BookOdyssey

This is Orwell\'s memoir of his experiences during the Spanish Civil War - a groundbreaking work of dissident literature drawn from vivid personal experience. There are occasions where it pays better to fight and be beaten than not to fight at all...Both a memoir of Orwell\'s experiences during the Spanish Civil War and a heartfelt tribute to those who died, Homage to Catalonia is an extraordinary first-hand record of his time on the frontline. Written with all of the depth, passion and deep human understanding that defines Orwell\'s writing this is a vivid account of the battles that were faced by ordinary working people as they fought for both their lives and their ideologies.Although Orwell was himself near-fatally wounded he finds both bleak and comic notes in his experience which is recorded with such clarity and depth that this short work has become one of his best known.\'The finest model of how to write about a foreign conflict, a war or a revolution... Brilliant reportage\' Timothy Garten-Ash \'[Orwell] describes what is happening in Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War in such a way that we are able to see why he’s so upset about Soviet power. His argument is not one of category and concept but of irresistible observation\' Timothy Snyder\'When he went to Spain, [Orwell] was an unknown. He wasn’t Hemingway. He wasn’t a well-connected intellectual. He just had this amazing eye for detail. He was an amazing observer, and he could write so powerfully. This book, to me, is just one of the classics of foreign reporting\' Guy Raz Σελίδες: 288, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0109, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

This lost classic, a crystal clear eyewitness account of the Holocaust, has been translated into English for the first time, 70 years after it was first published.\'A literary diamond... A holocaust memoir worthy of Primo Levi\' The Times\'A masterpiece\' New Statesman**SELECTED AS ONE OF THE 10 BEST BOOKS OF 2024 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES**For many years this powerful classic of Holocaust literature was forgotten. József Debreczeni was a journalist and poet who arrived in Auschwitz in 1944. He survived the initial selection and endured twelve months of incarceration and slave labour in a series of camps. He ended up in the ‘Cold Crematorium’, the so-called hospital of the forced labour camp Dörnhau, where prisoners too weak to work were left to die. Debreczeni beat the odds and survived. This is his story, written in haunting, lyrical prose, compelling us to imagine the unimaginable.Although published in Hungarian in 1950, the book was then lost for the next seventy years. Now, finally, this important eyewitness account takes its place among the great works of Holocaust literature.WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JONATHAN FREEDLAND Σελίδες: 256, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

When Jean Sasson’s book Princess: Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia was published, it became an immediate international bestseller. It sold to 43 countries and spent 13 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. Now, in this long-awaited, compelling new book, Sasson and the Princess ‘Sultana’ return to tell the world what it means to be a Saudi woman today.Through advances in education and with access to work, Saudi women are breaking through the barriers; they are becoming doctors, social workers, business owners and are even managing to push at the boundaries of public life. Major steps forward have, undoubtedly, been made.But this is not the whole story. Sadly, despite changes in the law, all too often legal loopholes leave women exposed to terrible suppression, abuse and crimes of psychological and physical violence. For many, the struggle for basic human rights continues.This fascinating insight will include personal stories of triumph and heartbreak, as told to Princess \'Sultana\', her eldest daughter, and author Jean Sasson. Each of these stories will offer the reader a glimpse into different aspects of Saudi society, including the lives of the Princess, her daughter and other members of the Al-Saud Royal family. Σελίδες: 432, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0910, Διαστάσεις: 11.1x11.1cm

A provocative and rousing insight into European politics from one of the world\'s greatest writers.\'One of his most powerful works.\' Financial Times\'A pan-European intellectual force.\' TimesIn a moment of historic peril and uncertainty in mainland Europe, Milan Kundera makes the case for Central Europe as the nucleus of European values and as a lightning rod for its potential dangers.For the countries that make up this region where democracy is under continued threat from Russian oppression, language and culture play an active role in affirming national identity. And each of these countries - Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - has been historically overlooked by the major powers of Western Europe. But Kundera cautions that this blindness puts Europe\'s cultural and political independence at risk, a warning that feels increasingly relevant to our current moment, and our future. Σελίδες: 80, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

A Daily Mail Book of the Week Prolific armed robber. Close ally of Joey Pyle. Friend and fellow inmate of the Kray twins. Last man to stand trial with a Kray brother. First prisoner in the notorious Belmarsh Unit … Welcome to Ronnie Field\'s world. From his abusive childhood, his inevitable journey into crime and his role in the dangerous underworld of south London’s gangland through to his eventful spells in many of Britain’s most secure jails, Ronnie Field is ready to recount his incredible story for the very first time. It’s a new take on the criminal fraternity of the 1970s and 80s from one of the last men standing. A raw, honest and sometimes humorous portrayal of a life in the fast lane of organised crime, Nefarious is a reflection on a bygone era from which there are few regrets. Though some things are best laid to rest… There was a code. It\'s not there now. The public weren\'t in general danger from us. Most of our lot never burgled anybody\'s gaff. None of our lot every mugged people. We didn\'t hit women. Most of us didn\'t take drugs. We dressed well. Wouldn\'t be seen dead in tracksuit or shell suit. We were polite around women. Although our business was misbehavior, we knew how to behave. Σελίδες: 320, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0826, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

