edition
Featuring a handsome new package redesigned by the author himself, this edition is a must-have for fans and collectors of Luigi Serafini s art. First published in 1981 in Milan by F.M. Ricci, the book has been hailed as one of the most unusual yet beautiful art books ever made. A visual encyclopaedia of an unknown world written in an unknown language, it has fuelled much debate over its meaning. Written for the information age and addressing the import of coding and decoding in genetics, literary criticism, and computer science, it has now fascinated and enchanted two generations. While its message may be unclear, its appeal is obvious: it is a most exquisite artifact, blurring the line between art book and art object. This edition presents it in a new, unparalleled light complete with 15 new illustrations by the author. With the advent of new forms of communication, continuous streams of information, and social media, the Codex is more relevant and timely than ever. A limited numbered deluxe edition, bound in real cloth and presented in a handsome slipcase, is also available. It includes a signed print of a new illustration made by the author to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the death in 1321 of Dante Alighieri, one of Italy s greatest writers and creator of The Divine Comedy.Read more
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The English Civil War: A People’s History
This popular history of the English Civil War tells the story of the bloody conflict between Oliver Cromwell and Charles I from the perspectives of those involved.
The compelling narrative draws on new sources such as letters, memoirs, ballads and plays to bring to life the Roundheads and Cavaliers, the foot soldiers, war widows and witchfinders of one of the most significant turning points in British history, culminating in Oliver Cromwell s triumph and the execution of Charles I.
By blending the political and the personal, Diane Purkiss illuminates both the ideologies behind the English Civil War and the fears of those who fought in it; the men who were destroyed by the conflict and those, such as Oliver Cromwell, who were defined by it.
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£9.70£14.20The English Civil War: A People’s History
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Emperors, Kings & Queens: The History of Connections, Marriages and Feuds Between the Royal Families of Great Britain and Europe
Drama, plotting and intrigue – the history of Europe’s rulers plays as well as any soap opera or film. Now learn all about the history of connections, marriages and feuds between the royal families of Great Britain and Europe. The book is presented chronologically, with accessible text, stunning illustrations and key ‘stats’ (royal connections, marriages and children of rulers), to clearly untangle the complicated relationships and events.Read more
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A Victorian Lady’s Guide to Life
In this delightful and engagingly eccentric treasury of life lessons, redoubtable Victorian Elspeth Marr (1871-1947) reflects on the fundamental topics of life as well as the nuts and bolts of everyday living.
Part journal, part commonplace book, among many gems you will find enlightenment and advice on everything from Dreams to Garlic; Patriotism to Wrinkles.
Written throughout her life but only discovered after her death, by her great-great nephew, Christopher Rush, Elspeth’s (known as Aunt Epp) journal was never intended for publication but her style of writing and the subject matter she covers nonetheless reaches a universal audience. Not afraid to put forth views on the big topics – religion, evolution, and ethical issues – she also tackles the nuts and bolts of living – food, sex and health.
Vital, refreshingly frank and always amusing, A Victorian Lady’s Guide to Life provides a wealth of sound advice.
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A Gambling Man
Charles II was thirty when he crossed the Channel in fine May weather in 1660. His Restoration was greeted with maypoles and bonfires, like spring after long years of Cromwell’s rule. But there was no going back, no way he could ‘restore’ the old. Certainty had vanished. The divinity of kingship fled with his father’s beheading. ‘Honour’ was now a word tossed around in duels. ‘Providence’ could no longer be trusted. As the country was rocked by plague, fire and war, people searched for new ideas by which to live. Exactly ten years later Charles II would stand again on the shore at Dover, laying the greatest bet of his life in a secret deal with his cousin, Louis XIV.
The Restoration decade was one of experiment: from the science of the Royal Society to the startling role of credit and risk, from the shocking licence of the court to the failed attempts at toleration of different beliefs. Negotiating all these, Charles II, the ‘slippery sovereign’, played odds and took chances, dissembling and manipulating his followers. The theatres were restored, but the king was the supreme actor. Yet while his grandeur, his court and his colourful sex life were on display, his true intentions lay hidden.
