Biography

I was only sixteen when I bought an electric guitar and joined a band. A year later, I formed an all-girl band called the Marine Girls and played gigs, and signed to an indie label, and started releasing records. Then, for eightee…

The first in Deborah Levy's essential three-part 'Living Autobiography' on writing and womanhood. Taking George Orwell's famous essay, 'Why I Write', as a jumping-off point, Deborah Levy offers her own indispensable reflections of…

A deeply moving memoir about growing up in the 90s, written in the wake of the senseless killing of a beloved friend.  Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Memoir. One of The New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. When Hua …

The English language has no specific word for the parent that has lost a child. There exist words for orphan, widow and widower, but there is no word that captures and conveys this tragic type of loss. It has been eleven years sin…

Now 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 change…

Documenting everything from covert fumblings in the repressed American Midwest of the 1950’s to the Arcadian gay debauchery of New York in the 1970’s; through the terror of HIV and the age of sex on the apps, White has seen – and …

How did Tiger Woods become the greatest of all time? And how did he fall so spectacularly? Before the age of twenty-five, Tiger Woods had risen to phenomenon status: twice named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated, champio…

Shon Faye grew up quietly obsessed with the feeling that love was not for her. Not just romantic love: the secret fear of her own unworthiness penetrated every aspect and corner of her life. It was a fear that would erupt in destr…

In the archives of the national library, a researcher named Linda sees a nine year-old girl's face in the pages of a yellowed newspaper, and the seed of an obsession is planted in her mind.Birgitta Sivander was brutally murdered o…

Crazy isn't being broken or swallowing a dark secret. It's you or me amplified. If you ever told a lie and enjoyed it.If you ever wished you could be a child forever. In 1967, after a session with a psychiatrist she'd never seen b…

As a society, there is a tendency to elevate romantic love. But what about friendships? Aren't they just as – if not more – important? So why is it hard to find the right words to express what these uniquely complex bonds mean to …

Noreen Masud has always loved flat landscapes - their stark beauty, their formidable calm, their refusal to cooperate with the human gaze. They reflect her inner world: the 'flat place' she carries inside herself, emotional numbne…

Ever since he was a kid, kicking broken footballs on the streets of East London in the shadow of Canary Wharf's skyscrapers, Gary wanted something better. Something a whole lot bigger. Then he won a competition run by a bank: 'The…

An exhilarating, immersive journey into the Exclusion Zone of Chornobyl with the disaffected adventurers who illegally stalk its ruins Amidst the toxic desolation of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, a subculture has sprung up. They c…

Growing up in 1970s Mexico City, Jennifer Clement lived next door to Frida Kahlo's house. It was a bohemian childhood, living alongside artists, communists, revolutionaries and poets, which allowed an awakening of creative freedom…

The seven rules to follow to realise your true purpose in life-distilled by Arnold Schwarzenegger from his own journey of ceaseless reinvention and extraordinary achievement, and available for absolutely anyone. The world's greate…

Anyone who has heard David Sedaris speaking live or on the radio will tell you that a collection from him is cause for jubilation. A move to Paris from New York inspired these hilarious pieces, including 'Me Talk Pretty One Day', …

Christine McVie – born Christine Perfect – was the quintessentially English rock star, as both the backbone and the beating heart of Fleetwood Mac. Straddling the band’s incarnations to achieve global fame alongside Stevie Nicks, …

In my case, reading has always served a dual purpose. In a positive sense, it offers sustenance, enlightenment, the bliss of fascination. In a negative sense, it is a means of withdrawal, of inhabiting a reality quarantined from o…

Rather than a traditional biography, Rory Gallagher - The Later Years takes the format of a series of essays. It consists of six core sections ('In the Studio', 'On the Stage 1985-1991', 'Introducing the New Rory Gallagher Band', …

John Creedon is a renowned storyteller. Following on from the sensational success of An Irish Folklore Treasury, here he seeks to capture the folklore of his own childhood. This Boy’s Heart is set in a city-centre household bursti…

The harrowing story of a woman who escaped famine and terror in North Korea, not once but twice. ‘A gripping, suspenseful and cathartic memoir that tells a story of pain and perseverance and makes the moral case for asylum.’ David…

An illuminating account of John F. Kennedy’s brief but transformative tenure in the White House, from acclaimed author and historian Mark K. Updegrove, head of the LBJ Foundation and presidential historian for ABC News.Nearly sixt…

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a new exploration of Karl Marx's life through his intellectual contributions to modern thoughtKarl Marx (1818–1883)—philosopher, historian, sociologist, economist, current affairs journal…

Patsy Peril was born in 1943 in Coonagh, a small fishing community on the Shannon, not far from Limerick. His family fished from a traditional gandelow boat, using hemp nets. Further upriver was Ardnacrusha, the enormous hydro-ele…

When Lulu Miller's relationship falls apart, she turns to an unlikely figure for guidance - the 19th-century naturalist, David Starr Jordan. Pouring over his diaries, Lulu discovers a man obsessed with nature's hidden order, devot…

From the author of the #1 bestselling Born a Crime comes a gorgeously illustrated fable about a young child's journey into the world beyond the shadow of home, an enchanted landscape where he discovers the secrets of solidarity, c…

NOW WITH AN UPDATED FOREWORD AND ADDITIONAL CONTENT'An affirmation of the power of love, kindness, courage and human resilience' - Lara Marlowe, author of Love in a Time of WarBernard Phelan was working for an Iranian tour operato…

Should architecture be used for punishment? How might the spaces we inhabit nurture or damage us? How can we begin to start over after the worst has happened? Criminologist Yvonne Jewkes grapples with these questions every day as …

From a young age, Ed Gamble's immaculate bibs and extremely dirty nappies hinted at his capacious appetite. Before he could walk, Ed already knew that he preferred poached salmon to puree, that celery was a calorie-sapping waste o…