Andrew Parkinson

After studying hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, coaching and a wide range of personal development techniques, Andrew Parr set up his own private practice to help people resolve personal, emotional and habitual problems. With nearly 30 years of experience, and having carried out over 17,000 one-to-one client consultations, he is one of the UK's most experienced hypnotherapists and personal development coaches. He helps individuals and teams overcome  limitations, and has his own practitioner academy based in East Sussex and online.

Andrew Parr

Andrew Perry

Andrew Pinder

Andrew Pontzen is a professor of cosmology at University College London. He has written for the New Scientist, BBC Sky at Night and BBC Science Focus; lectured at the Royal Institution; appeared on BBC, Amazon Prime and Discovery Channel documentaries; and contributed to BBC Radio 4 programmes including Inside Science and The Curious Cases of Rutherford &amp; Fry. The Universe in a Box is his first book.

Andrew Pontzen

Andrew Porter

Andrew Rawnsley

Andrew Readman

Andrew Ridgeley is one of the most recognisable faces of the eighties. He was one half of the phenomenal pop duo, WHAM!, one of the biggest names in the history of pop music. Born in Surrey, England, he grew up in Bushey, Hertfordshire where he met George Michael whilst attending Bushey Meads School; they struck up an easy friendship - both having a common interest in music - before forming WHAM! The band sold multi-platinum albums and singles globally, having number 1 hits all over the world including both the UK and the US. 
Andrew now pursues a variety of interests, significant amongst which is fundraising for The Dallaglio RugbyWorks Charity. He splits his time between his homes in Cornwall and London.

Andrew Ridgeley

Andrew Ridker was born in 1991. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review Daily, Guernica, Boston Review, The Believer and St. Louis Magazine, and he is the editor of Privacy Policy: The Anthology of Surveillance Poetics. He is the recipient of an Iowa Arts Fellowship from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. The Altruists is his first novel.

Andrew Ridker

Andrew Rimas

Andrew Rissik

Andrew Roberts (Lord Roberts of Belgravia) is a biographer and historian of international renown whose books include Salisbury: Victorian Titan (winner of the Wolfson Prize for History), Masters and Commanders (winner of the Emery Reves Award), The Storm of War (winner of the British Army Book Prize), Napoleon the Great (winner of the Grand Prix of the Fondation Napoléon and the Los Angeles Times Biography Prize), and George III (winner of the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography). Roberts is a Fellow of the Royal Societies of Literature and the Royal Historical Society, and a Trustee of the International Churchill Society. He is currently Visiting Professor at the Department of War Studies at King's College, London, and the Bonnie and Tom McCloskey Distinguished Visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. His website is www.andrew-roberts.net.

Andrew Roberts

Andrew Rosenheim was born in Chicago and came to England as a Rhodes Scholar in 1977. He has lived near Oxford ever since. He is the author of eight novels, including The Informant, Fear Itself, Without Prejudice, Keeping Secrets and Stillriver, and a memoir, The Secrets of Carriage H.

Andrew Rosenheim

Andrew Rosetta

Andew Ross Sorkin is the author of Too Big to Fail, which won the Gerald Loeb Award for Best Business Book, and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award. Sorkin is a long-time journalist at The New York Times, the creator of DealBook, co-creator of the TV drama Billions, and a television co-presenter for CNBC’s Squawk Box.

Andrew Ross Sorkin

Andrew Rugasira

Andrew Sachs

Andrew Scull is a distinguished professor of Sociology and Science Studies at University of California, San Diego, and recipient of the Roy Porter Medal for lifetime contributions to the history of medicine, and the Eric T. Carlson Award for lifetime contributions to the history of psychiatry. The author of more than a dozen books, his work has been translated into more than fifteen languages, and he has received fellowships from, among others, the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies and the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies.

Andrew Scull

Andrew Shaffer is the New York Times-bestselling author of the essential survival guide, How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters, as well as the forthcoming Ghostbusters tie-in, Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal. He's not a scientist. He's more like a game show host. You can find him online at www.andrewshaffer.com.

Andrew Shaffer

Andrew Smith

Andrew Solomon holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Cambridge; is a professor of psychology at Columbia University and President of PEN American Center; and is a regular contributor to the Guardian, the New Yorker, and the New York Times. A lecturer and activist, he is the author of Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity, which won the Wellcome Trust Book Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and many other awards; and The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, which won the National Book Award, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and has been published in twenty-four languages. His TED talks have been viewed over 12 million times. A dual UK/US national, he lives in London and New York. www.andrewsolomon.com.

Andrew Solomon

Andrew St George

Andrew Swanston read law at Cambridge, but was inspired to write by his lifelong interest in early modern history. His Thomas Hill novels – The King’s Spy, The King’s Exile and The King’s Return – are set against the backdrops of the English Civil War, Cromwell’s Commonwealth and the early Restoration respectively. He is also the author of Waterloo: The Bravest Man and Beautiful Star and Other Stories. His first historical thriller set during the reign of Elizabeth I – Incendium (published in paperback as The Incendium Plot) – introduced readers to the academic, lawyer and intelligencer Dr Christopher Radcliff, whose adventures continue in Chaos. Andrew Swanston lives in Surrey.

Andrew Swanston

Andrew Szepessy was born to Hungarian refugees in Brighton in 1940. After spending his childhood in London, he read English at Oxford and studied at the Budapest Academy of Drama and Film. Szepessy worked in Norway and England as a film director, editor and scriptwriter before settling in Hungary, where he continued to write until his death in 2018.

Andrew Szepessy

Andrew Taylor is a determined linguist of questionable skill, who speaks enough French to make the French sneer at him, enough Arabic to make Arabs laugh at him, and enough Spanish to order a cup of coffee and have a hope of getting, if not necessarily what he asked for, at least a hot drink of some kind. He can ask for milk in Russian, and if he asks for directions in the street, he will understand the answer if it means 'straight on'. He is better at English, in which language he has written ten books, including biographies and books on language, history and poetry. He has also been a senior journalist in Europe and the Middle East, a Fleet Street political correspondent at Westminster, a news reporter for the BBC and a columnist for The Sunday Times.

Andrew Taylor

Andrew Taylor is the author of a number of crime novels, including the ground-breaking Roth Trilogy, which was adapted into the acclaimed drama Fallen Angel, and the historical crime novels The Ashes of London, The Silent Boy, and The American Boy, a No.1 Sunday Times bestseller and a 2005 Richard &amp; Judy Book Club Choice. 
He has won many awards, including the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award (the only author to win it three times) and the CWA's prestigious Diamond Dagger.

Andrew Thomson

PublicationStatus

Brand

Format

AgeRange

Series

Imprint

CategoryLabel

Rob Beattie

This funny and charming book opens the door to the many possibilities of the garden shed - just about the last male bastion left in the modern household.  It is packed with 101 tasks, tools, simple projects, science experiments and ideas of all sorts for having hours of uninterrupted fun. Whether you want to rediscover the lost art of 'make do and mend', create some useful knick-knacks, explore model-making opportunities from little yachts made from matchsticks,  wooden toy tractors or exquisite toothbrush stands, dabble with some simple experiments with optical illusions, static electricity, vibrating glasses or just enjoy a spot of peace and quiet with the radio and a glass of beer, this book is a treasure trove of great ideas. Beautifully illustrated with good old fashioned line drawings and brimming with bright ideas to keep men entertained for hours, it is set to become a cult classic. Welcome to the sanctuary of the shed!

101 Things To Do In A Shed

Rosemarie Jarski

There's nothing much left to feel good about these days if you're British, but one of the few things where we all agree that we're still a world leader is our defining sense of humour. Thematically covering every subject imaginable, from God to dogs, this collection is the seminal gathering of our national wit and a picture of who we are as a nation - a monument to our monumental silliness. 
 
'An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.' George Mikes 
 
Jane Austen, Jo Brand, Craig Brown, Winston Churchill, Alan Clark, Jeremy Clarkson, Billy Connolly, Peter Cook, Tommy Cooper, Stephen Fry, A.A. Gill, Boris Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Maureen Lipman, Spike Milligan, Eric Morecambe, William Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, Frank Skinner, Sue Townsend, Peter Ustinov, Queen Victoria, Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse, Victoria Wood and many more.

Great British Wit

Martin Brundle

Maurice Hamilton

In this unique book the reader will have his armchair converted to the laid-down cockpit of a Formula One car and be swept around the world's classic motor racing circuits. He will experience the extraordinary sensations, the adrenaline and the atmosphere as told by the sport's best analyst. 
 
Together with F1's respected journalist, Maurice Hamilton, Brundle brings his infallible humour and insight, his experiences and opinion, to each of the circuits and its classic races. From the camber at Monaco, which will leave your wheels hanging in the air, to Melbourne and the dynamics behind the most dramatic crash of the decade. Encompassing such essential details as neck-snapping acceleration, smashing cars worth a quarter of a million, and the amount of sweat a driver will lose in a race, this is a rare F1 book - funny, opinionated, evocative and dramatic.

Working The Wheel

Piers Morgan

The Insider dominated the media on publication in March 2005 and instantly became a No.1 bestseller. Not only did it fill thousands of column inches with its revelations about prominent political and showbiz figures, it was critically acclaimed across the broadsheets for its unique and fascinating insight into the worlds of celebrity, royalty, politics and the media. 
 
Piers Morgan was made editor of the News of the World, the UK's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper at the record-breaking age of 28. The decade that followed was one of the most tumultuous in modern times. In a world of indiscreet dinners, private meetings and gossipy lunches, Piers Morgan found himself in the thick of it. His diaries from this remarkable period reveal astonishing and hilarious encounters with an endless list of celebrities and politicians alike: Diana, William, Charles and Camilla; Tony Blair, Cherie, Gordon Brown; Paul McCartney, George Michael and Elton John; Jeremy Clarkson, Paula Yates and Gazza to name just a few. 
 
Entertaining, engaging and compulsive, The Insider was the most talked-about book of 2005, blowing apart every notion we have of politics, media and celebrity.

The Insider

The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade

Stephen Davis

Jim Morrison's electrifying live performances, and appetite for sexual and psychedelic experience enflamed the spirit of a generation. In Jim Morrison, critically acclaimed journalist Stephen Davis brings together insights gleaned from dozens of original interviews, long-lost recordings, and Morrison's own unpublished journals to create a vivid portrait of a misunderstood genius. 
 
Each page brims with new details on every phase of Morrison's life, from his troubled youth in a strict military household, to his coming of age in the avant-garde scene of 1960s LA, his epic alcohol and drug binges, and sexual affairs. 
 
In a gripping final chapter, Davis synthesizes new evidence recently uncovered in Paris to resolve at last many of the mysteries surrounding Morrison's death, and reconstructs the final days and hours of America's greatest rock star. Compelling and harrowing, intimate and revelatory, Jim Morrison is the definitive biography of the rock god who defined the 1960s.

Jim Morrison

Life, Death, Legend

Annabel Karmel

Making your own baby food is not only more economical than buying commercial brands - you can be sure that your baby has only the best-quality ingredients. This essential collection of Annabel's best ever purees features 100 quick and easy recipes that will make for a healthy and happy baby. From sweet and smooth apple, apricot, pear and vanilla, through savoury purees such as sweet potato with spinach and peas, to the autumnal delights of peach, pear and blueberry, all the recipes are suitable for babies aged 6 months and above, and are so tasty you will want to eat them yourself!

Top 100 Baby Purees

100 quick and easy meals for a healthy and happy baby

Chris Turner

Astute, funny, literate, politically and culturally aware; in this analysis of The Simpsons, Chris Turner, a provocative new writer, dissects the world's favourite TV show - its genesis, past, characters and influence. Bart, Homer and Marge have entered the lexicon of iconic, global characters. Bart has the highest recognition factor amongst kids in the UK &amp; US, way above that of Harry Potter. The British voted it their favourite TV programme ever. The Archbishop of Canterbury called it 'one of the most subtle pieces of propaganda around in the cause of sense, humility and virtue.' 
 
Yet The Simpsons is thoroughly subversive and irreverent. Bringing the savvy insight to The Simpsons that has been brought to publishing on global politics, the internet and the fast-food industry, Chris Turner looks at how teh programme is created and the unique two-way relationship of inspiration and influence it has with the real world. From Marge and moral values to Lisa and the environment, from Homer and consumerism to Citizen Burns and corporate villainy - this is the first book to be written that is as intelligent, subversive, wide-ranging and funny as the show itself.

Planet Simpson

How a cartoon masterpiece documented an era and defined a generation

John Batt

To lose one child is terrible; to lose two is unimaginable. For no one to believe that you are innocent of their deaths and to be imprisoned because of it must be unbearable. 
 
Yet this is the reality Sally Clark had to face. The daughter of a policeman, wife of a solicitor and a solicitor herself, just when she was grieving from the tragic death of her second child the system she'd always believed in turned against her. Justice suddenly seemed a far-off principle as she was convicted and her initial appeal quashed. Her family, lawyers and various volunteers were relentless in their fight to clear her name. Finally, following three long years in prison, suffering abuse and the bleak horrow of bereavement, Sally Clark was finally acquitted by the Court of Appeal in 2003. 
 
Her release caught the nation's attention, and paved the way for succesful appeals by wrongly convicted mothers such as Angela Canning. Written with the power of a thriller, the book is a tragic but ultimately uplifting story of a mother's love and a family's gutsy fight for what they knew to be right.

Stolen Innocence

A Mother's Fight for Justice

Alex Dingwall-Main

What happens when you relocate to the perfect house, in the perfect village in Provence, and nearly ten years later the shine has gone? Garden designer Alex Dingwall-Main is facing lavender fatigue, strife at home, neighbourly warfare and non-paying business clients. He is on the verge of packing his bags and starting all over again, back in England. 
 
Until one Spring day he is offered an opportunity by a wealthy and very grateful client; a treasure hunt for 12 bottles of exquisite French wine. It would be a journey through the country's finest vineyards, chateaux and villages. With a hangover and an uncertain heart, Alex decides to give it one more try and sets off in search of the France he fell in love with so many years ago. The people, the gardens and the wine that he encounters make for an adventurous and beautiful summer, and life-changing decisions are reached...

The Vine Garden

A search for home in the gardens and vineyards of France

Lucy Pinney

Twenty years ago a young Londoner named Lucy arrived in the Dorset countryside as a rather bemused bride. She knew nothing of the great outdoors and blithely agreed to spend her honeymoon harvesting. Her rural education was to be a fast and frantic one. 
 
This is the story of a woman who began rural life in romance, raised a family in the farmyard, was left by her husband just as her name was being made as a columnist for the countryside, and found a whole new life for herself in the hills and valleys she had come to love. 
 
Inspired by Lucy Pinney's popular columns for The Times, this bewitching bucolic romp is a glorious combination of Bridget Jones, I Don't Know How She Does It and Gervase Phinn. 
 
She became a farmer's wife for love of the farmer, but can Lucy's relationship with the countryside survive two decades, divorce and more mud than she ever dreamed possible?

A Country Wife

Mel Giedroyc

'I'm 35 years old. A low-ranking TV personality. Rather immature and carefree, my only responsibility to date has been a guinea pig. All that's about to change. I'm pregnant, and now I've become a cheddar cheese junkie, inseparable from my dungarees. Help!' 
 
Who can Mel turn to? 
 
Pen, her best friend, who is still annoyingly carefree and single, and whose effect on Mel is like an injection of pure caffeine to the system? 
 
Jools, the hippy who recommends basil nosegay for labour pains and placenta pate canapes when entertaining? 
 
Amanda, the well-heeled, pregnant-friend-from-Hell who, only weeks after her textbook delivery, is planning to have her firstborn taught to ski? 
 
Kate, Mel's sister and mother of two, whose offspring are inclined towards dangerous Captain Hook impersonations and sudden mood swings? 
 
Mel's mother, who got Mel through babyhood by way of regular coffee mornings and who impresses on her the importance of portable 1950s baby gear that looks about as foldable as a Transit van? 
 
Dan, the dad-to-be, who suddenly stops going to the pub to concentrate on Mel's dietary requirements and has adopted the sinister habit of always keeping a tape measure attached to his belt?

From Here To Maternity

Rupert Wright

It is easy to get to the Languedoc. Follow the Rhone south through France, then once you hit the Mediterranean coast, turn right. The mystery is that for generations, people have been getting to the sea and turning left to Provence. This lack of attention means that the Languedoc is France's last undiscovered Mediterranean secret. 
 