A Gambling Man is a portrait of Charles II, exploring his elusive nature through the lens of these ten vital years – and a portrait of a vibrant, violent, pulsing world, racked with plague, fire and war, in which the risks the king took forged the fate of the nation, on the brink of the modern world.
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£12.20£14.20A Gambling Man
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Too Thin for a Shroud: 8 June 1982, Falklands: Britain’s Most Lethal Day of Combat Since World War II
How 10 minutes can change the course of history…
In May 1982, eight young officers of the Welsh Guards-whose colonel-in-chief is the King-found themselves despatched at short notice to fight 8000 miles away in the Falklands. Until now, no one has told their story which included the fiercest attack on British troops since World War II when Britain lost half a battalion and the Argentine air force successfully bombed four navy ships at the tail end of the conflict. With gripping recollections from his peers, Crispin Black casts an entirely new light on this dramatic part of the campaign that is often overlooked. Using for the first time a trove of formerly secret Ministry of Defence documents, Crispin Black captivatingly brings to life how the outcome was decided in ten critical minutes and that the Falklands War remains to this day one of the most misunderstood episodes in modern British history.
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The Chateau – Forever Home: The instant Sunday Times Bestseller, as seen on the hit Channel 4 TV Series Escape to the Chateau
Take a journey to Château-de-la-Motte Husson in the spellbinding memoir from Sunday Times bestselling authors, Dick and Angel Strawbridge.
Dick and Angel recount the newest and biggest challenges they faced on the journey to transforming their once derelict and abandoned château in France’s Pays de la Loire into a thriving family home and sustainable business.
When the Covid-19 pandemic engulfs the world, the château faces a new challenge and the Strawbridges must find ways to adapt in order to keep their dream life in France alive. From the cancellation of the wedding season to finding new ways to complete renovations, living in an isolated bubble whilst continuing to film their TV series through to life after the pandemic, this is Dick and Angel at their most honest and heartfelt, revealing many details never seen on TV.
As entertaining, warm and irresistible as ever, Join Dick and Angel on their remarkable journey to find their family’s forever home.
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£11.00£22.00 -
Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics
‘MASTERFUL’ Time Out
‘REVELATORY’ Scotland on Sunday
‘GLORIOUSLY READABLE’ Metro
‘FASCINATING’ Independent
‘EXCELLENT’ Telegraph
‘ABSORBING’ GuardianWinner of the British Sports Book Awards
Football Book of the YearThe fifteenth anniversary edition, fully revised and updated, of Jonathan Wilson’s modern classic.
In the modern classic, Jonathan Wilson pulls apart the finer details of the world’s game, tracing the global history of tactics, from modern pioneers right back to the beginning, when chaos reigned. Along the way, he looks at the lives of great players and thinkers who shaped the sport, and probes why the English, in particular, have proved themselves unwilling to grapple with the abstract.
Fully revised and updated, this fifteenth-anniversary edition analyses the evolution of modern international football, including the 2022 World Cup, charting the influence of the great Spanish, German and Portuguese tacticians of the last decade, whilst pondering the effects of football’s increased globalisation and commercialisation.
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£9.50£12.30 -
Gunpowder and Geometry: The Life of Charles Hutton: Pit Boy, Mathematician and Scientific Rebel
August, 1755. Newcastle, on the north bank of the Tyne.
In the fields, men and women are getting the harvest in. Sunlight, or rain. Scudding clouds and backbreaking labour. Three hundred feet underground, young Charles Hutton is at the coalface. Cramped, dust-choked, wielding a five-pound pick by candlelight. Eighteen years old, he’s been down the pits on and off for more than a decade, and now it looks like a life sentence. No unusual story, although Charles is a clever lad – gifted at maths and languages – and for a time he hoped for a different life. Many hoped.
Charles Hutton, astonishingly, would actually live the life he dreamed of. Twenty years later you’d have found him in Slaughter’s coffee house in London, eating a few oysters with the President of the Royal Society.
By the time he died, in 1823, he was a fellow of scientific academies in four countries, while the Lord Chancellor of England counted himself fortunate to have known him. Hard work, talent, and no small share of luck would take Charles Hutton out of the pit to international fame, wealth, admiration and happiness. The pit-boy turned professor would become one of the most revered British scientists of his day. This book is his incredible story.
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£5.50£9.50 -
50 LGBTQI+ who changed the World
Marsha P. Johnson, Keith Haring, Harvey Milk, Audre Lorde, RuPaul… the names of pioneers and trailblazers who have advanced the LGBTQI+ cause and helped bring about new human rights. This book pays tribute in 50 portraits to the activists, personalities, writers and artists who have advanced the LGBTQI+ movement and celebrates those who have fought and are fighting every day to create a more inclusive and tolerant world.Read more
£14.20£17.1050 LGBTQI+ who changed the World
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TACITUS ON BRITAIN AND GERMANY.
RO60138569. TACITUS ON BRITAIN AND GERMANY. 1948. In-12. Broché. Etat d’usage, Couv. légèrement passée, Dos abîmé, Pliures. 174 pages. Texte en anglais (English).. . . . Classification Dewey : 420-Langue anglaise. Anglo-saxonRead more
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Iron Spy: The True Story of the Greatest Double Agent in World War II
Known as Fritz to his German spy-handlers and Zig-Zag to the British secret service, Eddie Chapman was a man of many faces. While his early life was rife with petty crime, gang activity and a dishonourable discharge from the British military, Chapman’s unique skills were eventually sought out by Nazi Germany, and after convincing them he could use his criminal contacts to sabotage the English forces, he was quickly recruited.But Chapman’s loyalty to his country knew no limits. A talented, handsome, and reckless Englishman, Chapman was a traitor on the surface but a fearless patriot on the inside. After cracking Germany’s military code, the British sought Chapman for their own affairs, and Chapman was happy to oblige.
Eventually being awarded the prestigious Nazi Iron Cross for services to Germany while acting as a double agent for Britain, Chapman’s espionage efforts involved masterful deceit and feats which few men alive could ever boast of.
Eddie Chapman’s life story is an unbelievable journey of crime, jail-breaks, treachery, and love. He was responsible for saving countless lives during his career, cementing himself as the ultimate double agent during World War II.
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£11.40 -
Waterloo: Wellington’s Victory and Napoleon’s Last Campaign
THE GREATEST OF BATTLES
The defining military engagement of the nineteenth century. The epic battle that forever ended one man’s dreams of a European empire unified under his rule.
THE GREATEST OF RIVALS
Weaving together an immense array of original sources to reveal personalities, forces and nations, this epoch-defining conflict would ultimately be remembered for the showdown between two of history’s most legendary commanders: the Duke of Wellington, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
THE DEFINITIVE ACCOUNT
Divided into three parts, Christopher Hibbert masterfully depicts first Napoleon and his rise to power, then a portrait of Wellington and the allied armies, and lastly the steps leading up to and the battle itself, the final clash on the fields of Waterloo.
A gripping, succinct and panoramic survey of this legendary battle, the history surrounding the conflict, and the personalities that defined both the battle itself, and a generation.
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£7.00£9.50 -
A Watermelon, a Fish and a Bible: A heartwarming tale of love amid war
A moving novel of love and war by the author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo and Songbirds.
It is July 1974 and on a bright, sunny morning, the Turkish army has invaded the town of Kyrenia in Cyprus. For many people, this means an end to life as they know it. But for some, it is a chance to begin living again.
Everyone has always talked about Koki. They never believed she was her father’s daughter and her mother died too soon to quiet their wagging tongues. And when she became pregnant and there was no sign of a husband, her fate was sealed.
So she lives outside the town and hides from her neighbours’ eyes. But, held captive with the very women who have made her life so lonely, Koki is finally able to tell them the truth. To talk of the Turkish shoe-maker who came to the town and took her heart away with him when he left. And how she has longed for him all these years.
Meanwhile, Adem Berker finds himself back in Kyrenia, his former home, now as a member of the invading force. Here he left everything he ever wanted and, by cover of darkness, risking his life, he is searching every house, every cafe, every old pathway, for just a glimpse of the only woman he has ever loved.
For readers of The Island, The Book Thief and The Kite Runner.
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£7.10£10.40