How much do you know about the Victorian novelist who outsold Dickens? Or the woman who became the first published poet in America? Do you know what connects Homer’s Iliad to Aesop’s Fables?The Secret Library explores these intriguing morsels of lesser-known history, along with the familiar literary heavyweights we know and love. Bringing together an eclectic literary mix of novels, plays, travel books, science books and joke books, author Oliver Tearle explores how the history of the Western World has intersected with all kinds of books over the last 3,000 years. Delve into this treasure trove of curious literary examples to learn how our history and books are inextricably linked. Σελίδες: 256, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Patrick McGuigan is a British food journalist and cheese writer, who contributes to The Telegraph, Delicious and The Financial Times, among many other titles. He has travelled the world, from the Swiss Alps to the hipster cheese bars of New York, to write about cheese makers, maturers and retailers. A senior judge at the World Cheese Awards, Patrick also teaches cheese courses at the School of Fine Food and is a co-founder of the British Cheese Weekender and London Cheese Project festivals. He is particularly partial to a slice of Kirkham\'s Lancashire. www.patrickmcguigan.com Σελίδες: 112, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

Did you know that Winston Churchill spent his twenty-fifth birthday as a prisoner of war? Or that he fought in the trenches during the First World War? Churchill once had dinner with the king in No. 10’s air-raid shelter, and his chickens lived in a shed, built by Winston, called ‘Chickenham Palace’. These and many other fun facts about this great historical figure and his life are all contained within this little book, which, together with more than 100 illustrations, will delight Churchill fans everywhere! Σελίδες: 160, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0608, Διαστάσεις: 18x18cm

‘Her voice is absolutely, beguilingly conversational … Intelligent, allusive, iconoclastic, captivatingly intense … This is the news from the domestic frontline: personal, unique, unexpurgated, without propaganda, as it unfolded and was experienced … Splendid’William Boyd, Guardian With the intimacy and wit of a Second World War Bridget Jones, Eileen Alexander offers a portal into life during the Blitz. Eileen Alexander fell in love amidst the falling of bombs, finding a quotation from poetry at every turn. Graduating from Cambridge in 1939, she had just been injured in a car crash (the man she had a soft spot for was driving) and had firm ambitions of studying further, making herself useful and absolutely not getting married. Her letters offer a love story and a unique snapshot of the home front, as well as resurrecting the voice of a profoundly funny writer. ‘I wonder what anyone would think if they suddenly came across my letters to you & started reading them in chronological order?’ Eileen wrote in 1941. ‘I think they’d say “This girl never lived till she loved” – and it would be true, darling.’ Σελίδες: 432, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

A gripping memoir written by a 96-year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor about his escape from Nazi-occupied Poland in the 1930\'s and his adventures with the French Resistance during World War II In 1937, as the Nazi Party tightened its grip on the city of Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland), Justus Rosenberg’s parents made the wrenching decision to send their son to Paris, where he would have the hope of finishing high school and going on to university in safety. He was sixteen years old, and he would not see his family again for sixteen years more. Even after war broke out in 1939, life in France was peaceful for a time—but when the Nazis pushed toward Paris in the spring of 1940, Justus was forced to flee south to Toulouse. There, a chance meeting put Justus in contact with Varian Fry, the American journalist who ran a refugee network that aided several thousand Jews in escaping Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. With his German background, understanding of French cultural, and fluency in several languages, including English, Justus was ideally positioned to thrive in Fry’s network, coming to master an underworld of counterfeit documents, whispered passwords, black market currency, opportunistic gangsters, and clandestine mountain passes. Justus would spend the rest of the war working for Fry and later the French Resistance, helping to provide safe passage for many intellectuals and artists on the run from the Nazis, among them Hannah Arendt, Marc Chagall, Andre Breton, and Max Ernst. Along the way, he would have a number of close scrapes of his own: on one occasion, he was rounded up to be sent to a labor camp in Poland, and had to make a daring escape to save his life; on another, he narrowly survived after his jeep hits a landmine. An epic saga of survival, with the soul of a spy thriller, The Art of Resistance is also an uplifting story of personal triumph. (Several years after the war, Justus was finally able to track down his family, who he feared had died at the Nazis’ hands.) As Justus writes, “I survived the war through a rare combination of good fortune, resourcefulness, optimism, and, most important, the kindness of many good people.” Σελίδες: 304, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

One of the Financial Times\' \'Best Summer Books of 2024\'\'Probably the most delightful and evocative book ever produced on the English pub.\' Slightly Foxed\'Will make you homesick for saloons, riverside pubs, and \'jug-and-bottle bars\' you never knew existed.\' Vittles\'A wonderful chance to roam the pubs of forties London with a guide at our shoulder who knows every nook and cranny.\' Des O\'Driscoll, Irish Examiner \'Books of the Year\'\'Wonderful . . . a detailed study of life in London pubs.\' Islington Tribune\'Both a historical document and a time capsule that stands the test of time, from its charming illustrations by Gorham\'s collaborator, artist Edward Ardizzone, to the index of London taverns that are (largely) mostly still open.\' Róisín Lanigan, Irish Independent\'A book that glows like the logs on an open fire or the ruddy features of the regular ordering another glass of Burton.\' Andy Miller, author of A Year of Dangerous Reading and co-host of the Backlisted podcast\'A little gem of a book.\' Henry Jeffreys, author of Empire of Booze and Vines in a Cold Climate\'A delightful book. Perfect bedtime reading, when you get back from the pub, perhaps.\' David Harsent In this love letter to the London pub, our genial guide takes the reader through all aspects of the local hostelry as it was in the 1940s - a time of dark wood, dark corners and dark beer. Back to the Local is a fascinating nostalgic ramble around the post-war pubs of London: we are introduced to The Regulars and Barmaids Old and New; we venture into the familiar surroundings of the Saloon Lounge, Saloon Bar and Public Bar and squeeze into possibly the lesser known Jug-And-Bottle Bar, where customers queue to buy ale to drink elsewhere; we learn about \'lost\' drinks such as \'The Mother-in-Law\' or \'The Snort\'. A truly memorable pub crawl, illustrated by the wonderfully atmospheric drawings of Edward Ardizzone.This edition includes a fold out map showing the pubs featured in the book which are still trading, plus a new preface by Robert Elms. Σελίδες: 144, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