Now Rupert Wright introduces you to the region's winemakers, oyster farmers, canal people and celebrated inhabitants, living and dead, including Montpellier's dynamic Mayor, Georges Freche, and local matador Juan Bautista. You will learn about the Languedoc's troubled and fascinating history, visit bullfights and boar hunts, and hear about the writers and artists that have lived and travelled in this intriguing land.

Notes From the Languedoc

Mark Rowlands

'It's Schopenhauer and the will. It's Plato, it's Hume, Baudrillard and the concept of the Nietzschean superman!' Keanu Reeves on The Matrix 
 
The Philosopher at the End of the Universe allows anyone to understand basic philosophical concepts from the comfort of their armchair, through the plots and characters of spectacular blockbusting science-fiction movies. Learn about: The Nature of Reality from The Matrix; Good and Evil from Star Wars; Morality from Aliens; Personal Identity from Total Recall; The Mind-Body Dilemma from Terminator; Free Will from Minority Report; Death and the Meaning of Life from Blade Runner; and much more. As someone once said, things must be said and knowledge known, and the cast list assembled to tell us does not disappoint: Tom Cruise, Plato, Harrison Ford, Immanuel Kant, Sigourney Weaver, Friedrich Nietzsche, Keanu Reeves and Rene Descartes. From characters in the biggest films (with lots of explosions and bad language) to Ludwig Wittgenstein (no explosions and too much language in general), hear all the arguments. I think, therefore... I'll be back!

The Philosopher At The End Of The Universe

Philosophy Explained Through Science Fiction Films

Simon Napier-Bell

You probably know Simon Napier-Bell as the manager of the Yardbirds. Or you may know him as the man who managed Marc Bolan, or Japan. You should definitely know him as the man who managed Wham! And if none of these rings a bell, maybe you'll remember him as the man who co-wrote 'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me' for Dusty Springfield. 
 
You Don't Have To Say You Love Me is one of the funniest books you will read and equally provoking. From his revelation that the entire music industry was motivated by sex, to an embarrassing come-on from a suicidal Brian Epstein, it's all shocking stuff. But when you're on the run from the German police with Marc Bolan, brothel-hopping with Keith Moon and generally living the life of Riley at the music industry's expense, it would be a shame not to share those amazing experiences with the rest of the world, wouldn't it? 
 
Of all the great pop-music books written, it is worth savouring You Don't Have To Say You Love Me for its brilliant sideways insight into one of the most exciting cultural periods Britain has ever seen.

You Don't Have To Say You Love Me

Carol Vorderman

The biggest and best book on this number puzzle phenomenon, produced by the UK's bestselling TV presenter and number-cruncher. 
 
Carol Vorderman's collection contains over 200 Sudoku puzzles and step-by-step instructions to help you complete your puzzle in record time! Watch as Carol talks you through entire puzzles, eliminating guesswork and fine-tuning your skills. There are also against-the-clock time challenges and a scoreboard to help you measure your growing skill. 
 
The definitive guide to the fiendishly addictive number puzzle.

Carol Vorderman's How To Do Sudoku

Matthew Pinsent

With his last-gasp victory as part of the Great British coxless four team at the Athens Olympics, Matthew Pinsent clinched an historic fourth Olympic Gold to add to the three already won with his legendary rowing partner Steve Redgrave. In an uniquely exciting and evocative autobiography, Pinsent interweaves the build-up to Athens 2004 with the extraordinary story of his career and unforgettable partnership with Redgrave. Plucked from obscurity at the age of 20, told to partner his hero, and trained to within an inch of his life, Pinsent's story is uniquely revealing about what it takes to be a champion and the mixed blessings of success. Culminating with a nail-biting final chapter detailing the team's extraordinary victory in Athens in blow-by-blow detail, A Lifetime in a Race is a sports book in a different mould.

A Lifetime In A Race

John Shearlaw

Crispin Aubrey

This is the remarkable story of how the Glastonbury Festival, that started as a party in a Somerset field in the 1970s, went on to become one of the world's most famous music festivals. 
 
The tales are told in the words of everyone involved with the festival, from Michael and Emily Eavis and Arabella Churchill to Glastonbury village residents and local policemen. There is also a wealth of celebrity contributions: we hear from David Bowie, Normal Cook, Fran Healy, Chris Martin, Billy Bragg and John Peel, to name just a few. 
 
 It adds up to a fascinating slice of popular history, telling the full story of this much loved festival.

Glastonbury

Victor Silvester

Ballroom dancing is back. In universities, town halls, bars, clubs and leisure centres across the UK there are hundreds of thousands of people learning to dance. Strictly Come Dancing attracted millions of viewers and was one of the BBC's most successful new series of recent times. This new edition of Victor Silvester's classic book Modern Ballroom Dancing comes at just the right moment to capitalise on this renaissance. Fully updated and featuring brand new photographs of some of the world's hottest dancing talent, it covers all the most popular ballroom dances, from the four classics that should form the basis of any dancer's repertoire - Waltz, Foxtrot, Quickstep and Tango to the great Latin American dances that are so popular - Rumba, Samba, Cha-Cha-Cha and Paso Doble, and Rock 'n' Roll.  The clear, comprehensive notes and diagrams on each dance are invaluable to beginners, more advanced students and teachers alike. The book also features sections on the history of dance, showing how modern dances originated and developed, and how they have been influenced by world dance. Perfect for those dancing for fun and for those aiming for competitive performance, Modern Ballroom Dancing will be indispensable to a whole new generation of dancers.

Modern Ballroom Dancing

All the steps you need to get you dancing

Rena Fruchter

Rena Fruchter was Dudley's concert piano partner, and the friend who looked after him in the final years of his life until his death at the age of 66. This is her intimate portrait of the extraordinarily brilliant, complex character that was Dudley Moore. 
 
During the last ten years of his life Dudley changed. He stepped off the podium and into real life. Physically life was difficult, professionally it was turbulent, but during his final years he blossomed, and in the midst of his illness from the debilitating effects of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, he found peace. 
 
Rena writes beautifully of Dudley's final years but also takes us back through his life story - conveying his inimitable talent, humour and vibrancy; evoking the atmosphere of a working-class upbringing in 1940s Britain, life in 1950s London and his relationship with Peter Cook, and the excesses of 1980s LA. With style and precision she unravels his personality, looks back at his childhood and career, weaving a moving and compelling story of a unique man.

Dudley Moore

An Intimate Portrait

Max Arthur

The Imperial War Museum holds a vast archive of interviews with soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians of most nationalities who saw action during WW2. As in the highly-acclaimed Forgotten Voices of the Great War, Max Arthur and his team of researchers spent hundreds of hours digging deep into this unique archive, uncovering tapes, many of which have not been listened to since they were created in the early 1970s. The result will be the first complete oral history of World War 2. 
 
We hear at first from British, German and Commonwealth soldiers and civilians. Accounts of the impact of U.S. involvement after Pearl Harbour and the major effects it had on the war in Europe and the Far East is chronicled in startling detail, including compelling interviews from U.S. and British troops who fought against the Japanese. Continuing through from D-Day, to the Rhine Crossing and the dropping of the Atom Bomb in August 1945, this book is a unique testimony to one of the world's most dreadful conflicts. One of the hallmarks of Max Arthur's work is the way he involves those left behind on the home front as well as those working in factories or essential services. Their voices will not be neglected.

Forgotten Voices Of The Second World War

A New History of the Second World War in the Words of the Men and Women Who Were There

Chas Griffin

In 1982 the Griffins left the security of suburbia to grow garlic in West Wales. This is a funny and sometimes touching, warts-and-all account of their first three years: of how they learned lambing and marketing and ploughing and hay-making: and of the dung-sodden joys of milking and the surreal terrors of bee-keeping. Be amused. Be very amused. 
 
Scenes from a Smallholding is by turns challenging, touching, and informative; but above all, it is very funny.

Scenes From A Smallholding

Michael Simkins

As a boy, Michael Simkins always wanted to be someone. While his friends were out getting laid and stoned, he was tucked up at home dreaming of his name in lights, of holding an audience rapt, of perhaps becoming a TV heart-throb, or having someone, anyone, ask for his autograph in the supermarket. This is the true story of an obsessive pursuit of acting fame. It is a life marked by occasional hard-fought successes and routine helpings of ritual humiliation: scout hut Gilbert and Sullivan, dodgy rock operas, sewage farm theatre workshop, Christmas panto hell, straight-to-video film flops, leading roles in Crimewatch reconstructions and dressing up as a chicken to advertise TV dinners. It is a hilarious tale of turgid theatre, tights, trusses and tonsil tennis with Timothy Spall.

What's My Motivation?

Stuart Maconie

Cider with Roadies is the true story of a boy's obsessive relationship with pop. A life lived through music from Stuart's audience with the Beatles (aged 3); his confessions as a pubescent prog rocker; a youthful gymnastic dalliance with northern soul; the radical effects of punk on his politics, homework and trouser dimensions; playing in crap bands and failing to impress girls; writing for the NME by accident; living the sex, drugs (chiefly lager in a plastic glass) and rock and roll lifestyle; discovering the tawdry truth behind the glamour and knowing when to ditch it all for what really matters. 
 
From Stuart's four minutes in a leisure centre with MC Hammer to four days in a small van with Napalm Death it's a life-affirming journey through the land where ordinary life and pop come together to make music.

Cider With Roadies

Hugo Tagholm

Sarah Brown

Gil McNeil

Whether it is memories of childhood holidays or exotic fantasies of faraway places, a sea and its coast forms the most evocative of landscapes. Combining elements of romance, danger and mystery, it provides the perfect inspiration for this unique collection. The finest writers from our water-bound nation, including Alexander McCall Smith, Ruth Rendell, Joanne Harris, Joseph O'Connor and Libby Purvis, give us their accounts of adventures and chance encounters, short stories and non-fiction pieces representing the many facets of the sea's power that will haunt and inspire. The collection also includes gripping accounts of real-life adventures on the ocean from such experienced sailors as Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Alan West and Tracy Edwards. 
 
A literary tribute to the last earthly frontier - the ocean.

Journey To The Sea

Simon Garfield

In 1936 anthropologist Tom Harrison, poet and journalist Charles Madge, and documentary filmmaker Humphrey Jennings set up the Mass Observation Project. The idea was simple: ordinary people would record, in diary form, the events of their everyday lives. An estimated one million pages eventually found their way to the archive - and it soon became clear this was more than anyone could digest. Today, the diaries are stored at the University of Sussex, where remarkably most remain unread. In Our Hidden Lives, Simon Garfield has skilfully woven a tapestry of diary entries in the rarely discussed but pivotal period of 1945 to 1948. The result is a moving, intriguing, funny, at times heartbreaking book - unashamedly populist in the spirit of Forgotten Voices or indeed Margaret Forster's Diary of an Ordinary Woman. 
 
'I love these diaries. They have the attraction of being stories, but REAL stories - Better than any novel.' Margaret Forster 
 
'A lovely book. It will appeal to anyone who appreciates the richness and diversity of human experience.' Tony Benn 
 
'Utterly engrossing, better than any kind of reality TV.' Gavin Esler 
 
'Funny, vivid, touching, angry, thoughtful - every page is a delight. This is definitely no. 1 on my present list to give to everyone in the coming year.' Jenny Uglow, author of The Lunar Men

Our Hidden Lives

The Remarkable Diaries of Postwar Britain

June Goulding

'I promised that I would one day write a book and tell the world about the home for unmarried mothers. I have at last kept my promise.' 
 
In Ireland, 1951, the young June Goulding took up a position as midwife in a home for unmarried mothers run by the Sacred Heart nuns. What she witnessed there was to haunt her for the next fifty years. It was a place of secrets, lies and cruelty. A place where women picked grass by hand and tarred roads whilst heavily pregnant. Where they were denied any contact with the outside world; denied basic medical treatment and abused for their 'sins'; where, after the birth, they were forced into hard labour in the convent for three years. But worst of all was that the young women were expected to raise their babies during these three years so that they could then be sold - given up for adoption in exchange for a donation to the nuns. 
 
Shocked by the nuns' inhumane treatment of the frightened young women, June risked her job to bring some light into their dark lives. June's memoir tells the story of twelve women's experiences in this home and of the hardships they endured, but also the kindness she offered them, and the hope she was able to bring.

The Light In The Window

Richard McCann

One October night in 1975 Richard, aged five, was alone in the house with his three sisters. It was 3am and their mother hadn't come home yet. Next morning, the police arrived to take the children away. Their mother had become the first victim of a serial killer soon to become known as the 'Yorkshire Ripper'. 
 
Passed from one violent home to another, the children were forgotten by all except the press. As the salacious headlines multiplied, Richard and his sisters were never able to recover from their mother's murder. Whilst Richard tried to handle the terror of his violent upbringing, his sister struggled to deal with memories of sexual abuse. Without love or support they spiralled away from help or happiness. 
 
Then one day Richard McCann, having reached suicidal rock bottom, decided no one was going to rescue their lives but him. It was the beginning of an inspirational transformation. Now he is able to tell the story of how the forgotten children of violence suffer, and how they can heal. A heartbreaking, uplifting story of survival and hope.

Just A Boy

The True Story Of A Stolen Childhood

Charles Clover

We have reached a pivotal moment for fishing, with seventy-five percent of the world's fish stocks either fully exploited or overfished. If nothing is done to stop the squandering of fish stocks the life of the oceans will face collapse and millions of people could starve. 
 
Fish is the aspirational food for Western society, the healthy, weight-conscious choice, but those who eat and celebrate fish often ignore the fact that the fishing industry, although as technologically advanced as space travel, has an attitude to conservation 10,000 years out of date. Trawling on an industrial scale in the North Sea takes 16 lbs of dead marine animals to produce just 1lb of sole. Regulation isn't working, fishermen must cheat or lose money, dolphins and other wildlife (seabirds, turtles, sharks) are killed unnecessarily and fish stocks are collapsing despite the warnings. 
 
The End of the Line looks at the problem and proves that we, as consumers, have to change if the situation is to improve.

The End Of The Line

Amy Willcock

No one knows more about starting and running a bed and breakfast business than successful cook, author and hotel owner Amy Willcock. The hotel that she runs with her husband and their business partner, The George on the Isle of Wight, was described in the Daily Mail as being run 'in the way in which you imagine the hotel of your dreams to be run'.      In this attractively packaged paperback, Amy reveals the secrets you need to know to make running your B&B fun and profitable. Her lively narrative takes you through all stages of the process: preparing your home, advertising, creating welcoming bedrooms and luxury bathrooms on a budget, laundering the sheets, preparing the ultimate breakfast (for even the most demanding guest) and managing bookings - all this, while keeping your profit margin healthy. Also featured are the best stockists for any products that you will need and the definitive answers to frequently asked questions. This book is the perfect guide for all aspiring B&B landlords and ladies.

B & B Know-How

How to make money from your spare room

Chris Heath

The publication of Feel: Robbie Williams by Chris Heath in September 2004 caused shockwaves of controversy and delight. Not only was its publication trumpeted in tabloids, on TV and the radio, but it was also critically lauded by the broadsheets. Finally, a book had been written on the subject of celebrity and the modern world which had intelligence, honesty and humour. 
 
Written by Chris Heath, who spent nearly two years working with Robbie on this book, every word is imbued with Robbie's humour, charisma, talent, memories and complexity. But more than ever before, this book tells the truth about his extraordinary life. You may have seen his face a million times, heard his music every day, followed him from the beginning of Take That, but this is a man with some serious surprises in store. 
 
After years of rumour and lies, the complete, intimate story of Robert P. Williams had been written. 
 
This is a groundbreaking book.

Feel

Robbie Williams

The Great British Sewing Bee

2014 marked the centenary of World War One, and bestselling author Stewart Binns undertook to write a novel a year for every year of the Great War. The Great War series follows the story of five British communities; their circumstances are very different but they will all share in the tragedy that is to come.

The Great War

The Grower's Guide

The Hacker Series

The Happy Reader

The Hatmakers

The Hazel Wood

The Helsinki Trilogy

The History Keepers

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

The House Witch

The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog

The Icons Series

For 200 years Lanny Mcllvrae has been hiding from the one who gave her immortality. The one she tried to destroy. But now he is trying to find her. And they must not meet. An immortal love story on an epic scale.

The Immortal Trilogy

The Imperial Broadcasts

The Infinite Monkey Cage

Eragon thought he was just an ordinary farm boy, until one day he discovers his destiny; to be a Dragon Rider. He and his faithful dragon, Saphira, must protect the land from the evil king, Galbatorix, with a combination of magic, loyalty and swordsmanship. Set in the fantasy land of Alagaesia, these four books follow the pair through a series of epic battles as they fight to rid the land of evil and restore peace.

Filters

Category

Publication Date

Format

Series

Imprint

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter