5ive Guys FC

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A A Gill

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.

A D Swanston

A E Langsford

A G Hopkins

A. J. BAIME is the New York Times best-selling author of The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War and Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans. Both books are in development for major motion pictures. Baime is a longtime regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Popular Science, and Men’s Journal. He lives in Granite Bay, California. Visit him at facebook.com/ajbaime and trumanbook.com.

A J Baime

A J Jacobs

A J P Taylor

Anthony James Pollard is a British medieval historian, specialising in the fifteenth century and in particular the Wars of the Roses. A leading authority in the field, he is profesor emeritus of Teesside University. His books include North-Eastern England during the Wars of the Roses, Richard III and the Princes in theTower, Imagining Robin Hood: the Late Medieval Stories in Historical Context and Warwick the kingmaker: Politics, Power and Fame.

A J Pollard

A J Rochester

A K Benjamin is a clinical neuropsychologist and the author of Let Me Not Be Mad: A Story of Unravelling Minds.

A K Benjamin

A. L. Berridge read English at Oxford, and taught for ten years before moving into television, where her production credits range from period drama and thrillers to long-running soaps. She has written two previous novels, Top Ten besteller Honour and the Sword and In the Name of the King. Into the Valley of Death is her third novel.

A L Berridge

Alison Gaylin's first job was as a reporter for a celebrity tabloid, which sparked a lifelong interest in writing about people committing despicable acts. More than a decade later, she wrote and published her Edgar-nominated first novel, HIDE YOUR EYES. 
 
She's since published nine more books, including the USA Today and international bestselling Brenna Spector suspense series, which has been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony and Thriller awards and won the Shamus award. 
 
She lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, cat and dog.

A L Gaylin

A Maxwell-Hyslop

A McArthur

A P Wavell

A.S. Webb is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Daughter of Chaos, the first instalment of The Dark Pantheon Trilogy. She is inspired by stories rooted in history and mythology, that push the boundaries of imagination and urge us to reflect on what it means to be human.

A S Webb

A. A. Dhand is the author of six previous novels, and has been shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger Award. His DI Harry Virdee novels are currently being adapted for TV by the BBC. He was raised in Bradford and spent his youth observing the city from behind the counter of a small convenience store. After qualifying as a pharmacist, he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to Bradford to start his own business and begin writing. The history, diversity and darkness of the city have inspired all his novels. For more information about A. A. Dhand and his books, follow him on X @aadhand, and on Instagram @aa_dhand.

A. A. Dhand

A. A. Gill

A. A. Milne

A. Anatoli

A. B. Poranek grew up sharing her time between Ontario, Canada and rural Poland, and eventually completed a veterinary degree at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. A lover of mythology and history, she enjoys exploring both in her writing. Her debut novel, Where the Dark Stands Still, an instant New York Times bestseller, is an ode to Poland's folktales, while A Treachery of Swans transports readers to a world inspired by 17th century France.

A. B. Poranek

A. Bradley

Professor A. C. Grayling is Principal of the New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University, London, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He has written and edited over thirty books on philosophy, history, science and current affairs. For several years he wrote columns for the Guardian newspaper and The Times and was the chairman of the 2014 Man Booker Prize.

A. C. Grayling

A.D. Miller is the author of Snowdrops, The Earl of Petticoat Lane and The Faithful Couple. Snowdrops was a bestseller and was shortlisted for many prizes including the Man Booker and the CWA Gold Dagger. It was translated into 25 languages. As Moscow Correspondent of The Economist A.D. Miller has travelled across the former Soviet Union and covered the Orange Revolution in Ukraine; he is now the magazine’s Culture Editor based in London. 
 
admillerbooks.com

A. D. Miller

A. E. Ellis

A. E. W. Mason

A. Humphreys

A. Igoni Barrett was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in 1979 and lives in Lagos. He is a winner of the 2005 BBC World Service short story competition, the recipient of a Chinua Achebe Center Fellowship, a Norman Mailer Center Fellowship, and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency. His short story collection, Love is Power, or Something Like That, was published in 2013. In 2014 he was named on the Africa39 list of sub-Saharan African writers under 40. Blackass is his first novel.

A. Igoni Barrett

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Christopher Winn

Praise for the I Never Knew That Series 
 
'I never knew there was so much I never knew!' - GYLES BRANDRETH 
 
'Winn's touch is always light, and unfailingly interesting' - THE GUARDIAN 
 
Embark on a spellbinding journey around Wales with bestselling author Christopher Winn 
 
Did you know… 
 
… The Gower peninsula was the first British landscape to be named an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 
… The last invasion of Britain took place at Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, in 1797 
… The Menai Bridge connecting Anglesey to Bangor is the world’s first iron suspension bridge 
 
Visit St David’s, Britain's smallest city with its own twelfth-century cathedral slumbering in a sleepy hollow near the sea. Explore castles and fortresses from Chepstow and Beuamaris to Caernarvon, birthplace of the first Prince of Wales. Or browse through the world famous ‘town of books’ Hay-on-Wye. 
 
This irresistible compendium of interesting facts and good stories will give you a captivating insight into the people, ideas and events that have shaped this beautiful country. 
 
Featuring amazing facts as well as illustrations by artist Mai Osawa, this entertaining guide is the perfect accompaniment to a trip to Wales.

I Never Knew That About Wales

Eve MacDonald

The empire behind the legend 
 
Carthage was a power that dominated the western Mediterranean for almost six centuries before its fall to Rome. The history of the realm and its Carthaginians was subsumed by their conquerors and, along the way, the story of the real Carthage was lost. An ancient North African kingdom, Carthage was the home of Hannibal and of Dido, of war elephants and enormous power and wealth, of great beauty and total destruction. 
 
In this landmark new history, Eve MacDonald tells the essential story of the lost culture of Carthage and of its forgotten people, using brand new archaeological analysis to uncover the history behind the legend. A journey that takes us the Phoenician Levant of the early Iron Age to the Atlantic and all along the coast of Africa, Carthage puts the city and the story of North Africa once again at the centre of Mediterranean history. Reclaimed from the Romans, this, for the very first time, is the Carthaginian version of the tale.

Carthage

A new history of an ancient empire

Praise for the I Never Knew That Series 
 
'I never knew there was so much I never knew!' - GYLES BRANDRETH 
 
'Winn's touch is always light, and unfailingly interesting' - THE GUARDIAN 
 
Discover the incredible trivia and hidden stories of one of Britain's best loved destinations, Devon and Cornwall 
 
Did you know… 
 
… The world’s first lift was installed at the Tresavean Mine in Cornwall in 1842 
… The oldest working lighthouse in England can be found in Devon 
… The first transatlantic radio signals were sent from Cornwall 
 
With more than 700 miles of coastline, two national parks and a never-ending debate over the correct way to prepare a cream tea, Devon and Cornwall are two of the best loved counties in Britain. 
 
In the latest in his bestselling I Never Knew That trivia series, Christopher Winn goes beyond the famous landmarks to root out the hidden places, legends and human stories of Devon and Cornwall. 
 
Featuring amazing facts as well as illustrations by artist Mai Osawa, this entertaining guide is the perfect holiday accompaniment to Britain’s favourite destination.

I Never Knew That About Devon and Cornwall

John Green

THE CELEBRATED INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, NOW IN PAPERBACK 
 
Tuberculosis has been entwined with hu­manity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it. 
 
In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John be­came fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequi­ties that allow this curable, preventable infec­tious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year. 
 
In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.

Everything Is Tuberculosis

The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

Fern Riddell

'Weep with me for we all have lost the best, the truest heart that ever beat!' 
 
From the moment John Brown arrived as a servant to Queen Victoria's household, he became known across the land as her loyal companion, her fierce protector, and her right-hand man, their friendship immortalised in print and on-screen. But what if there was more to their relationship than we know? And what has history been hiding from us? 
 
In this passionate and provocative exploration of Victoria's private passions, the acclaimed historian Fern Riddell re-examines everything we thought we knew about one of Britain's most iconic women. A timeless romance and an extraordinary retelling of the emotional life of a queen, Victoria's Secret is an unmissable account of a woman in love.

Victoria's Secret

The Private Passion of a Queen

Mara Gold

Rediscover legendary tales from Ancient Mythology, centred around the stories of women, perfect for fans of Mythos, Circe, Pandora and Clytemnestra in this beautifully-illustrated bold feminist retelling of ancient mythological stories, written by expert classicist Mara Gold. 
"Uncovers not only what women are doing in myth, but why they still matter today" Emily Hauser, bestselling author of Mythica 
Homemaker. Virgin. Warrior. Witch. Madwoman. Monster. 
 
The labels applied to mythological women echo throughout history. These archetypes, created in the Ancient World, still resonate today. 
 
From the stories of the virgin goddesses Athena and Artemis, the contrasting depictions of wifely duty in Clytemnestra and Penelope, the ecstatic frenzies of the Maenads, Echidna—the so-called mother of all monsters—and the misunderstood Medusa, Ancient Myths and Legends Without Men reveals a world where powerful women were both worshipped and feared. 
 
Accompanied with beautiful illustrations throughout, uncover the real stories behind the women of Ancient Mythology and find what they can teach us about being a woman today. 
 
Discover the goddesses, warriors, witches, and monsters who shaped and subverted womanhood from the very beginning ...

Ancient Myths and Legends Without Men

Anna Arutunyan

Mark Galeotti

In the early years of Vladmir Putin’s Russia, Yevgeny Prigozhin emerged as one of the President’s most trusted assets. By 2023, he had become a dangerous warlord – and also one of Putin’s chief rivals in Russia’s tumultuous political climate, exiled after leading an attempted coup, and shortly after killed in a mysterious plane crash. 
 
But what is the truth about this enigmatic figure, his role in the war with Ukraine, and the chaos unleashed across Russia by his turn against Putin? And, in the aftermath of his death, what is next for Russia in the new stage of late Putinism that Prigozhin’s life forged? 
 
In a compelling tale that unravels a complex web of power, betrayal and recrimination, Downfall delves into the profound impact of Prigozhin on the heart and soul of a nation at a crossroads. Drawing on years of research, this book traces the rise of Russia's most prominent non-state actor and examines the political climate that propelled a convicted gangster with no government office to the formidable role he came to occupy. An essential story of Russia's recent history, Downfall is also a compelling insight into its likely future.

Downfall

Putin, Prigozhin, and the fight for the future of Russia

Jon Sopel

From Jon Sopel, bestselling author and presenter of hit podcast The News Agents, comes an incisive examination of Britain's New Normal, and what it means for our future. 
 
 
'I like and trust Jon Sopel and you should too' 
JOE LYCETT 
 
 
'A thrilling, nerve-wracking book. You couldn't make the last ten years up; thanks to Jon Sopel, you don't have to' 
PETER FRANKOPAN 
 
 
'A hugely entertaining and quite traumatic rollercoaster' 
ARMANDO IANNUCCI 
 
 
'Acute and unflinching - Sopel deploys his foreign correspondent skills on home shores as well as far ones, and brings together the story of a tumultuous few years on both sides of the Atlantic' 
MISHAL HUSAIN 
 
 
Returning to the UK in some ways has been disconcerting – or maybe discombobulating would be a better word. It is, after all, my home; it is where I grew up, a country I love and am proud of. But either it’s changed, or I have. Maybe both. 
It just feels like a strange land. 
After eight years of political reporting in the US, Jon Sopel returned home to the UK to find a very different place than the one he left. In his first book since launching the global hit podcast The News Agents, Jon explores what has happened to the country he once knew. Either Britain has changed dramatically, or he has. Perhaps it’s both.With a second Trump administration already making headlines weekly, and a new bonus chapter examining America's influence over own isle, Strangeland paints an unforgettable portrait of a country gone through the looking glass.

Strangeland

How Britain Stopped Making Sense

Estelle Paranque

A queen on the edge. 
 
Anne Boleyn has mesmerised the English public for centuries. Her tragic execution, orchestrated by her own husband, never ceases to intrigue. How did this courtier's daughter become the queen of England, and what was it that really tore apart this illustrious marriage, making her the whore of England, an abandoned woman executed on the scaffold? While many stories of Anne Boleyn's downfall have been told, few have truly traced the origins of her tragic fate. 
 
In Thorns, Lust and Glory, Estelle Paranque takes us back to where it all started: to France, where Anne learned the lessons that would set her on the path to becoming one of England's most infamous queens. At the court of the French king as a resourceful teenage girl, Anne's journey to infamy began, and this landmark biography explores the world that shaped her, and how these loyalties would leave her vulnerable, leading to her ruin at the court of Henry VIII. 
 
A fascinating new perspective on Tudor history's most enduring story, Thorns, Lust and Glory is an unmissable account of a queen on the edge.

Thorns, Lust and Glory

The betrayal of Anne Boleyn

This delightful guide to England, organised county by county, is now published in lavishly illustrated format. Alongside the charming black and white drawings of the original edition now sit gorgeous colour photographs of rolling hills, famous monuments and hidden treasures, plus quirky posters from a bygone age. 
 
Crammed with interesting facts and enthralling stories, Christopher Winn once again takes us on a journey round England, celebrating the people and places that make up the country - from history, legends and firsts to birthplaces and gossip. From Oakley Court in Berkshire, which served as the headquarters of French resistance during WW2, to Burghley House in Northamptonshire which grew the first tomatoes in Britain and north to Ripon, Britain's oldest city, this book offers a spellbinding insight into England, its people and its history.

I Never Knew That About England

Clare Balding

Every dog must have his day. 
 
There's nothing the British love quite as much as their dogs - but did you know that our canine companions have also shaped the history of this sceptred isle? From hunting to our hearths, and from herding to heavy industry, our dogs have accompanied us through centuries of social and economic change, and our relationship is still evolving today. 
 
In this fascinating alternative history of Britain, Clare Balding takes us on a journey across the length and breadth of the home nations, exploring our unique heritage of canine tradition and meeting the people who still live, work and innovate with their dogs. A story of companionship, loyalty and good old-fashioned hard work, Isle of Dogs is an unmissable read for anyone whose life has been transformed by a faithful hound.

Isle of Dogs

My canine adventures through Britain

Hannah Rogers

A beautifully illustrated guide on how to transform your everyday outfits, Gucci-style. 
 
Bring the defining principles of Gucci's style to your own wardrobe with this celebration of one of the world's most renowned fashion houses. From channelling the super brand with your beauty choices, finding your inner extrovert in the clothes you choose, and even bringing the influence of the house's equestrian beginnings into your streetwear - this is an essential handbook for going Gucci, your way. 
 
Including the stories, history and personalities who have defined a legacy like no other, there's no better companion for fans of Gucci.

The Gucci Style Principles

Be Inspired, Transform How You Dress

David Veevers

The story of the British Empire is a familiar one: Britain came, it saw, it conquered, forging a glorious world empire upon which the sun never set. In fact, far from being the tale of a single nation imposing its will upon the world, the British Empire found itself reshaped by the tenacious resistance of the powerful Indigenous and non-European people it encountered. From ill-advised ventures in Ireland to the failure to curtail North African Corsair states all the way to the collapse of commercial operations in East Asia, British attempts to create an imperial enterprise often ended in embarrassment and even disaster. 
 
In this book, David Veevers looks beyond the myths of triumph and into the realities of British misadventures in the early days of Empire, meeting the extraordinary people across the world who were the real forces to be reckoned with. From the Emperors who determined the expansion of the English East India Company, to the West African kings who resisted English entreaties and set the terms of the lucrative slave trade, to the Paramount Chiefs in America who fought to expunge European forces from their homelands, The Great Defiance retells the story of early Empire from the perspective of the Indigenous and non-European people who held the fate of the British in their hands.

The Great Defiance

How the world took on the British Empire

Michael Waters

In December 1935, Zdenek Koubek, one of the most famous sprinters in European women’s sports, declared he was now living as a man. Around the same time, the celebrated British field athlete Mark Weston, also assigned female at birth, announced that he, too, was a man. Periodicals and radio programs across the world carried the news; both became global celebrities. A few decades later, they were all but forgotten. And in the wake of their transitions, what could have been a push toward equality became instead, through a confluence of bureaucracy, war, and sheer happenstance, the exact opposite: the now all-too-familiar panic around trans, intersex, and gender nonconforming athletes. 
 
In The Other Olympians, Michael Waters uncovers, for the first time, the gripping true stories of Koubek, Weston, and other pioneering trans and intersex athletes from their era. With dogged research and cinematic flair, Waters also tracks how International Olympic Committee members ignored Nazi Germany’s atrocities in order to pull off the Berlin Games, a partnership that ultimately influenced the IOC’s nearly century-long obsession with surveilling and cataloging gender. 
 
Immersive and revelatory, The Other Olympians is a groundbreaking, hidden-in-the-archives marvel, an inspiring call for equality, and an essential contribution toward understanding the contemporary culture wars over gender in sports.

The Other Olympians

A True Story of Gender, Fascism and the Making of Modern Sport

Donald L. Miller

Masters of the Air

How The Bomber Boys Broke Down the Nazi War Machine

A beautiful and practical guide with ideas and tips on how to elevate your everyday outfits, Chanel-style. 
 
With chapters covering Chanel's iconic rules of simplicity, elegance and comfort, nautical, monochrome and, of course, the little black dress, this handy little book is all you need to bring casual-chic sophistication to your everyday wardrobe. 
 
Accompanied by photography throughout, included in these pages are the achievable, timeless and classic looks that you can recreate at home as well as the rules to keep in mind, so that the way you dress can always be inspired by one of the world's most iconic fashion designers. 
 
Alongside this, find all you need to know about the personality, history, and extraordinary legacy behind the prolific French fashion creator. 
 
There's no one quite like Coco Chanel and these are the guiding principles that make her work iconic.

The Chanel Style Principles

Be inspired, transform how you dress

Bestselling author Christopher Winn takes us on a captivating journey out of London along the banks of the River Thames to discover the secrets and stories of England's most famous waterway. Discover the Thames's literary heritage at Pangbourne, near Reading, famous as the home of The Wind in the Willows's Kenneth Grahame, then explore Mapledurham House, the inspiration for its famous Toad Hall. Explore Henley-on-Thames, where the first Oxford and Cambridge boat races were held, then marvel at Southend Pier, the longest pleasure pier in the world. 
 
As he follows the river from source to sea, visiting its towns, villages and places of interest, Winn unearths a fascinating array of facts, folklore, landmarks and legends that are guaranteed to have you exclaiming 'I Never Knew That!'. Illustrated with line drawings this charming gem of a book is guaranteed to inform and delight in equal measure.

I Never Knew That About the River Thames

'A story told with verve and passion' The Times, Book of the Week 
 
'An alternative and engaging biography...accessible and unpretentious' The Telegraph 
 
'A stunning portrayal of two of the most powerful women in European history' Tracy Borman 
 
'Exciting and compelling, packed full of tantalising details of diplomacy and court life, Paranque succeeds both in bringing history to life, but also in putting flesh on the bones of these two extraordinary women and rival queens' Kate Mosse 
 
'A smart and stylish portrait of two of Europe's most remarkable rulers, a compelling profile of female power and - that rarest of things - a truly original book about the Tudor period' Jessie Childs 
 
In sixteenth-century Europe, two women came to hold all the power, against all the odds. They were Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici. 
 
 One a Virgin Queen who ruled her kingdom alone, and the other a clandestine leader who used her children to shape the dynasties of Europe, much has been written about these iconic women. But nothing has been said of their complicated relationship: thirty years of friendship, competition and conflict that changed the face of Europe. 
 
 This is a story of two remarkable visionaries: a story of blood, fire and gold. It is also a tale of ceaseless calculation, of love and rivalry, of war and wisdom - and of female power in a male world. Shining new light on their legendary kingdoms Blood, Fire and Gold provides a new way of looking at two of history's most powerful women, and how they shaped each other as profoundly as they shaped the course of history. Drawing on their letters and brand new research, Estelle Paranque writes an entirely new chapter in the well-worn story of the sixteenth century.

Blood, Fire and Gold

The story of Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici

Caroline Taggart

Take a journey down winding lanes and Roman roads in this witty and informative guide to the meanings behind the names of England's towns and villages. From Celtic farmers to Norman conquerors, right up to the Industrial Revolution, deciphering our place names reveals how generations of our ancestors lived, worked, travelled and worshipped, and how their influence has shaped our landscape. 
 
From the most ancient sacred sites to towns that take their names from stories of giants and knights, learn how Roman garrisons became our great cities, and discover how a meeting of the roads could become a thriving market town. Region by region, Caroline Taggart uncovers hidden meanings to reveal a patchwork of tall tales and ancient legends that collectively tells the story of how we made England.

The Book of English Place Names

How Our Towns and Villages Got Their Names

The Voice

Launched at the 1982 Notting Hill Carnival, The Voice newspaper captured and addressed a generation figuring out what it meant to be Black and British. Written for and by Black people, the newspaper shone a light on systematic injustices as well as celebrating Black Britain's success stories. 
 
From hard hitting news reports covering the murder of Stephen Lawrence to championing the likes of Sir Lewis Hamilton and Idris Elba, the newspaper has campaigned, celebrated and educated people for the last forty years. 
 
As well as celebrating amazing successes in sport, politics and the arts, The Voice documented everyday life in the community, from the emergence of a Black middle class in the '90s and the achievements of Black entrepreneurs to how different facets of the community were explored in contemporary music and literature. 
 
Since its small beginnings in Hackney, The Voice has also become a fantastic training ground for prominent journalists and figures including former politician Trevor Phillips, broadcaster Rageh Omaar and writer Afua Hirsch. Today, The Voice is Britain's longest running and only Black newspaper. 
 
Told through news reports, editorials and readers' personal letters, this emotive book documents the social history of Black Britain over the last four decades. Each chapter is illustrated with amazing newspaper pages from The Voice's extensive archives as well as iconic and dramatic front covers from 1982 to the present day. 
 
With a foreword from Sir Lenny Henry and written by former and current Voice journalists, this powerful book is a celebration of the ground-breaking paper which gave a voice to the voiceless.

40 years of Black British Lives

James Montague

'Passionate and moving and provides further evidence of the universality of football' Jonathan Wilson, FourFourTwo 
 
The definitive story of the Middle East's unstoppable rise to football superpower, and the road to the Qatar World Cup 
 
When James Montague first began covering football in the Middle East two decades ago, people asked him what future there could possibly be for the beautiful game in one of the most volatile regions in the world. In the years that followed, it would become one of the biggest stories in global sport, from the from revolutionary ultras of the Arab Spring and the takeover of some of the world's biggest clubs by the Emirati super rich, to Qatar's controversial journey towards hosting the 2022 World Cup finals. 
 
The only Western journalist covering the story on the ground from the very beginning, James Montague tells the definitive tale of the region's rise to ultimate power player in the global game in a fully revised and updated edition. Travelling to every country in the Middle East and meeting fans, players, workers and campaigners, he paints an unforgettable picture of football in a controversial, vibrant and surprising new world.

When Friday Comes

Football Revolution in the Middle East and the Road to Qatar

Benjamin T Smith

Discover the secret history behind the headlines. 
 
The Mexican drug wars have inspired countless articles, TV shows and movies. From Breaking Bad to Sicario, El Chapo’s escapes to Trump’s tirades, this is a story we think we know. But there’s a hidden history to the biggest story of the twenty-first century. 
 
The Dope exposes how an illicit industry that started with farmers, families and healers came to be dominated by cartels, kingpins and corruption. Benjamin T Smith traces an unforgettable cast of characters from the early twentieth century to the modern day, whose actions came to influence Mexico as we now know it. There’s Enrique Fernández, the borderlands trafficker who became Mexico’s first major narco and one of the first victims of the war on drugs; Eduardo ‘Lalo’ Fernández, Mexico’s most prominent heroin chemist and first major cocaine importer; Leopoldo Salazar Viniegra, the brilliant doctor and Marxist who tried (and failed) to decriminalize Mexico’s drugs; and Harry Anslinger, the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics whose sensationalist strategies paved the way for U.S. interference and the extraordinary levels of violence in Mexico today. 
 
The Dope is the epic saga of how violence and corruption came to plague modern Mexico, and the first book to make sense of the political and economic big picture of the Mexican drug wars.

The Dope

The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade

'Fascinating... One of the most astute political commentators on Putin and modern Russia' Financial Times 
 
'An amazing achievement' Peter Frankopan 
 
Can anyone truly understand Russia? 
 
Russia is a country with no natural borders, no single ethos, no true central identity. At the crossroads of Europe and Asia, it is everyone's 'other'. And yet it is one of the most powerful nations on earth, a master game-player on the global stage with a rich history of war and peace, poets and revolutionaries. 
 
In this essential whistle-stop tour of the world's most complex nation, Mark Galeotti takes us behind the myths to the heart of the Russian story: from the formation of a nation to its early legends - including Ivan the Terrible and Catherine the Great - to the rise and fall of the Romanovs, the Russian Revolution, the Cold War, Chernobyl and the end of the Soviet Union - plus the rise of a politician named Vladimir Putin, and the events leading to the Ukrainian war.

A Short History of Russia

Jamie Hull

SAS trooper and trainee pilot Jamie Hull was flying solo when his aircraft caught fire. It should have been the end of his life, but it was the beginning of his story. 
 
With flames up to his chin, he brought the plane in, climbed out and jumped from the wing. As he lay on the ground, fully conscious, waiting for the emergency services, he could smell his flesh burn. 
 
Even if he survived, what would he have left to live for? 
 
But this man is made of stern stuff. He fought back from the brink of death, and created a new and profoundly meaningful life from the wreckage of his experience. 
 
Meet Jamie Hull, former Special Services soldier, now Ambassador for Help for Heroes and veteran of two marathons, a 3,000-mile bicycle race across America and an expedition up Mount Kilimanjaro. His story will take to you to the furthest extremes of human endurance and endeavour.

Life on a Thread

My story

Laurence Rees

Fuelled by hate. Unable to form normal human relationships. Unwilling to debate political issues. 
 
In many ways Adolf Hitler seemed an unlikely leader, yet he inspired millions, leading Germany into the cataclysmic events of the Second World War. 
 
But how was Hitler able to exert such power over those around him? 
 
 Award-winning historian and documentary maker Laurence Rees draws on twenty years of research into the Third Reich, as well as contemporary accounts of people who knew Hitler, to examine the nature of Hitler's appeal and reveal the role his unique 'charisma' played in his success. 
 
'Offering acerbic insight ... this arresting account asks and answers all the right questions' 
Daily Telegraph

The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler

Klaus Dodds

How are borders built in the modern world? What does Brexit mean for Ireland's border? And what would happen if Elon Musk declared himself president of the Moon? 
 
In Border Wars, Professor Klaus Dodds takes us on a journey into the geopolitical conflict of tomorrow in an eye-opening tour of the world's best-known, most dangerous and most unexpected border conflicts from the Gaza Strip to the space race. 
 
Along the way, we'll discover just what border truly mean in the modern world: how are they built; what do they mean for citizens and governments; how do they help understand our political past and, most importantly, our diplomatic future?

Border Wars

The conflicts that will define our future

The conflicts of tomorrow

How could Nazi killers shoot Jewish women and children at close range? Why did Japanese soldiers rape and murder on such a horrendous scale? How was it possible to endure the torment of a Nazi death camp? 
 
Award-winning documentary maker and historian Laurence Rees has spent decades wrestling with such questions in the course of filming hundreds of interviews with people tested to the extreme during World War II. He has come face-to-face with rapists, mass murderers, even cannibals, but he has also met courageous individuals who are an inspiration to us all. 
 
In Their Darkest Hour he presents 35 of his most electrifying encounters. 
 
'A remarkably powerful collection' Antony Beevor, Daily Telegraph 
 
'An incredible, well-written, must-read book' Glasgow Evening Times 
 
'A lasting contribution to our understanding of the Second World War and a powerful insight into the behaviour of human beings in crisis' Independent

Their Darkest Hour

People Tested to the Extreme in WWII

Kurt Andersen

How an elite cabal rewrote the American dream for their gain – and left the rest of world behind. 
 
Evil Geniuses is the secret history of how, over the last half century, from even before Ronald Reagan through Donald Trump, America has sharply swerved away from its dream of progress for the many to a system of unfettered profit and self-interest for the few. 
 
As the social liberation of the 1960s finally ended in the chaos of Vietnam and Watergate, a cabal of rich industrialists, business chiefs, wide-eyed libertarians and right-wing economic radicals were waiting, determined to claw back everything they saw as rightfully theirs. 
 
Largely out of sight, they rapidly built and funded a new empire of think tanks and academic institutions and professional organisations, lobbying and political groups, using them to transform politics, media, finance, the legal system and US laws to reinvent and control the political economy. A throwback to the robber barons of a century earlier, they sold the remade system to the people as a nostalgic return to traditional American values. Within a decade, America’s flourishing forward-thinking vision was incarcerated by the unchecked financial accumulation and political power of the super-rich. 
 
Now, the moneymen are running the show. 
 
In this hugely entertaining and deeply researched cultural and economic exposé, New York Times bestselling author Kurt Andersen maps the rich history of intricate networks, unlikely connections and dark truths which are controlling a nation, revealing how on earth America got to where it is now – and what it might do to win its progressive future back.

Evil Geniuses

The Unmaking of America – A Recent History

'We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed' Martin Luther King, Jr. 
 
In an era where our liberties are often under threat, Letters to Change the World sends reminders from history that standing up for - and voicing - our personal and political beliefs is not merely a human right but our duty, if we want to make change happen. 
 
Featuring Emmeline Pankhurst rallying her suffragettes, George Orwell's warning against totalitarianism, Nelson Mandela's consoling his children from prison, Time's Up condemning abuses of power, and much more, this collection will inspire you to stand up and speak up - now, for what really matters. 
 
'Remarkable, timely ... At a time of political uncertainty, the collection demonstrates the importance of speaking truth to power' Guardian

Letters to Change the World

From Emmeline Pankhurst to Martin Luther King, Jr.

Svenja O’Donnell

'A lyrical, engrossing and essential read' - Sathnam Sanghera 
 
'A superbly nuanced reclamation of history and family secrets' - Brian Van Reet, author of Spoils 
 
What does it mean to be on the wrong side of history? 
 
Svenja O'Donnell’s beautiful, aloof grandmother Inge never spoke about the past. All her family knew was that she had grown up in a city that no longer exists on any map: Königsberg in East Prussia, a footnote in history, a place that almost no one has heard of today. But when Svenja impulsively visits this windswept Baltic city, something unlocks in Inge and, finally, she begins to tell her story. 
 
It begins in the secret jazz bars of Hitler’s Berlin. It is a story of passionate first love, betrayal, terror, flight, starvation and violence. As Svenja teases out the threads of her grandmother’s life, retracing her steps all over Europe, she realises that there is suffering here on a scale that she had never dreamt of. And finally, she uncovers a desperately tragic secret that her grandmother has been keeping for sixty years. 
 
Inge's War listens to the voices that are often missing from our historical narrative – those of women caught up on the wrong side of history. It is a book about memory and heritage that interrogates the legacy passed down by those who survive. It also poses the questions: who do we allow to tell their story? What do we mean by family? And what will we do in order to survive?

Inge's War

A Story of Family, Secrets and Survival under Hitler

The year is 1Q84. This is the real world, there is no doubt about that. But in this world, there are two moons in the sky. Discover the 1Q84 Trilogy by Haruki Murakami.

1Q84

365 Days of Art

A BBC Christmas

A Black Book Thriller

A Box Full of Murders

A Cal Leandros Novel

A Christmas Mystery

The intelligent and capable police commissioner Guido Brunetti confronts crime in and around his home town of Venice.

A Commissario Brunetti Mystery

A DC Smith / Kings Lake Investigation Series

A Daisy Story

Chronicling the lives of over three hundred characters, unrivalled for its scope and humour, this is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England.

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