The Dive is a thrilling narrative nonfiction in the tradition of The Perfect Storm and Apollo 13. They were out of their depth, out of breath, and out of time. It was 1973. Two men were trapped in a crippled submarine 1,700 feet below sea. They only had enough air to survive for two days. On the ocean’s surface there was a hastily assembled flotilla of rescue ships from both sides of the Atlantic. The world held its breath to await word of a rescue. In a routine dive to fix the telecommunication cable that snakes along the Atlantic sea bed, their mission had gone badly wrong. There was a catastrophic fault on board the Pisces III, and Roger Chapman and Roger Mallinson’s mini-submarine went tumbling to the ocean bed almost half a mile below. The crippled sub and its crew were trapped far beyond the depth of any previous sub-sea rescue. They had just two days’ worth of oxygen. However, on the surface the best estimates for a rescue of these men was a minimum of three days’ time. The Dive is brilliantly researched by veteran journalist Stephen McGinty. Stephen adeptly reconstructs the race against time as Britain, America and Canada pooled their resources into a ‘Brotherhood of the Sea’ dedicated to stopping the ocean depths claiming two of their own. Based on previously undisclosed records, maritime logbooks, and exclusive interviews with all the key participants, The Dive takes the reader on an emotional and thrilling ride from the depths of defeat to a glimpse of the sun-dappled surface. Σελίδες: 368, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

A provocative and rousing essay collection from one of Europe\'s greatest writers.The people of Central Europe cannot be separated from European history; they cannot exist outside it; but they represent the wrong side of this history; they are its victims and outsiders.In a moment of historic peril and uncertainty in mainland Europe, Milan Kundera makes the case for Central Europe as the nucleus of European values and as a lightning rod for its potential dangers.For the countries that make up this region where democracy is under continued threat from Russian oppression, language and culture play an active role in affirming national identity. And each of these countries - Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - has been historically overlooked by the major powers of Western Europe. But Kundera cautions that this blindness puts Europe\'s cultural and political independence at risk, a warning that feels increasingly relevant to our current moment, and our future. Σελίδες: 96, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

In the tradition of ‘Agent Zigzag’ comes a breathtaking biography of WWII’s ‘Scarlet Pimpernel’ as fast-paced and emotionally intuitive as the best spy thrillers. This celebrates unsung hero Robert de La Rochefoucauld, an aristocrat turned anti-Nazi saboteur, and his exploits as a British Special Operations Executive-trained resistant When the Nazis invaded France during the Second World War and imprisoned his father, Robert de La Rochefoucauld – a scion of one of the oldest aristocratic families in France – escaped to England and trained in the dark arts of anarchy and combat. Under the guidance of SOE spies, he learned to crack safes, plant bombs and kill enemies with his bare hands. Then, back in France, he organised Resistance cells, killed Nazi officers and interfered with German missions. He survived unbearable torture and escaped Nazi confinement on not one but two occasions, to live well into his eighties. The adventures of de La Rochefoucauld offer rare insight into a unique moment in history, revealing brand new information about a network of commandos who battled evil and bravely worked together to change the course of history. Σελίδες: 304, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

The Sunday Times bestseller THE STORY OF BRITAIN during the long reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Find out how Britain changed in this entrancing, lively portrait of Britain’s Elizabethan Age by bestselling writer and broadcaster Andrew Marr Britain changed fundamentally during the Queen’s long, distinguished reign. So who made modern Britain the country it is today? How do we sum up the kind of people we are? What did it mean to be the new Elizabethans? In this wonderfully told history, spanning back to when Queen Elizabeth became queen in 1953, Andrew Marr traces the people who have made Britain the country it is today. From the activists to the artists, the sports heroes to the innovators, these people pushed us forward, changed the conversation, encouraged us to eat better, to sing, think and to protest. They got things done. How will our generation be remembered in a hundred years’ time? And when you look back at Britain’s toughest moments in the past seventy years, what do you learn about its people and its values? In brilliantly entertaining style and with unexpected insights into some of our sung and unsung heroes, this is our story as Elizabethans – the story of how 1950s Britain evolved into the diverse country we live in today. In short, it is the history of modern Britain. FEATURING: David Attenborough. Marcus Rashford. Jan Morris. Diana Dors. Bob Geldof. David Olusoga. Elizabeth David. Zaha Hadid. Frank Crichlow. Quentin Crisp. Dusty Springfield. Captain Tom – and many others. Σελίδες: 512, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

No book more vividly explains the horror of American slavery and the emotional impetus behind the antislavery movement than Frederick Douglass’s Narrative. In an introductory essay, Robert B. Stepto reexamines the extraordinary life and achievement of a man who escaped from slavery to become a leading abolitionist and one of our most important writers. The John Harvard Library text reproduces the first edition, published in Boston in 1845. Σελίδες: 176, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0415, Διαστάσεις: 14x14cm

WINNER OF THE 2024 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION FINANCIAL TIMES 2023 HIGHLIGHT\'Helen Czerski weaves together physics and biology, history and science, in a beautifully poetic way.\'Professor Alice Roberts\'In Helen Czerski\'s hands, the mechanical becomes magical. An instant classic.\'Tristan Gooley, author of How to Read Water\'Blue Machine is quite simply one of the best books I have ever read.\'Dr George McGavin, zoologist, entomologist and broadcaster\'A fascinating dive into the essential engine that drives our world. Czerski brings the oceans alive with compelling stories that masterfully navigate this most complex system.\'Gaia Vince, science journalist, broadcaster and author of Nomad Century All of the Earth\'s ocean, from the equator to the poles, is a single engine powered by sunlight - a blue machine.Earth is home to a huge story that is rarely told - that of our ocean. Not the fish or the dolphins, but the massive ocean engine itself: what it does, why it works, and the many ways it has influenced animals, weather and human history & culture.In a book that will recalibrate our view of this defining feature of our planet, physicist Helen Czerski dives deep to illuminate the murky depths of the ocean engine, examining the messengers, passengers and voyagers that live in it, travel over it, and survive because of it. From the ancient Polynesians who navigated the Pacific by reading the waves to permanent residents of the deep such as the Greenland shark that can live for hundreds of years, she explains the vast currents, invisible ocean walls and underwater waterfalls that all have their place in the ocean\'s complex, interlinked system.Timely, elegant and passionately argued, Blue Machine presents a fresh perspective on what it means to be a citizen of an ocean planet. The understanding it offers is crucial to our future. Drawing on years of experience at the forefront of marine science, Helen Czerski captures the magnitude and subtlety of Earth\'s defining feature, showing us the thrilling extent to which we are at the mercy of this great engine. Σελίδες: 464, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

LONGLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2025LONGLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2025Richly imaginative and powerfully empathetic, an intimate portrait of five remarkable Black men, and a meditation on race, estrangement and the search for home.\'Thrilling and ingenious, propulsive and genre-defying: The Strangers is an outstanding book\' Bernardine Evaristo\'Luminous and extraordinary... This book will be referenced for years to come\' Lemn SissayIn the western imagination, a Black man is always a stranger. Outsider, foreigner, intruder, alien. One who remains associated with their origins irrespective of how far they have travelled from them. One who is not an individual in their own right but the representative of a type.What kind of performance is required for a person to survive this condition? And what happens beneath the mask?In answer, Ekow Eshun conjures the voices of five very different men. Ira Aldridge: nineteenth century actor and playwright. Matthew Henson: polar explorer. Frantz Fanon: psychiatrist and political philosopher. Malcolm X: activist leader. Justin Fashanu: million-pound footballer. Each a trailblazer in his field. Each haunted by a sense of isolation and exile. Each reaching for a better future.Ekow Eshun tells their stories with breathtaking lyricism and empathy, capturing both the hostility and the beauty they experienced in the world. And he locates them within a wider landscape of Black art, culture, history and politics which stretches from Africa to Europe to North America and the Caribbean. As he moves through this landscape, he maps its thematic contours and fault lines, uncovering traces of the monstrous and the fantastic, of exile and escape, of conflict and vulnerability, and of the totemic central figure of the stranger. Σελίδες: 400, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

\'Haunting and powerfully resonant... this is a story not just of remarkable individuals, but also a tribute to the wider indomitability of the human spirit at the darkest moment in European history\' - Sinclair McKay, bestselling author of Berlin and DresdenZippi Spitzer and David Wisnia’s story began when they first locked eyes across the work floor. It was the start of a romance that could have unfolded anywhere if it weren’t for one key difference: Zippi and David were prisoners in history’s most infamous death camp.David and Zippi defied the odds by surviving for years beneath the ash-choked skies of Auschwitz. Shielded by the protection of their fellow inmates, saved on occasion by their own ingenuity and twists of fate, their love affair reminded them that their old world still existed – a world of possibilities, of freedom and desire. As the war’s end drew near, little did they know just how far their lives would diverge, and how many years would pass before they would meet again.An unbelievable true story of romance, sacrifice, loss, and resilience, Lovers in Auschwitz chronicles the lives of two young people ensnared in the Nazis’ horrific creation, who discovered hope and humanity in history’s darkest hour. Σελίδες: 400, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

The Holocaust has given rise to many accounts of resistance and rescue, but The Counterfeit Countess is unique. It tells the remarkable, untold story of \'Countess Janina Suchodolska\', a Jewish woman named Janina Mehlberg who rescued more than 10,000 Poles imprisoned by their country\'s Nazi occupiers. Janina Mehlberg operated in Lublin, headquarters of Aktion Reinhard, the SS operation that murdered 1.7 million Jews in occupied Poland. Using the identity papers of a Polish aristocrat, she worked as a welfare official while also serving in the Polish resistance. With guile, cajolery, and steely persistence, \'the Countess\' persuaded SS officials to release thousands of Poles from the Majdanek concentration camp. She won permission to deliver food, clothing and medicine for thousands more of the camp\'s prisoners. At the same time, she personally smuggled supplies and messages to resistance fighters imprisoned at Majdanek, where 63,000 Jews were murdered in gas chambers and shooting pits. Incredibly, she eluded detection, survived the war and eventually emigrated to the USA. Drawing on the manuscript of Mehlberg\'s own unpublished memoir, supplemented with prodigious research, Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa, professional historians and Holocaust experts, have uncovered the full story of this extraordinary woman. They interweave Mehlberg\'s sometimes harrowing personal testimony with broader historical narrative. Unsparing yet inspiring, The Counterfeit Countess is an unforgettable account of selfless courage in the face of unspeakable cruelty, and a major addition to the history of the Holocaust. Σελίδες: 336, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

A TLS AND GQ BOOK OF THE YEARWINNER OF A SOMERSET MAUGHAM AWARDFINALIST FOR THE ORWELL PRIZESAnnouncing the arrival of a major new talent, an astonishing work of social history which captures Black gay Britain as never before.\'A fascinating, lively and illuminating social history . . . remarkable.\'BERNARDINE EVARISTO, TLS (Books of the Year)\'Extraordinary.\' SHON FAYE\'Groundbreaking.\' GUARDIAN\'Beautifully woven.\' i NEWS\'Gorgeous, gossipy.\' EVENING STANDARD\'A rich, vital story.\' FRIEZE\'A triumph.\' GAY TIMES***In this landmark work, Jason Okundaye meets an elder generation of Black gay men and finds a spirited community full of courage, charisma and good humour, hungry to tell its past - of nightlife, resistance, political fights, loss, gossip, sex, romance and vulgarity. Through their conversations he seeks to reconcile the Black and gay narratives of Britain, narratives frequently cleaved as distinct and unrelated.Tracing these men\'s journeys and arrivals to South London through the seventies, eighties and nineties from the present day, Okundaye relays their stories with rare compassion, listening as they share intimate memories and reflect upon their lives. They endured and fought against the peak of the AIDS epidemic, built social groups and threw underground parties; they went to war with institutions (and with each other) and created meaning within a society which was often indifferent to their existence.Revolutionary Acts renders a singular portrait of Britain from the perspective of those buffeted by the winds of marginalisation and discrimination. It is a portrait marked by resilience and self-determination, inspired by the love and beauty Black men have found in each other.***\'A sparkling book that is all the more remarkable for being the author\'s first. Okundaye is an outstanding guide to what it means to be black and gay in Britain, providing a perspective to the last four decades that is as revelatory as it is important.\'PETER FRANKOPAN\'In this seminal book Okundaye gives us juicy dialogue, tears and laughter, and vivid landscapes of memory.\'MENDEZ, author of Rainbow Milk\'This groundbreaking debut tells the stories of seven radicals who were among the first out Black gay men in Britain . . . Okundaye\'s research and interviews completely recast key moments in Black British history . . . We should be grateful that he has managed to capture a vital moment that - at so many points - could have been lost for ever.\'LANRE BAKARE, GUARDIAN Σελίδες: 304, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

A TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR \'Anaximander is a delight and so is this book\' -- James McConnachie, Sunday TimesNow widely available in English for the first time, this is Carlo Rovelli\'s first book: the thrilling story of a little-known man who created one of the greatest intellectual revolutions Over two thousand years ago, one man changed the way we see the world.Since the dawn of civilization, humans had believed in the heavens above and the Earth below. Then, on the Ionian coast, a Greek philosopher named Anaximander set in motion a revolution. He not only conceived that the Earth floats in space, but also that animals evolve, that storms and earthquakes are natural, not supernatural, that the world can be mapped and, above all, that progress is made by the endless search for knowledge. Carlo Rovelli\'s first book, now widely available in English, tells the origin story of scientific thinking: our rebellious ability to reimagine the world, again and again.Translated by Marion Lignana Rosenberg Σελίδες: 240, Διαστάσεις: 12x12cm

A Palestinian prisoner’s memoir of thirty years’ captivity, and a love letter to the wall that encircles and comforts him This is the story of a wall that somehow chose me as the witness of what it said and didNasser Abu Srour grew up in a refugee camp in the West Bank, on the outskirts of Bethlehem. As a child, he played in its shadow and explored the little world within the camp. As he grew older, he began questioning the boundaries that limited his existence. Later, sentenced to life in prison, with no hope of parole, he found himself surrounded by a physical wall.This is the story of how, over thirty years in captivity, he crafted a new definition of freedom. Turning to writings by philosophers as varied as Derrida, Kirkegaard and Freud, he begins to let go of freedom as a question that demanded an answer, in order to preserve it as a dream. The wall becomes his stable point of reference, his anchor, both physically and psychologically.As each year brings with it new waves of releases of prisoners, he dares to hope, and seeks refuge in the wall when these hopes are dashed. And, in a small miracle, he finds love with a lawyer from the outside – while in her absence, the wall is his solace and his curse.A testimony of how the most difficult of circumstances can build a person up instead of tearing them down, The Tale of a Wall is an extraordinary record of the vast confinement and power of the mind. Σελίδες: 320, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER2025 marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Read and remember the history that led to this important moment.\'This book is his best yet . . . Dimbleby’s work is in a different league, told with such skill and judgment\' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday TimesA gripping and authoritative account of the year that sealed the fate of the Nazis, from the bestselling historianJune 1944: In Operation Bagration, more than two million Red Army soldiers, facing 500,000 German soldiers, finally avenged their defeat in Operation Barbarossa in 1941. The same month saw the Allies triumph on the beaches of Normandy, but, despite the myths that remain, it was the events on the Eastern Front that sealed Hitler\'s fate and destroyed Nazism.In his new book, bestselling historian Jonathan Dimbleby describes and analyses this momentous year, covering the military, political and diplomatic story in his evocative style. Drawing on previously untranslated German, Russian and Polish sources, we see how sophisticated new forms of deception and ruthless Partisan warfare shifted the Soviets’ fortunes, how their triumphs effectively gave Stalin authority to occupy Eastern Europe and how it was the events of 1944 that enabled Stalin to dictate the terms of the post-war settlement, laying the foundations for the Cold War . . .\'Mr. Dimbleby is a sure-footed guide to the labyrinthine military operations along a front line that extended nearly 2,000 miles, from the Baltic to the Black Sea\' Wall Street Journal\'Terrific . . . a tour de force\' Sir Richard Evans\'Military history at its very best\' Keith LoweSunday Time Bestseller, June 2024 Σελίδες: 640, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERIn his ground-breaking new book, Sathnam Sanghera traces the legacies of British empire around the world.‘A wonderful book’ Rory Stewart‘Nuanced and deeply researched’ Financial Times‘Not just a welcome corrective but a book for our times’ Peter Frankopan_____________________________________________________The British empire was built on slavery, but it also pioneered abolition.It spread democracy, but it also seeded geopolitical instability.It devastated nature but it also gave birth to modern notions of environmentalism.In this urgent sequel to Empireland, award-winning author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera extends his examination of British imperial legacies beyond Britain to the wider world.Travelling across outposts of the former empire from Barbados and Mauritius to India and Nigeria and beyond, Sanghera puts to bed the conventional balance-sheet view of imperial history where the good is merely weighed up against the bad. In Empireworld, Sanghera instead seeks out nuance to reveal how contradictory forces of the British empire have shaped our world and what they mean for our place within it today._____________________________________________________‘An absolute masterpiece’ James O’Brien‘Puts Sanghera in the firmament of great imperial historians’ Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, i ‘Profoundly moving’ Elizabeth Day Σελίδες: 464, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

\'A necessary book – and I can think of no writer better qualified to write it\' Cal Flyn What if Chernobyl was just the beginning?The acclaimed winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize returns to Chernobyl to tell the gripping story of thirty-five days of warOn 24 February 2022, the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, armoured vehicles approached the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine. It was the most direct way for them to reach the capital - and an extraordinarily reckless plan after the disaster that had taken place there three decades earlier. Russian occupation of the plant had begun. It would last thirty-five days.Closely reported and narrated from multiple perspectives, this is the story of the Ukrainians who were held hostage and worked shifts for weeks instead of days to spare the world a new nuclear accident. We meet Valentyn Heiko, the foreman who had also been there for the clean-up of the Chernobyl accident in 1986 and turned sixty during the occupation; plant workers who found a way to celebrate International Women’s Day despite all odds; Russian officers who had no knowledge of nuclear reactors; and four stalkers who were caught in the middle and stood in for the overworked cook.Gripping and unforgettable, Chernobyl Roulette sounds the alarm about the dangers of nuclear sites in an unprecedented time, when plant workers are left to fight on their own while the world holds its breath. In a book that reads like a thriller, Serhii Plokhy tells a remarkable story about human nature, uncertainty and courage. Σελίδες: 240, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

‘It should become a standard work on this campaign’ Telegraph\'James Holland is now our foremost authority on the Italian campaign\' John C. McManus\'A heart-pounding narrative of the brutal Allied fight to take Rome... This is history at its finest\' James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize finalist\'Holland writes with eloquence and power about the harsh realities of a brutal battle that grabbed the world’s attention and helped to decide the future of Italy\' Professor Michael S. Neiberg___________There are no such thing as an easy victory in war but after triumph in Tunisia, the sweeping success of the Sicilian invasion, and with the Italian surrender, the Allies were confident that they would be in Rome before Christmas 1943.And yet it didn\'t happen. Hitler ordered his forces to dig in and fight for every yard, thus setting the stage for one of the grimmest and most attritional campaigns of the Second World War.By the start of 1944, the Allies found themselves coming up against the Gustav Line: a formidable barrier of wire, minefields, bunkers and booby traps, woven into a giant chain of mountains and river valleys that stretched the width of Italy where at its strongest point perched the Abbey of Monte Cassino.It would take five long bitter winter months and the onset of summer before the Allies could finally bludgeon their way north and capture Rome. By then, more than 75,000 troops and civilians had been killed and the historic abbey and entire towns and villages had been laid waste.Following a rich cast of characters from both sides - from frontline infantry to aircrew, from clerks to battlefield commanders, and from politicians and civilians caught up in the middle of the maelstrom - James Holland has drawn widely on diaries, letters and contemporary sources to write the definitive account of this brutal battle. The result is a compelling and often heart-breaking narrative, told in the moment, as the events played out, and from the perspective of those who lived, fought and died there. Σελίδες: 784, Διαστάσεις: 12.7x12.7cm

Discover the Sunday Times bestseller and incredible true story behind the most catastrophic 24-hours the British military faced in World War II from the bestselling author.‘Utterly brilliant... this book really is the last word on the Battle of Arnhem’ James Holland’Superb... A military historian of originality and insight to compare with the best’ Saul David_________The Battle of Arnhem is one of the best-known stories in British military history: a daring but doomed attempt to secure a vital bridgehead across the Rhine in order to end the war before Christmas 1944.It is always written about, with the benefit of unerring 20/20 hindsight, as being destined to fail, but the men who fought there, men of military legend, didn\'t know that that was to be their fate.Now, in Arnhem: Black Tuesday, Al Murray focuses on the events of one day as they happened through the eyes of the British participants, without bringing any knowledge of what would happen tomorrow to bear, offering a very different perspective on a familiar narrative.Some things went right and a great many more went wrong, but recounting them in this way allows the reader to understand for the first time how certain decisions were taken in the moment and how opportunities were squandered.Al Murray has always been obsessed by this legendary battle, and in Arnhem: Black Tuesday he showcases all of his knowledge, interpretation and enthusiasm to bear to tell the story of one of history’s great heroic failures differently for the first time._________Praise for Arnhem: Black Tuesday:‘Original and insightful’ Telegraph\'A revelation.. This is Arnhem unplugged. By confining himself to men in and around Arnhem on that Tuesday, Murray achieves something special\' The Times Σελίδες: 432, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0826, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

‘Unforgettable’ Independent‘Fresh and gripping’ TelegraphTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLEROn April 30, 1980, six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian embassy on Princes Gate, overlooking Hyde Park in London. There they took 26 hostages, including embassy staff, visitors, and three British citizens.A tense six-day siege ensued as millions gathered around screens across the country to witness the longest news flash in British television history, in which police negotiators and psychiatrists sought a bloodless end to the standoff, while the SAS – hitherto an organisation shrouded in secrecy – laid plans for a daring rescue mission: Operation Nimrod.Drawing on unpublished source material, exclusive interviews with the SAS, and testimony from witnesses including hostages, negotiators, intelligence officers and the on-site psychiatrist, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes readers on a gripping journey from the years and weeks of build-up on both sides, to the minute-by-minute account of the siege and rescue.Recreating the dramatic conversations between negotiators and hostages, the cutting-edge intelligence work happening behind-the-scenes, and the media frenzy around this moment of international significance, The Siege is the remarkable story of what really happened on those fateful six days, and the first full account of a moment that forever changed the way the nation thought about the SAS – and itself.\'The pre-eminent historian of the secret world . . . His books have set the gold standard for accurate historical reporting, but read like heart-pounding thrillers\' Mick Herron‘Macintyre does true-life espionage better than anyone else’ John Preston Σελίδες: 400, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A Telegraph Best Book of the Year \'An intense, evocative portrait of one of the most remarkable figures of our era\' ANNE APPLEBAUM \'This is the Zelensky book we’ve been waiting for’ CATHERINE BELTON THE TIMES: A BEST BOOK OF 2024 – NEXT YEAR’S TOP READS GUARDIAN: BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2024 INDEPENDENT: A BOOK OF THE MONTH Written with unprecedented access, this is the first inside, intimate account of the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the perspective of President Zelensky and his team. Based on four years of reporting; extensive travels with President Zelensky to the front; and dozens of interviews with him, his wife, his friends and enemies, his advisers, ministers and military commanders, The Showman tells an intimate and eye-opening story of the President’s evolution from a slapstick actor to a symbol of resilience, revealing how he managed to rally the world’s democracies behind his cause. Clear-eyed about the President’s early failures as a peacemaker and his willingness to silence political dissent, the book offers a complex picture of a man struggling to break what he sees as a historical cycle of oppression that began generations before he was born. Even as the war drags on, Zelensky lays out his vision for its future course and, through his actions, demonstrates his strategy for countering the Russians and keeping the West on his side. The result is a riveting, up-close picture of the invasion as experienced by its number one target and improbable hero. The Showman, as a work of eyewitness journalism, provides an essential perspective on the war defining our age. As a study in leadership and human resolve, its appeal is timeless and universal. \'Intimate but unflinchingly objective, this biography gives you a seat at Zelensky\'s war cabinet and penetrates his mind as he battles to save Ukraine\'s freedom—and ours\' Peter Pomerantsev, author of Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible Σελίδες: 384, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Discover the brave, shocking and remarkable true story of two RAF lieutenants\' capture during the Gulf War\'HEROISM UNDER A BLOOD RED SKY\' Independent\'THE MOST COMPELLING STORY OF THE GULF WAR\' Daily Mail_________RAF Flight Lieutenants John Peters and John Nichol were shot down over enemy territory on their first mission of the Gulf War.Their capture in the desert, half a mile from their blazing Tornado bomber, led to seven harrowing weeks of torture, confinement and interrogation.An ordeal which brought both men close to death.In Tornado Down, John Peters and John Nichol tell the incredible story of their part in the war against Saddam Hussein\'s regime.It is a brave and shocking and totally honest story: a story about war and its effects on the hearts and minds of men. Σελίδες: 336, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

THE SUNDAY TIMES AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER\'The ultimate Holocaust testimony.\' HEATHER MORRIS, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka\'s JourneyAfterword by JOHN BOYNE, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas_______________Eddy de Wind, a Dutch doctor and psychiatrist, was shipped to Auschwitz with his wife Friedel, whom he had met and married at the Westerbork labour camp in the Netherlands. At Auschwitz, they made it through the brutal selection process and were put to work. Each day, each hour became a battle for survival.For Eddy, this meant negotiating with the volatile guards in the medical barracks. For Friedel, it meant avoiding the Nazis\' barbaric medical experiments. As the end of the war approached and the Russian Army drew closer, the last Nazis fled, taking many prisoners with them, including Friedel. Eddy hid under a pile of old clothes and stayed behind. Finding a notebook and pencil, he began to write with furious energy about his experiences.Last Stop Auschwitz is an extraordinary account of life as a prisoner, a near real-time record of the daily struggle to survive but also of the flickering moments of joy Eddy and Friedel found in each other. Documenting the best and the worst of humanity, it is a unique and timeless story that reminds us of what we as humans are capable of, but that there is hope, even in Hell. _______________WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:\'It\'s heart-wrenching, but there are pockets of resistance, rays of hope that shine through.\'\'Powerful and ultimately uplifting... with courage and strength you can survive anything.\'\'This is an important work. We must never forget.\' Σελίδες: 272, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

As fans of Just a Minute know, the key to the game is knowing your way around the English language: how it works, how it’s evolved, and how words connect, often in surprising ways. When it comes to the English language (and Just a Minute), Gyles Brandreth has seen it all – and now he’s ready to put you through your linguistic paces, to become a Just a Minute expert yourself.In this wildly entertaining A to Z of verbal acrobatics, Gyles takes you on a whirlwind tour of our mother tongue – from the origins of words and correct grammar and punctuation, to similes, euphemisms and record breaking tongue twisters (try getting your mouth around floccinaucinihilipification!). An idiosyncratic blend of history, word play, anecdote, and hyperbole, all in 60-second instalments, this is Gyles Brandreth at his word-perfect, Just-a-Minute best. You’ll never mix your metaphors again... Σελίδες: 320, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1230, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

Award-winning New York Times reporter Donald G. McNeil, Jr. reflects on twenty-five years of covering pandemics—how governments react to them, how the media covers them, how they are exploited, and what we can do to prepare for the next one—in this “fascinating, ferocious fusillade against humanity’s two deadliest enemies: disease and itself” (The Economist).For millions of Americans, Donald G. McNeil, Jr. was a comforting voice when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. He was a regular reporter on The New York Times’s popular podcast The Daily and told listeners early on to prepare for the worst. He’d covered public health for twenty-five years and quickly realized that an obscure virus in Wuhan, China, was destined to grow into a global pandemic rivaling the 1918 Spanish flu. Because of his clear advice, a generation of Times readers knew the risk was real but that they might be spared by taking the right precautions. Because of his prescient work, The New York Times won the 2021 Pulitzer Gold Medal for Public Service. The Wisdom of Plagues is “must-reading for preparing us better for the next unavoidable epidemic” (Peter Piot, MD, co-discoverer of Ebola) as McNeil shares his account of what he learned over a quarter-century of reporting in over sixty counties. Many science reporters understand the basics of diseases—from how a virus works to what goes into making a vaccine. But very few understand the psychology of how small outbreaks turn into pandemics, why people refuse to believe they’re at risk, or why they reject protective measures like quarantine or vaccines. The COVID-19 pandemic was the story McNeil had trained his whole life to cover. His expertise and breadth of sources let him make many accurate predictions in 2020 about the course that a deadly new virus would take and how different countries would respond. By the time McNeil wrote his last New York Times stories, he had not lost his compassion—but he had grown far more stone-hearted about how governments should react. He had witnessed enough disasters and read enough history to realize that while every epidemic is different, failure was the one constant. Small case-clusters ballooned into catastrophe because weak leaders became mired in denial. Citizens refused to make even minor sacrifices for the common good. They were encouraged in that by money-hungry entrepreneurs and power-hungry populists. Science was ignored, obvious truths were denied, and the innocent too often died. In The Wisdom of Plagues, “one of the most enlightening books on public health” (Lena Wen, MD), McNeil offers tough, prescriptive advice on what we can do to improve global health and be better prepared for the inevitable next pandemic. Σελίδες: 400, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0213, Διαστάσεις: 14x14cm

\'A racily written, well-researched and heart-warming account\' Scots MagazineToo many historians have ignored the role of women in the \'45. This book aims to redress the balance. Damn\' Rebel Bitches takes a totally fresh approach to the history of the Jacobite Rising by telling fascinating stories of the many women caught up in the turbulent events of 1745-46. Drawn from original documents and letters, Maggie Craig brings their stories to life in this often touching and always engrossing reframed history.\'A modern classic\' The Herald \'Bold and argumentative...resounds with authority\' Scotland on Sunday Σελίδες: 224, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

\'Superbly researched and enormously entertaining... One of the outstanding books of the year\' The TimesAn epic story of empire-building and bloody conflict, this ground-breaking biography of one of history’s most venerated military and religious heroes opens a window on the Islamic and Christian worlds’ complex relationship.WINNER OF THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZEWhen Saladin recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187, returning the Holy City to Islamic rule, he sent shockwaves throughout Christian Europe and the Muslim Near East that reverberate today.It was the culmination of a supremely exciting life. Born into a significant Kurdish family in northern Iraq, this warrior and diplomat fought under the banner of jihad, but at the same time worked tirelessly to build an empire that stretched from North Africa to Western Iraq. Gathering together a turbulent coalition, he was able to capture Jerusalem, only to trigger the Third Crusade and face his greatest adversary, King Richard the Lionheart.Drawing on a rich blend of Arabic and European sources, this is a comprehensive account of both the man and the legend to which he gave birth, describing vividly the relentless action of his life and tracing its aftermath through culture and politics all the way to the present day.\'An authoritative and brilliantly told account of the life of one of the world\'s greatest – and most famous – military leaders\' Peter Frankopan Σελίδες: 512, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm