Abbey's Advocate

‘Why do some nights feel as though they were always waiting to happen? Or have already happened and will again? And why don’t we know it then? Why is it only afterwards we say, yes, that was when my life turned?’

1965. The great poet, TS Eliot, is dead. Hearing the news, the seventy-two year old Emily Hale points her Ford Roadster towards the port of Gloucester, where a fishing boat will take her out to sea, near the low, treacherous rocks called the Dry Salvages, just off Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Over the course of that day, clutching a satchel of letters, Emily Hale slips between past and present, reliving her life with Eliot – starting with that night in 1913, the moment when her life turned, when the young Tom Eliot and Emily Hale fell deeply in love with each other.

But Tom moved to London to fulfil his destiny as the famous poet ‘TS Eliot’, and Emily went on to become his muse – the silent figure behind some of the greatest poetry of the 20th century – his friend and his confidante. But never did she become his lover or his wife.

From Steven Carroll, one of our most brilliant, award-winning authors, A New England Affair is the third novel in his acclaimed Eliot Quartet, a companion novel to The Lost Life and A World of Other People. It is a deeply moving, intense and poignant novel of a love that never finds the right moment, and so becomes the ghost of what could have been, of what never quite was, and never quite will be.

'Jacky was running. There was no thought in his head, only an intense drive to run. There was no sense he was getting anywhere, no plan, no destination, no future. All he had was a sense of what was behind, what he was running from. Jacky was running.'

The Natives of the Colony are restless. The Settlers are eager to have a nation of peace, and to bring the savages into line. Families are torn apart, reeducation is enforced. This rich land will provide for all.

This is not Australia as we know it. This is not the Australia of our history. This TERRA NULLIUS is something new, but all too familiar.

This is an incredible debut from a striking new Australian Aboriginal voice.

'It is quite a feat to write characters with such nuance . . . in harnessing her storytelling facility to expose the flaws in the system with what is becoming trademark empathy, Laguna is an author proving the novel is a crucial document of the times.'
Louise Swinn, The Australian

I never had words to ask anybody the questions, so I never had the answers.

Abandoned by her mother and only occasionally visited by her secretive father, Justine is raised by her pop, a man tormented by visions of the Burma Railway. Justine finds sanctuary in Pop's chooks and The Choke, where the banks of the Murray River are so narrow it seems they might touch - a place of staggering natural beauty. But the river can't protect Justine from danger. Her father is a criminal, and the world he exposes her to can be lethal.

Justine is overlooked and underestimated, a shy and often silent observer of her chaotic world. She learns that she has to make sense of it on her own. She has to find ways to survive so much neglect. She must hang on to friendship when it comes, she must hide when she has to, and ultimately she must fight back.

The Choke is a brilliant, haunting novel about a child navigating an often dark and uncaring world of male power and violence, in which grown-ups can't be trusted and comfort can only be found in nature. This compassionate and claustrophobic vision of a child in danger and a society in trouble celebrates above all the indomitable nature of the human spirit.

Sofie Laguna, winner of the 2015 Miles Franklin Literary Award for The Eye of the Sheep, once again shows she is a writer of rare empathy, originality and blazing talent.

They chose not to speak and now they are gone… What's left to fill the silence is no longer theirs. This is my story, woven from the threads of rumour and legend.



Jakub Rand flees his village for Prague, only to find himself trapped by the Nazi occupation. Deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, he is forced to sort through Jewish books for a so-called Museum of the Extinct Race. Hidden among the rare texts is a tattered prayer book, hollow inside, containing a small pile of dirt.



Back in the city, Františka Roubíčková picks over the embers of her failed marriage, despairing of her conversion to Judaism. When the Nazis summon her two eldest daughters for transport, she must sacrifice everything to save the girls from certain death.Decades later, Bram Presser embarks on a quest to find the truth behind the stories his family built around these remarkable survivors.



The Book of Dirt is a completely original novel about love, family secrets, and Jewish myths. And it is a heart-warming story about a grandson's devotion to the power of storytelling and his family's legacy.

From the Nobel Prize winner and best-selling author Orhan Pamuk is The Red-Haired Woman, a fable of fathers and sons and the desires that come between them.

On the outskirts of a town thirty miles from Istanbul, a master well digger and his young apprentice are hired to find water on a barren plain. As they struggle in the summer heat, excavating without luck, the two develop a filial bond neither has known before - not the poor middle-aged bachelor nor the middle-class boy whose father disappeared after being arrested for politically subversive activities.

The pair come to depend on each other and exchange stories reflecting disparate views of the world. But in the nearby town, where they buy provisions and take their evening break, the boy finds an irresistible diversion- The Red-Haired Woman, an alluring member of a travelling theatre company. She catches his eye and seems as fascinated by him as he is by her. When the young man's wildest dream is realised, in his distraction a horrible accident befalls the well digger and the boy flees, returning to Istanbul.

Only years later will he discover whether he was in fact responsible for his master's death and who the redheaded enchantress was.

The Red-Haired Woman is a beguiling mystery tale of family and romance, of east and west, tradition and modernity, by one of the great storytellers of our time.

If only Pat Macgregor had an inkling of the embarrassment – romantic, professional, even aesthetic – that flowed from accepting narcissistic ex-boyfriend Bruce Anderson’s invitation for coffee, she would never have said yes. And if only Matthew, her boss at the art gallery, hadn’t wandered into his local bookshop and picked up a particular book at a particular time, he would never have knocked over his former English teacher or attracted the attentions of the police.

Whether caused by small things such as a cup of coffee and a book, or major events such as Stuart’s application for promotion and his wife Irene’s decision to go off and study for a PhD in Aberdeen, change is coming to serial fiction’s favourite street. But for three seven-year-old boys – Bertie Pollock, Ranald Braveheart Macpherson, and Big Lou’s foster son Finlay – it also means a getting a glimpse of perfect happiness.

Alexander McCall Smith’s delightfully witty, wise and sometimes surreal comedy spirals out to include tennis-playing Rwandan Forest People, researches into levitating Celtic saints, bogus headhunters in Papua New Guinea and primary school performances of Beckett. But its heart remains where it has always been – true to life, love and laughter in Edinburgh’s New Town.

When powerful real-estate tycoon Nero Golden immigrates to the States under mysterious circumstances, he and his three adult children assume new identities and reinvent themselves as Roman emperors living in a lavish house in downtown Manhattan. Arriving shortly after the inauguration of Barack Obama, he and his sons, each extraordinary in his own right, quickly establish themselves at the apex of New York society.

The story of the powerful Golden family is told from the point of view of their Manhattanite neighbour and confidant, René, an aspiring filmmaker who finds in the Goldens the perfect subject. René chronicles the undoing of the house of Golden: the high life of money, of art and fashion, a sibling quarrel, an unexpected metamorphosis, the arrival of a beautiful woman, betrayal and murder, and far away, in their abandoned homeland, some decent intelligence work.

Invoking literature, pop culture, and the cinema, Rushdie spins the story of the American zeitgeist over the last eight years, hitting every beat: the rise of the birther movement, the Tea Party, Gamergate and identity politics; the backlash against political correctness; the ascendency of the superhero movie, and, of course, the insurgence of a ruthlessly ambitious, narcissistic, media-savvy villain wearing make-up and with coloured hair.

In The Golden House, as entertaining as it is poignant, Rushdie has written a revelatory panorama of our time.

There's only one place in the world that lonely twelve-year-old Walter Lavender, Jr. feels at home: The Lavenders, his mother's unusual West Village dessert shop where meringues scud through displays like clouds, marzipan dragons breathe actual fire, and the airy angel food cake can make customers pounds lighter.When the mysterious and magical Book at the heart of the shop vanishes and a landlord threatens closure, it's up to Walter to find the Book and save the shop. Despite-or because of-a communication disorder that renders him speechless and friendless, Walter has a special ability to find lost things. In fact, the only thing he's failed to find is his father, a pilot lost in a presumed plane crash at sea before Walter was born.Accompanied by Milton, his best friend and overweight golden retriever, Walter's quest will take him around and under New York City, into subway tunnels and soaring over Central Park, from bottle collecting in Chinatown to racing through the Met, and introduce him to the extraordinary and forgotten people of this fantastical city. Along the way he will discover his voice, and learn what it means to truly be found.

John Connolly recreates the golden age of Hollywood for an intensely compassionate study of the tension between commercial demands and artistic integrity and the human frailties behind even the greatest of artists.An extraordinary reimagining of the life of one of the greatest screen comedians the world has ever known: a man who knew both adoration and humiliation; who loved, and was loved in turn; who betrayed, and was betrayed; who never sought to cause pain to others, yet left a trail of affairs and broken marriages in his wake . . . And whose life was ultimately defined by one relationship of such tenderness and devotion that only death could sever it: his partnership with the man he knew as Babe.he is Stan Laurel.But he did not really exist. Stan Laurel was a fiction.With he, John Connolly recreates the golden age of Hollywood for an intensely compassionate study of the tension between commercial demands and artistic integrity, the human frailties behind even the greatest of artists, and one of the most enduring and beloved partnerships in cinema history: Laurel &Hardy.

'Omar Hamilton brings vividly to life the failed revolution of 2011 on the streets of Cairo, in all its youthful bravery and naive utopianism.' - JM Coetzee. The City Always Wins is a remarkable novel from the psychological heart of a revolution. From the communal highs of pitched night battles against the police in Cairo to the solitary lows of defeated exile in New York, Omar Robert Hamilton's debut is a unique immersion into one of the key chapters of the 21st century. Bringing to life the 2011 Egyptian revolution, The City Always Wins conveys with extraordinary intensity all the stages of that place and that time through the lives of its two main characters Mariam and Khalil, ordinary young people caught up in an extraordinary moment. Furthermore, The City Always Wins is a novel not just about Egypt's revolution but about a global generation that tried to change the world.Reminiscent of the writing of Jeet Thayil, Zia Haider Rahma and Nadeem Aslam, Hamilton's prose is arrestingly visual, intensely lyrical and uncompromisingly political. A genuinely exciting new writer, he looks set to become a defining voice of his generation.

Jules Epstein, a man whose drive, avidity, and personality have, for sixty-eight years, been a force to be reckoned with, is undergoing a metamorphosis. In the wake of his parents' deaths, his divorce from a thirty-year marriage, and his retirement from the New York legal firm where he was a partner, he begins shedding the possessions he spent a lifetime accumulating - a watch here, an Old Master there - and becomes elusive, distant. Resolving to do something to commemorate his parents, he travels to Tel Aviv and checks into the Hilton. Meanwhile, a novelist leaves her husband and children behind in Brooklyn and arrives at the same hotel, hoping that the view of the pool she used to dive into on childhood holidays will unlock her writer's block. But when a retired professor of literature recruits her for a project involving Kafka, she is drawn into a mystery that will take her on a metaphysical journey and change her in ways she could never have imagined.

While wandering through a Paris auction house, avid collector Pierre-Francois Chaumont is stunned to discover the eighteenth-century portrait of an unknown man who looks just like him. Much to his delight, Chaumont's bid for the work is successful, but back at home his jaded wife and circle of friends are unable to see the resemblance. Chaumont remains convinced of it, and as he researches into the painting's history, he is presented with the opportunity to abandon his tedious existence and walk into a brand new life...

England, 1852. William is a biologist and seed merchant, who sets out to build a new type of beehive - one that will give both him and his children honour and fame.

United States, 2007. George is a beekeeper and fights an uphill battle against modern farming, but hopes that his son can be their salvation.

China, 2098. Tao hand paints pollen onto the fruit trees now that the bees have long since disappeared. When Tao’s young son is taken away by the authorities after a tragic accident - and she is kept in the dark about his whereabouts and condition - she sets out on a grueling journey to find out what happened to him.

Haunting, illuminating, and deftly written, The History of Bees joins these three very different narratives into one gripping and thought provoking story that is just as much about the powerful relationships between children and parents as it is about our very relationship to nature and humanity.

Julia Robinson and Cassie Burnes have been friends since nursery school. They have shared everything, including their desire to escape the stifling limitations of their birthplace, the quiet town of Royston, Massachusetts. But as the two girls enter adolescence, their paths diverge: while Julia comes from a stable, happy, middle-class family, Cassie never knew her father, who died when she was an infant, and has an increasingly tempestuous relationship with her single mother, Bev. When Bev becomes involved with the mysterious Anders Shute, Cassie feels cruelly abandoned. Disturbed, angry and desperate for answers, she sets out on a journey that will put her own life in danger, and shatter her oldest friendship. Compact, compelling, and ferociously sad, The Burning Girl is at once a story about childhood, friendship and community, and a complex examination of the stories we tell ourselves about childhood and friendship. Claire Messud brilliantly mixes folklore and Bildungsroman, exploring the ways in which our made-up stories, and their consequences, become real.

The Lovely Bones meets Margaret Atwood in this extraordinary, deeply moving, supernatural story of a young man's journey to find his mother.

The Lovely Bones and The Book of Strange New Things meets Margaret Atwood in this unique, transcendent and deeply moving story.

John Fallon is a disillusioned journalist on a failing Glasgow newspaper. After a second failed independence referendum, Scotland is in turmoil, having broken into a number of autonomous city states. But Fallon has trouble closer to home: his son Roland has gone missing after a peaceful student protest turns violent at the hands of the newly militarised police.

In another world, a boy is wakened in the afterlife by his spirit guide, his beloved childhood dog, Kim. Kim takes the boy on a journey to the planets where the dead go, where he hopes to find his long dead mother.

As the boy and his dog make a shocking discovery that requires an impossible choice, Fallon searches for his son, discovering along the way that a great deal more is at stake than the future of one nation. In All the Galaxies, Philip Miller presents a mesmerising morality tale that proves both a compulsive page-turner and unforgettable emotional journey.

The brilliant new novel by the author of the New York Times bestseller, Everything I Never Told You.

Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned - from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principal is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren - an enigmatic artist and single mother - who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the alluring mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When the Richardsons' friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town and puts Mia and Mrs. Richardson on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Mrs. Richardson becomes determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs to her own family - and Mia's.

Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of long-held secrets and the ferocious pull of motherhood-and the danger of believing that planning and following the rules can avert disaster, or heartbreak.

A brilliant and immersive, all-consuming read about one fourteen-year-old girl's heart-stopping fight for her own soul.

'You think you're invincible. You think you won't ever miss. We need to put the fear on you. You need to surrender yourself to death before you ever begin, and accept your life as a state of grace, and then and only then will you be good enough.'

At 14, Turtle Alveston knows the use of every gun on her wall; That chaos is coming and only the strong will survive it; That her daddy loves her more than anything else in this world. And he'll do whatever it takes to keep her with him. She doesn't know why she feels so different from the other girls at school; Why the line between love and pain can be so hard to see; Why making a friend may be the bravest and most terrifying thing she has ever done And what her daddy will do when he finds out...

Sometimes strength is not the same as courage. Sometimes leaving is not the only way to escape. Sometimes surviving isn't enough.

The author of the international bestseller THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY returns with a witty, moving novel about what it means to be a woman - especially in the Google age where no secret is safe for long.

Aviva Grossman, an ambitious Congressional intern in Florida, makes the life-changing mistake of having an affair with her boss - who is beloved, admired, successful, and very married - and blogging about it. When the affair comes to light, the Congressman doesn't take the fall, but Aviva does, and her life is over before it hardly begins. She becomes a late-night talk show punchline; she is slut-shamed, labelled as fat and ugly, and considered a blight on politics in general.

How does one go on after this? In Aviva's case, she sees no way out but to change her name and move to a remote town in Maine. She starts over as a wedding planner, tries to be smarter about her life, and to raise her daughter to be strong and confident.

But when, at the urging of others, she decides to run for public office herself, that long-ago mistake trails her via the Internet like a scarlet A. These days, Google guarantees that the past is never, ever, truly past, that everything you've done will live on for everyone to know about for all eternity. And it's only a matter of time until Aviva/Jane's daughter, Ruby, finds out who her mother was, and is, and must decide whether she can still respect her.

In a nation divided by prejudice, everyone must take a side... A gloriously involving and powerful read for fans of Gone With The Wind and Tracy Chevalier's The Last Runaway.   

When young seamstress May Bedloe is left alone and penniless on the shore of the Ohio, she finds work on the famous floating theatre that plies its trade along the river. Her creativity and needlework skills quickly become invaluable and she settles in to life among the colourful troupe of actors. She finds friends, and possibly the promise of more...

But cruising the border between the Confederate South and the 'free' North is fraught with danger.

For the sake of a debt that must be repaid, May is compelled to transport secret passengers, under cover of darkness, across the river and on, along the underground railroad.

But as May's secrets become harder to keep, she learns she must endanger those now dear to her.

Christmas 1558, and young Ned Willard returns home to Kingsbridge to find his world has changed. Europe is in turmoil and Ned soon finds himself on the opposite side from the girl he longs to marry, Margery Fitzgerald.

When Elizabeth Tudor becomes queen, all of Europe turns against England. The young monarch sets up the country's first secret service to give her early warning of assassination plots, rebellions and invasion plans. She knows that alluring, headstrong Mary Queen of Scots lies in wait in Paris. Mary was proclaimed the rightful ruler of England and her own supporters are scheming to get rid of Elizabeth.

Over a turbulent half-century, the love between Ned and Margery seems doomed, as extremism sparks violence from Edinburgh to Geneva. With Elizabeth clinging precariously to her throne and her principles, protected by a small, dedicated group of resourceful spies and courageous secret agents, it becomes clear that the real enemies are not the rival religions.

The true battle pitches those who believe in tolerance and compromise against the tyrants who would impose their ideas on everyone else - no matter the cost.

In late 2015, Georgia Blain was diagnosed with a tumour sitting right in the language centre of her brain. Prior to this, Georgia’s only warning had been a niggling sense that her speech was slightly awry. She ignored it, and on a bright spring day, as she was mowing the lawn, she collapsed on a bed of blossoms, blood frothing at her mouth.

Waking up to find herself in the back of an ambulance being rushed to hospital, she tries to answer questions, but is unable to speak. After the shock of a bleak prognosis and a long, gruelling treatment schedule, she immediately turns to writing to rebuild her language and herself.

At the same time, her mother, Anne Deveson, moves into a nursing home with Alzheimer's; weeks earlier, her best friend and mentor had been diagnosed with the same brain tumour. All three of them are writers, with language at the core of their being.

The Museum of Words is a meditation on writing, reading, first words and last words, picking up thread after thread as it builds on each story to become a much larger narrative. This idiosyncratic and deeply personal memoir is a writer’s take on how language shapes us, and how often we take it for granted — until we are in danger of losing it.

The inspirational true story of an amazing Australian woman who has devoted her life to helping people experiencing life-threatening illnesses and devastating mental distress.

As a child Petrea King was dogged by health issues, spending months in hospital over many years. After leaving school, her desire to help others impelled her to become a nurse, then later to qualify as a naturopath, herbalist, homoeopath, yoga instructor and meditation teacher.

In her early thirties Petrea was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and given little chance of surviving. She defied her dire prognosis, and believes meditation and coming to terms with past traumas, including the suicide of her brother Brenden, were key to her recovery.

Motivated by her own experiences, Petrea founded the Quest for Life Foundation to support people suffering devastating physical and mental illnesses. Up Until Now is her inspirational tale of how she overcame her own challenges to dedicate her life to others.

The Last Australian Childhood, written by Kevin Moloney, is a collection of 40 vignettes written in the different voices of a child, reflecting his age at the time the story is set. The stories tell of Kevin's family life, growing up in suburban Melbourne inthe 1960s as a Catholic boy who lost his father at the age of 11 and his mother at 17. Each chapter, a stand-alone story in itself, reflects an innocence and naivete which engages the reader in humour and an appreciation of family life simple and uncomplicated.

The never-before-told story of World War II escape artist extraordinaire, Johnny Peck.

In August 1941, an eighteen-year-old Australian soldier made his first prison break - an audacious night-time escape from a German prisoner-of-war camp in Crete. Astoundingly, this was only the first of many escapes.

An infantryman in the 2/7 Battalion, Johnny Peck was first thrown into battle against Italian forces in the Western Desert. Campaigns against Hitler's Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe in Greece and Crete followed. When Crete fell to the Germans at the end of May 1941, Peck was trapped on the island with hundreds of other men. On the run, they depended on their wits, the kindness of strangers, and sheer good luck.

When Peck's luck ran out, he was taken captive by the Germans, then the Italians. Later, after his release from a Piedmontese jail following the Italian Armistice of 1943, and at immense risk to his own life, Peck devoted himself to helping POWs cross the Alps to safety. Captured once more, Peck was sentenced to death and detained in Milan's notorious, Gestapo-run San Vittore prison - until escaping again, this time into Switzerland.

Historian Peter Monteath reveals the action-packed tale of one young Australian soldier and his remarkable war.

From activist, Pussy Riot member and freedom fighter Maria Alyokhina,  a raw, hallucinatory, passionate account of her arrest, trial and  imprisonment in a penal colony in the Urals for standing up for what she  believed in.

'One of the most brilliant and inspiring things I've read in years. Couldn't put it down. This book is freedom' Chris Kraus, author of I Love Dick

People who believe in freedom and democracy think it will exist forever.That is a mistake. What happened in Russia - what happened to me - could happen anywhere.When  I was jailed for political protest, I learned that prison doesn't just  teach you to follow the rules. It teaches you to think that you can  never break them. It's inevitable that the prison gates will  open at some point. But this doesn't mean that you leave the 'prisoner'  category and go straight into the category of 'the free'.

Freedom does not exist unless you fight for it every day.This is the story about how I made a choice. We are all Pussy Riot. And actions break fear. 'To Back Down an Inch is to Give Up a Mile'.

“In the past, for reasons I try to explain, I’ve often felt I had to be careful in public, like I was up on a wire without a net. Now I’m letting my guard down.”
- Hillary Clinton, from the introduction of What Happened

For the first time, Hillary Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history. Now free from the constraints of running, Hillary takes you inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules. This is her most personal memoir yet.

In these pages, she describes what it was like to run against Donald Trump, the mistakes she made, how she has coped with a shocking and devastating loss, and how she found the strength to pick herself back up afterwards. With humor and candor, she tells readers what it took to get back on her feet - the rituals, relationships, and reading that got her through, and what the experience has taught her about life. She speaks about the challenges of being a strong woman in the public eye, the criticism over her voice, age, and appearance, and the double standard confronting women in politics.

She lays out how the 2016 election was marked by an unprecedented assault on our democracy by a foreign adversary. By analyzing the evidence and connecting the dots, Hillary shows just how dangerous the forces were that shaped the outcome, and why Americans need to understand them to protect our values and our democracy in the future.

The election of 2016 was unprecedented and historic. What Happened is the story of that campaign and its aftermath - both a deeply intimate account and a cautionary tale for the nation.

Simon Leys is the pen-name of Pierre Ryckmans, who was born in Belgium and settled in Australia in 1970. He taught Chinese literature at the Australian National University and was Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Sydney from 1987 to 1993. He died in 2015.

Writing in three languages - French, Chinese and English - he played an important political role in revealing the true nature of the Cultural Revolution. His writing on China and on varied literary and cultural topics appeared regularly in the New York Review of Books, Le Monde, Le Figaro LittUraire, Quadrant and the Monthly, and his books include The Hall of Uselessness, The Death of Napoleon, Other People's Thoughts and The Wreck of the Batavia & Prosper. In 1996 he delivered the ABC's Boyer Lectures. His many awards include the Prix Renaudot, the Prix Mondial Cino Del Duca, the Prix Guizot and the Christina Stead Prize for fiction.

This substantial biography - recently published by Gallimard in France to wide acclaim and winning an academy award from the AcadUmie Francaise - draws on extensive correspondence with Ryckmans, as well as his unpublished writings. It has been translated by an internationally renowned French translator Julie Rose (based in Sydney).

In this highly topical work in light of Brexit, Donald Trump's Presidency and the rise of the alt-right, #1 New York Times bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas E. Ricks explains how Winston Churchill and George Orwell's far-sighted vision and inspired action in the face of authoritarianism helped to preserve individual freedom and democracy for the world.

They are perhaps the most important figures in modern British history- Orwell's 1984 is the most set text in schools in the UK, and Churchill is repeatedly named as the Greatest Brito'. Both are widely recognised for their vision and courage to campaign tirelessly, in words and deeds, against the totalitarian threat from both the left and the right. In a crucial moment, they responded first by seeking the facts of the matter, seeing through the lies and obfuscations, and then acted on their beliefs. Together they kept the West's compass set toward freedom as its due north.

However, in the late 1930s they occupied a lonely position- democracy was discredited in many circles and authoritarian rulers, fascist and communist, were everywhere in the ascent. Churchill and Orwell had the foresight to see clearly that the issue was human liberty - and that any government that denies its people basic rights is a totalitarian menace and has to be resisted. In the end, Churchill and Orwell proved their age's necessary men.

The glorious climax of Churchill & Orwell is their drive in the 1940s to triumph over freedom's enemies. Churchill may have played the larger role in the defeat of Hitler and the Axis, but Orwell's reckoning with the menace of authoritarian rule in Animal Farm and 1984 would define the stakes of the Cold War for its 50-year course, and continues to inspire to this day.

The rise of George Villiers from minor gentry to royal power seemed to defy gravity. Becoming gentleman of the royal bedchamber in 1615, the young gallant enraptured James, Britain’s first Stuart king, royal adoration reaching such an intensity that the king declared he wanted the courtier to become his ‘wife’. For a decade, Villiers was at the king’s side – at court, on state occasions and in bed, right up to James’s death in March 1625.

Almost immediately, Villiers’ many enemies accused him of poisoning the king. A parliamentary investigation was launched, and scurrilous pamphlets and ballads circulated London’s streets. But the charges came to nothing, and were relegated to a historical footnote.

Now, new historical scholarship suggests that a deadly combination of hubris and vulnerability did indeed drive Villiers to kill the man who made him. It may have been by accident – the application of a quack remedy while the king was weakened by a malarial attack. But there is compelling evidence that Villiers, overcome by ambition and frustrated by James’s passive approach to government, poisoned him.

In The King’s Assassin, acclaimed author Benjamin Wooley examines this remarkable, even tragic story. Combining vivid characterization and a strong narrative with historical scholarship and forensic investigation, Woolley tells the story of King James’s death, and of the captivating figure at its centre. What emerges is a compelling portrait of a royal favourite whose charisma overwhelmed those around him and, ultimately, himself.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Khrushchev: The Man and his Era.

This is the definitive biography on one of the most important and controversial figures of the 20th century. Drawing on interviews with Gorbachev himself, transcripts and documents from the Russian archives, and interviews with Kremlin aides and adversaries, as well as foreign leaders, Taubman’s intensely personal portrait extends to Gorbachev’s remarkable marriage to a woman he deeply loved, and to the family that they raised together. Nuanced and poignant, yet unsparing and honest, this sweeping account has all the amplitude of a great Russian novel.90 illustrations

When Mikhail Gorbachev became its leader in March 1985, the USSR was still one of the world’s two superpowers. By the end of his tenure six years later, the Communist system was dismantled, the cold war was over and, on 25th December 1991, the Soviet Union itself ceased to exist. While not solely responsible for this remarkable upheaval, he set decisive changes in motion. Assessments of Gorbachev could not be more polarised. In the West, he is regarded as a hero. In Russia, he is widely hated by those who blame him for the collapse of the USSR. Admirers marvel at this vision and courage. Detractors, including many of his Kremlin comrades, have accused him of everything from naivete to treason.

Global in perspective and covering over four million years of history, this accessible volume provides a chronological account of both the development of the human race and the order in which modern societies have made discoveries about their ancient past. Beginning deep in prehistory, it takes in all the great archaeological sites of the world as it advances to the present day.

A masterful combination of succinct analysis and driving narrative, Archaeology: The Whole Story also addresses the questions that inevitably arise as we gradually learn more about the history of our species: what are we? Where did we come from? What inspired us to start building, writing and all the other activities that we traditionally regard as exclusively human? A concluding section explains how we know what we know: for example, how seventeen prehistoric shrines were discovered around Stonehenge using magnetometers, ground-penetrating radars, and 3D laser scanners; and how DNA analysis enabled us to identify some bones discovered beneath a car park in Leicester as the remains of a fifteenth-century king of England.

Written by an international team of archaeological experts and richly illustrated throughout, Archaeology: The Whole Story offers an unparalleled insight into the origins of humankind.

Weird, decadent, degenerate, racially mixed, superstitious, theocratic, effeminate, and even hyper-literate, Byzantium has long been regarded by many as one big curiosity. According to Voltaire, it represented "a worthless collection of miracles, a disgrace for the human mind" for Hegel it was "a disgusting picture of imbecility."

A Cabinet of Byzantine Curiosities will reinforce these old prejudices, while also stimulating a deeper interest among readers in one of history's most interesting civilizations. Many of the zanier tales and trivia that are collected here revolve around the political and religious life of Byzantium. Thus, stories of saints, relics, and their miracles - from the hilarious to the revolting - abound. Byzantine bureaucracy (whence the adjective "Byzantine"), court scandals, and elaborate penal code are world famous. And what would Byzantium be without its eunuchs, whose ambiguous gender produced odd and risible outcomes in different contexts?

The book also contains sections on daily life that are equally eye-opening, including food (from aphrodisiacs to fermented fish sauce), games such as polo and acrobatics, and obnoxious views of foreigners and others (e.g., Germans, Catholics, Arabs, dwarves). But lest we overlook Byzantium's more honorable contributions to civilization, also included are some of the marvels of Byzantine science and technology, from the military (flamethrowers and hand grenades) to the theatrical ("elevator" thrones, roaring mechanical lions) and medical (catheters and cures, some bizarre). This vast assortment of historical anomaly and absurdity sheds vital light on one of history's most obscure and orthodox empires.

One of the greatest commanders of the ancient world brought vividly to life: Hannibal, the brilliant general who successfully crossed the Alps with his war elephants and brought Rome to its knees.

Hannibal Barca of Carthage, born 247 BC, was one of the great generals of the ancient world. His father, Hamilcar, was also a great strategist and master tactician who imposed Carthaginian rule over much of present-day Spain. After Hamilcar led the Carthaginian forces against Rome in the First Punic War, Hannibal followed in his father’s footsteps, leading Carthage in the Second Punic War.

From the time he was a teenager, Hannibal fought against Rome. He is famed for leading Carthage’s army across north Africa, into Spain, along the Mediterranean coast, and then crossing the Alps with his army and war elephants. Hannibal won victories in northern Italy by outmaneuvering his Roman adversaries and defeated a larger Roman army at the battle of Cannae in 216 BC. Unable to force Rome to capitulate, he was eventually forced to leave Italy and return to Carthage when a savvy Roman general named Scipio invaded north Africa. Hannibal and Scipio fought an epic battle at Zama, which Hannibal lost. The terms of surrender were harsh and many Carthaginians blamed Hannibal, eventually forcing him into exile until his death.

To this day Hannibal is still regarded as a military genius. Napoleon, George Patton, and Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. are only some of the generals who studied and admired him. His strategy and tactics are still taught in military academies. He is one of the figures of the ancient world whose life and exploits never fail to impress. Historian Patrick N. Hunt has led archeological expeditions in the Alps and elsewhere to study Hannibal’s achievements. Now he brings Hannibal’s incredible story to life in this riveting and dramatic book.

Gaius Marius was one of the most remarkable and significant figures of the late Roman Republic. At a time when power tended to be restricted to a clique of influential families, he rose from relatively humble origins to attain the top office of consul. He even went on to hold the post an unprecedented seven times. His political career flourished but was primarily built on military success.

First serving in the Numantine War in Spain, he later rose to high command and brought a long-running war in North Africa to a successful conclusion, bringing the Numidian King Jurgurtha back in chains. His return was timely as northern barbarian tribes threatened Italy and had previously defeated several Roman armies. Marius reformed and retrained the Republic's forces and decisively defeated the invaders that had easily overpowered his predecessors.

Marius' subsequent career was primarily that of an elder statesman, but it was dominated by his rivalry with his erstwhile subordinate, Sulla, which ultimately led to the latter's bloody coup. Marius, once hailed as the savior of Rome, eventually became a desperate fugitive, literally fleeing for his life from his pursuers. However, after several harrowing brushes with death, Marius seized an opportunity to return to Rome and mete out justice to his enemies, which tarnished his once-enviable reputation.

The dramatic story of the relationship between the world's three largest economies, one that is shaping the future of us all, by one of the foremost experts on east AsiaFor more than half a century, American power in the Pacific has successfully kept the peace. But it has also cemented the tensions in the toxic rivalry between China and Japan, consumed with endless history wars and entrenched political dynasties.

Now, the combination of these forces with Donald Trump's unpredictable impulses and disdain for America's old alliances threatens to upend the region, and accelerate the unravelling of the postwar order. If the United States helped lay the postwar foundations for modern Asia, now the anchor of the global economy, Asia's Reckoning will reveal how that structure is now crumbling.

With unrivalled access to archives in the US and Asia, as well as many of the major players in all three countries, Richard McGregor has written a tale which blends the tectonic shifts in diplomacy with the domestic political trends and personalities driving them. It is a story not only of an overstretched America, but also of the rise and fall and rise of the great powers of Asia.

The confrontational course on which China and Japan have increasingly set themselves is no simple spat between neighbors. And the fallout would be a political and economic tsunami, affecting manufacturing centers, trade routes, and political capitals on every continent.

In 1918 a few daring low-ranking Australian infantrymen, alone among all the armies on the Western Front, initiated stealth raids without orders. These stealth raiders killed Germans, captured prisoners and advanced the line, sometimes by thousands of yards. They were held in high regard by other men of the lower ranks and were feared by the Germans facing them.

Who were these stealth raiders and why did they do it? What made Australian soldiers take on this independent and personal type of warfare? Using their firsthand accounts, as well as official archives and private records, Lucas Jordan pieces their stories together.

A gripping account of the crucial summer on the Western Front, Stealth Raiders- A Few Daring Men in 1918 considers the stealth raiders' war experience and training, the unprecedented conditions at the front and the morale of the German Army in 1918. Lucas Jordan argues that bush skills, and the bush ethos central to Australian civil society - with its emphasis on resourcefulness and initiative - made stealth raids a distinctively Australian phenomenon.

Revolution, the fourth volume of Peter Ackroyd's enthralling History of England begins in 1688 with a revolution and ends in 1815 with a famous victory.

In it, Ackroyd takes readers from William of Orange's accession following the Glorious Revolution to the Regency, when the flamboyant Prince of Wales ruled in the stead of his mad father, George III, and England was - again - at war with France, a war that would end with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.

Late Stuart and Georgian England marked the creation of the great pillars of the English state. The Bank of England was founded, as was the stock exchange, the Church of England was fully established as the guardian of the spiritual life of the nation and parliament became the sovereign body of the nation with responsibilities and duties far beyond those of the monarch. It was a revolutionary era in English letters, too, a time in which newspapers first flourished and the English novel was born.

It was an era in which coffee houses and playhouses boomed, gin flowed freely and in which shops, as we know them today, began to proliferate in our towns and villages. But it was also a time of extraordinary and unprecedented technological innovation, which saw England utterly and irrevocably transformed from a country of blue skies and farmland to one of soot and steel and coal.

Where have all the fishballs gone? From a journalist deeply attuned to the subtleties of Hong Kong life comes Borrowed Spaces, a chronicle of the ways in which the grassroots citizens of Hong Kong reshape their city to make up for the shortcomings of their bureaucratic government. Mango trees sprouting on roundabouts, fishball stalls and neon signs- these are just some of the Hong Kong icons that are casualties in the struggle to reclaim public spaces. Christopher DeWolf explores the history of Hong Kong's urban growth through the daily tug of war between the people's needs to express themselves and government regulations.

Teenage activists turned politicians, multi-millionaire super tutors and artists fighting censorship - these are the stories of Generation HK. From radically different backgrounds yet with a common legacy, having grown up in post-handover Hong Kong, these young people have little attachment to the era of British colonial rule or today's China. Instead, they see themselves as Hong Kongers, an identity both reinforced and threatened by the rapid expansion of Beijing's influence. Amid great political and social uncertainty, Generation HK is trying to build a brighter future. Theirs is a truly captivating coming-of-age story that reflects the bitter struggles beneath the gleaming facade of modern Hong Kong.

Since 1997, Hong Kong's economic growth rate has dropped sharply, inequality has increased, and corruption has found its way to the highest levels of government. These developments, Simon Cartledge argues, can be attributed to the city's 'pro-business' constitution, which has held back change and led to the rise of an anti-establishment, localist opposition. A System Apart traces the interplay of Hong Kong's economy, society, politics and relations with the rest of China over the last twenty years. It concludes that the city needs to remodel its political structure and make its government accountable to its citizens, as was promised when the UK returned the territory to China two decades ago.

This is the untold story of how some of Germany's top aristocrats contributed to Hitler's secret diplomacy during the Third Reich, providing a direct line to their influential contacts and relations across Europe - especially in Britain, where their contacts included the press baron and Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere and the future King Edward VIII.

Using previously unexplored sources from Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and the USA, Karina Urbach unravels the story of top-level go-betweens such as the Duke of Coburg, grandson of Queen Victoria, and the seductive Stephanie von Hohenlohe, who rose from a life of poverty in Vienna to become a princess and an intimate of Adolf Hitler. As Urbach shows, Coburg and other senior aristocrats were tasked with some of Germany's most secret foreign policy missions from the First World War onwards, culminating in their role as Hitler's trusted go-betweens, as he readied Germany for conflict during the 1930s - and later, in the Second World War.

Tracing what became of these high-level go-betweens in the years after the Nazi collapse in 1945 - from prominent media careers to sunny retirements in Marbella - the book concludes with an assessment of their overall significance in the foreign policy of the Third Reich.

'Never before had the world seen four such giants co-existing. Sometimes friends, more often enemies, always rivals, these four men together held Europe in the hollow of their hands.'

Four great princes - Henry VIII of England, Francis I of France, Charles V of Spain and Suleiman the Magnificent - were born within a single decade. Each looms large in his country's history and, in this book, John Julius Norwich broadens the scope and shows how, against the rich background of the Renaissance and destruction of the Reformation, their wary obsession with one another laid the foundations for modern Europe. Individually, each man could hardly have been more different - from the scandals of Henry's six wives to Charles's monasticism - but, together, they dominated the world stage.

From the Field of the Cloth of Gold, a pageant of jousting, feasting and general carousing so lavish that it nearly bankrupted both France and England, to Suleiman's celebratory pyramid of 2,000 human heads (including those of seven Hungarian bishops) after the battle of Mohacs; from Anne Boleyn's six-fingered hand (a potential sign of witchcraft) that had the pious nervously crossing themselves to the real story of the Maltese falcon, Four Princes is history at its vivid, entertaining best.

With a cast list that extends from Leonardo da Vinci to Barbarossa, and from Joanna the Mad to le roi grand-nez, John Julius Norwich offers the perfect guide to the most colourful century the world has ever known and brings the past to unforgettable life.

An explosive exposé of the man and the ideas behind the well-heeled right's relentless campaign to eliminate unions, suppress voting, privatise public education, and curb democratic majority rule.

Behind today’s headlines of billionaires taking over US government is a secretive political establishment with deep and troubling roots. The capitalist radical right has been working not simply to change who rules, but to fundamentally alter democratic governance. But billionaires did not launch this movement; a white intellectual in the embattled Jim Crow South did. This book names its true architect — Nobel Prize–winning political economist James McGill Buchanan — and dissects the operation he and his colleagues designed to alter every branch of government to disempower the majority.??

In a brilliant, engrossing narrative, Nancy MacLean shows how these ideas were forged in a last-gasp attempt to preserve the white elite's power in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education. By recasting the era's legal and social-movement successes, Buchanan developed a brilliant, if diabolical, plan to undermine the majority's ability to use its numbers to level the playing field between the rich and powerful and the rest of us.?? Corporate donors and their right-wing foundations were eager to support Buchanan's work in teaching others how to divide America into ‘makers’ and ‘takers'. And when a multibillionaire on a messianic mission, Charles Koch, discovered Buchanan, he created a vast, relentless, and multi-armed machine to carry out Buchanan's strategy.

Based on ten years of research, this revelatory work tells a chilling story of right-wing academics and big money run amok, and is a call to arms to protect the achievements of twentieth-century American self-government.

As the BBC's North America Editor, Jon Sopel has had a pretty busy time of it lately. In the 18 months it's taken for a reality star to go from laughingstock to leader of the free world, Jon has travelled the length and breadth of the United States, experiencing it from a perspective that most of us could only dream of- he has flown aboard Air Force One, interviewed President Obama and has even been described as 'a beauty' by none other than Donald Trump.

Through music, film, literature, TV and even through the food we eat and the clothes that we wear we all have a highly developed sense of what America is and through our shared, tangled history we claim a special relationship. But America today feels about as alien a country as you could imagine. It is fearful, angry and impatient for change. Reflecting on his journey across the continent to cover the most turbulent race in recent history, Jon Sopel lifts a lid on the seething resentments, profound anxieties and sheer rage that found its embodiment in a brash, unpredictable and seemingly unstoppable figure.

In this fascinating, insightful portrait of American life and politics, Jon sets out to answer our questions about a country that once stood for the grandest of dreams but which is now mired in a storm of political extremism, racial division and increasingly perverse beliefs.

An electrifying and timely book, by leading Russian expert Richard Lourie, that explores Putin's failures and whether Trump's election gives Putin extraordinarily dangerous opportunities in our mad new world.For reasons that are made clear in this book, Putin's Russia will collapse just as Imperial Russia did in 1917 and as Soviet Russia did in 1991. The only questions are when, how violently, and with how much peril for the world. The U.S. election complicates everything, including: - Putin's next land grab- Exploitations of the Arctic- Cyber-espionage- Putin and China...and many more crucial topics.Putin: His Downfall and Russia's Coming Crash is an essential read for everybody bewildered and dismayed by the new world order.

'A breathtaking, magisterial panorama, telling the epic story of  post-war anarchy, dying empires and rising nation states. It makes us  rethink our understanding of Europe's twentieth century' David Motadel, The Times Literary Supplement

For the Western allies 11 November 1918 has always been a solemn date -  the end of fighting which had destroyed a generation, and also a  vindication of a terrible sacrifice with the total collapse of their  principal enemies: the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman  Empire. But for much of the rest of Europe this was a day with no  meaning, as a continuing, nightmarish series of conflicts engulfed  country after country.

In this highly original, gripping book Robert  Gerwarth asks us to think again about the true legacy of the First World  War.

A refreshingly original history of the lost countries of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, examined and illustrated with the countries’ postage stamps.

These are the stories of fifty countries that once existed but have now have been erased from the map. Varying vastly in size and shape, location and longevity, they are united by one fact: all of them endured long enough to issue their own stamps.

Some of their names, such as Biafra or New Brunswick, will be relatively familiar. Others, such as Labuan, Tannu Tuva, and Inini, are far less recognizable. But all of these lost nations have stories to tell, whether they were as short- lived as Eastern Karelia, which lasted only a few weeks during the Soviet– Finnish War of 1922, or as long- lasting as the Orange Free State, a Boer Republic that celebrated fifty years as an independent state in the late 1800s. Their broad spectrum reflects the entire history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with its ideologies, imperialism, waves of immigration, and conflicts both major and minor.

The motifs and symbols chosen for stamps have always served as a form of national self- presentation, an expression of the aims and ambitions of the ruling authorities. Drawing on fiction and eye- witness accounts as well as historical sources, Bjorn Berge’s witty text casts an unconventional eye on these lesser- known nations. Nowherelands is a different kind of history book that will intrigue anyone keen to understand what makes a nation a nation.

Poised between earth and heaven, the material and the spiritual, burial places are amongst the most important sites ever built.

Man is the only animal that knows it is going to die and since the dawn of civilization he has made provision for a last resting place that would ensure that his memory lived on. In this endeavour he has been remarkably successful. The grand tombs and mausoleums of long dead rulers have withstood the ravages of the centuries. Down at the level of the common man, cemeteries are amongst the built landscape's most immutable elements. They rarely change, except to add more occupants.

Great Burial Places explores twenty-two of the world's great burial precincts, from dynastic necropolises such as the Valley of the Kings in Egypt and the Ming Tombs in China to cemeteries such as Pere Lachaise in Paris and the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna where the most famous people of their age share a last resting place with tens of thousands of their undistinguished fellow citizens.

For centuries people have made pilgrimages to the tombs of kings and saints to venerate those who lie there. Today, a surprising number of people engage in tombstone tourism, as it is sometimes dismissively termed. Who goes to London without visiting Westminster Abbey, or to Paris without visiting Pere Lachaise, or to Rome without visiting St. Peter's Basilica? There is something irresistible about visiting the last resting places of the famous, about standing in the presence of genius, about making contact, albeit indirect, with those who have left their mark on the world.

Great Burial Places will prove a delight to taphophiles as well as to general readers of enquiring mind who wish to explore some of the world's greatest architectural and cultural sites from a fresh perspective.

This ground-breaking book will change the way we think of, farm and grow food. Author and radical farmer Charles Massy explores transformative and regenerative agriculture and the vital connection between our soil and our health. It is a story of how a grassroots revolution – a true underground insurgency – can save the planet, help turn climate change around, and build healthy people and healthy communities, pivoting significantly on our relationship with growing and consuming food.

Using his personal experience as a touchstone – from an unknowing, chemical-using farmer with dead soils to a radical ecologist farmer carefully regenerating a 2000-hectare property to a state of natural health – Massy tells the real story behind industrial agriculture and the global profit-obsessed corporations driving it. He shows – through evocative stories – how innovative farmers are finding a new way and interweaves his own local landscape, its seasons and biological richness.

At stake is not only a revolution in human health and our communities but the very survival of the planet. For farmer, backyard gardener, food buyer, health worker, policy maker and public leader alike, Call of the Reed Warbler offers a tangible path forward for the future of our food supply, our Australian landscape and our earth. It comprises a powerful and moving paean of hope.

What has A.I. brought us? Where will it lead us?

The story of A.I. is the story of intelligence - of life processes as they evolve from bacteria (1.0) to humans (2.0), where life processes define their own software, to technology (3.0), where life processes design both their hardware and software.

We know that A.I. is transforming work, laws, and weapons, as well as the dark side of computing: hacking and viral sabotage. It raises questions that we all need to address: What jobs should be automated? How should our legal systems handle autonomous systems? How likely is the emergence of suprahuman intelligence? Is it possible to control suprahuman intelligence? How do we ensure that the uses of A.I. remain beneficial?

These are the issues at the heart of this book and its unique perspective, which seeks a ground apart from techno-skepticism and digital utopia.

From the Big Bang to the future of our planet, The Little Book of Big History divides history into manageable but comprehensive time frames, encompassing the cosmos, the stars, life and everything in between.

Big History is the attempt to understand and condense the entire story of the cosmos, from the Big Bang to the current day. Combining methods from history, astronomy, physics and biology to draw together the big story arcs of how the universe was created, why planets formed and how life developed, this creates a unique perspective from which to understand the place of mankind in the universe. Excited by the alternative ‘framework for all knowledge’ that is offered by this approach, Bill Gates is funding the Big History Project, which aims to bring the subject to a wider audience around the world.

The Little Book of Big History breaks down the main themes of Big History into highly informative and accessible parts for all readers to enjoy. By giving a truly complete timeline of world events, this book shines a whole different light on history as we learned it and makes us think of our history – and our future – in a very different way.

What is life? Where do we come from and how did we evolve? What is the universe and how was it formed? What is the nature of the material world? How does it work? How and why do we think? What does it mean to be human? How do we know?

There are many different versions of our creation story. This book tells the version according to modern science. It is a unique account, starting at the Big Bang and traveling right up to the emergence of humans as conscious intelligent beings, 13.8 billion years later. Chapter by chapter, it sets out the current state of scientific knowledge: the origins of space and time; energy, mass, and light; galaxies, stars, and our sun; the habitable earth, and complex life itself.

Drawing together the physical and biological sciences, Baggott recounts what we currently know of our history, highlighting the questions science has yet to answer.

A radical reappraisal of Charles Darwin from the bestselling author of Victoria: A Life.

Charles Darwin: the man who discovered evolution? The man who killed off God? Or a flawed man of his age, part genius, part ruthless careerist who would not acknowledge his debts to other thinkers?

In this bold new life - the first single volume biography in twenty-five years - A. N. Wilson, the acclaimed author of The Victorians and God's Funeral, goes in search of the celebrated but contradictory figure Charles Darwin.

Darwin was described by his friend and champion, Thomas Huxley, as a 'symbol'. But what did he symbolize? In Wilson's portrait, both sympathetic and critical, Darwin was two men. On the one hand, he was a naturalist of genius, a patient and precise collector and curator who greatly expanded the possibilities of taxonomy and geology. On the other hand, Darwin, a seemingly diffident man who appeared gentle and even lazy, hid a burning ambition to be a universal genius. He longed to have a theory which explained everything.

But was Darwin's 1859 master work, On the Origin of Species, really what it seemed, a work about natural history? Or was it in fact a consolation myth for the Victorian middle classes, reassuring them that the selfishness and indifference to the poor were part of Nature's grand plan?

Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker is a radical reappraisal of one of the great Victorians, a book which isn't afraid to challenge the Darwinian orthodoxy while bringing us closer to the man, his revolutionary idea and the wider Victorian age.

This book follows the epic voyages of Joseph Banks, Charles Darwin, and Alfred Russel Wallace through the voyage of Continent Australia after it breaks away from Antarctica 50 million years ago with its raft of Gondwanaland flora and fauna and begins its journey north towards the equator.

The voyage of Joseph Banks on the Endeavour, who with Daniel Solander became the first trained naturalists to describe the unique flora and fauna of Continent Australia that had evolved during its 30 million years of isolation.

The voyage of Charles Darwin on the Beagle, who after his observations in South America and the Galapagos Islands, sat on the banks of the Coxs River in New South Wales and tried to rationalise his belief in the idea of biblical creation and understand the origin of species.

The voyage of Alfred Russel Wallace, who realised that the Lombok Strait in Indonesia represents the biogeographical boundary between the fauna of Asia and those of Australasia. On the Asian side are elephants, tigers, primates, and specific birds. On the Australasian side are marsupials such as the possum-like cuscus and the Aru wallaby, as well as birds specific to Australia such as white cockatoos, brush turkeys, and the spectacular Birds of Paradise.

It was tectonic plate movement that brought these disparate worlds together and it was Alfred Russel Wallace’s ‘Letter from Ternate’ that forced Charles Darwin to finally publish his landmark work On the Origin of Species.

Follow the seminal historical journeys of these men to discover Where Australia Collides with Asia.

This is the story of a professional British tree climber, cameraman and adventurer, who has made a career out of travelling the world, filming wildlife for the BBC and climbing trees.

James's climbs take him around the globe, scaling the most incredible and majestic trees in existence- the strangler fig tree of Borneo, the monolithic Congolese moabi tree, the fern-covered howler tree of Costa Rica and the colossal mountain ash of Australia. On the way he meets native tribes and jungle cats, he gets stung by African bees and chased by gorillas, and he spends his nights in a hammock pitched hundreds of feet up in the air, with only the stars above him.

This book blends incredible stories of his adventures in the branches and a fascination with the majesty of trees to show us the joy of rising - literally - above the daily grind, up into the canopy of the forest.

'The wide horizontal branches stretched away from me to curl up like the giant fingers of an enormous cupped hand. I slid back into the centre of its protective palm and waited for my heart to slow. After a while the small herd of fallow deer I had been following emerged from the trees, carefully picking their way through the churned-up leaf litter to pass beneath me in the wake of the ponies. They had been there all along and I was immediately struck that not one of them appeared to have seen or smelt me as I crouched in the arms of the oak directly above.'

Too often, we humans tend to assume that nature is fixed, immutable - and this tendency is particularly strong when we think about matters of the mind and behaviour. People just can't change, we say, so they must somehow be prevented from becoming a burden on society or from hurting themselves and others. Neuroplasticity - the virtually limitless capacity of the brain to remould itself - turns these notions on their heads.Leading brain researcher Niels Birbaumer brings new hope to those suffering from depression, anxiety, ADHD, addiction, dementia, the effects of a stroke, or even the extremes of locked-in syndrome or psychopathy. Like the fathers and mothers of psychiatry, Birbaumer explores the sometimes-wild frontiers of a new way of thinking about our brains and behaviour. Through actual cases from his research and practice, he shows how we can change through training alone, and without risky drugs. Open your mind to change.

Which mathematician elaborated a crucial concept the night before he died in a duel? Who funded his maths and medical career through gambling and chess? Who learned maths from her wallpaper? Ian Stewart presents the extraordinary lives and amazing discoveries of twenty-five of history's greatest mathematicians from Archimedes and Liu Hui to Benoit Mandelbrot and William Thurston. His subjects are the inspiring individuals from all over the world who have made crucial contributions to mathematics. They include the rediscovered geniuses Srinivasa Ramanujan and Emmy Noether, alongside the towering figures of Muhammad al-Khwarizmi (inventor of the algorithm), Pierre de Fermat, Isaac Newton, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky, Bernhard Reimann (precursor to Einstein), Henri Poincare, Ada Lovelace (arguably the first computer programmer), Kurt Godel and Alan Turing.Ian Stewart's vivid accounts are fascinating in themselves and, taken together, cohere into a riveting history of key steps in the development of mathematics.

One of the world's great mathematicians explores the origins, history and future of the universe

Ian Stewart's up-to-the-minute guide to the cosmos moves from the formation of the Earth and its Moon to the planets and asteroids of the solar system and from there out into the galaxy and the universe. He describes the architecture of space and time, dark matter and dark energy, how galaxies form, why stars implode, how everything began, and how it will end. He considers parallel universes, what forms extra-terrestrial life might take, and the likelihood of Earth being hit by an asteroid.

Mathematics, Professor Stewart shows, has been the driving force in astronomy and cosmology since the ancient Babylonians. He describes how Kepler's work on planetary orbits led Newton to formulate his theory of gravity, and how two centuries later irregularities in the motion of Mars inspired Einstein's theory of General Relativity. In crystal-clear terms he explains the fundamentals of gravity, spacetime, relativity and quantum theory, and shows how they all relate to each other.

Eighty years ago the discovery that the universe is expanding led to the Big Bang theory of its origins. This in turn led cosmologists to posit features such as dark matter and dark energy. But does dark matter exist? Could another scientific revolution be on the way to challenge current scientific orthodoxy? These are among the questions Ian Stewart raises in his quest through the realms of astronomy and cosmology.

Are Australian schools safe? And if they're not, what happens when kids are caught in a bleak collision between ill-equipped school staff and a confected media scandal?

In 2016, the Safe Schools program became the centre of an ideological firestorm.

In the late 1970s, 2000 Vietnamese arrived in Australia by boat, fleeing persecution. Their arrival presented a challenge to politicians, but the way the Fraser government handled it, and the resettlement of tens of thousands more Indochinese refugees, marked a turning point in Australia’s immigration history. Turn-backs and detention were proposed, and rejected.

Claire Higgins’ important book recounts these extraordinary events. It is driven by the question of how we moved from a humanitarian approach to policies of mandatory detention - including on remote islands - and boat turn-backs. Like now, the politicians of the time wanted to control entry. Unlike now, they also wanted to respect Australia’s obligations under international law.

It’s about how governments and policy-makers have dealt with the confluence of issues emerging from the end of the ‘White Australia’ policy, a recognition of international responsibilities, and shifting public opinion. Strikingly, it also shows the extent to which the attitudes and statements of politicians and policymakers can shape the mood of the country, for better and worse.

Despite a proclaimed respect for scientific reason, humans are still as intrigued by myth as their remote ancestors. Laptops and smartphones are sold under a logo that invokes the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden; skimpily clad classical nymphs cavort in TV reality shows; Narcissus makes a comeback whenever we snap a selfie. Mythical creatures such as handsome vampires abound in best-selling novels. Myth has also invaded the political realm, now that terrorists brandish black flags and recite theological mantras as they martyr themselves.

In twenty-seven self-contained entries, Peter Conrad illuminates in his own remarkable way subjects from the British Queen to the Kardashians, via Banksy, vaping, Trump’s penthouse, and the inception of the Large Hadron Collider. In Judge Judy, he shows a matronly Roman goddess dispensing justice with a fly swatter. In the metamorphosis of Caitlyn Jenner from Olympic athlete and paterfamilias into idealized female form, he finds parallels to the transformations of the residents of Mount Olympus.

Myths used to tell us where we came from. Now, alarmed but also elated by the pace of change in our society, we need them to tell us where we are going.

Are you ready for the next global economic disruption?

Blind Spots outlines the way forward for companies who want to get early-mover advantage on this new $28 trillion economy. This powerful market has remained untapped, ignored and underserved despite the fact it is more economically powerful than India and China together – twice over and continues to rise.

Women: they drive the majority of our purchases, they're outpacing men in graduate education and they routinely make or break brands by voting with their swelling wallets.

This book shows you exactly how to tap into the modern female market and reap its numerous financial benefits before your competitors do. Written by Australia's definitive marketing-to-women authority and gender intelligence expert Bec Brideson, this book provides a practical framework for future-focused businesses who are done debating gender, and ready for profit and action.

Women's impact on the bottom line is becoming undeniable but the grey areas around gender hold us back. Change is moving glacially thanks to tokenistic brand efforts and homogenous, risk-averse corporate reasoning. If you're ready to take the sort of bold, decisive action that cements market leaders and visionaries; this book is for you.

Brideson will show you how to:

    * Single out a competitive advantage in a volatile, slow-growth market.
    * Bridge the gap between gender nuance and commercial gain.
    * Leverage authentic insights into a long-term, loyal relationship.

In the search for advantage, CEOS look to technology for disruption yet they consistently neglect the market providing innovation and better profitability to the status quo. Blind Spots provides the framework and critical shift in perspective for making it in the new economy of women.

Eight years on from the biggest market meltdown since the Great Depression, the key lessons of the crisis of 2008 still remain unlearned-and our financial system is just as vulnerable as ever. Many of us know that our government failed to fix the banking system after the subprime mortgage crisis. But what few of us realize is how the misguided financial practices and philosophies that nearly toppled the global financial system have come to infiltrate ALL American businesses,  putting us on a collision course for another cataclysmic meltdown.

Drawing on in-depth reporting and exclusive interviews at the highest rungs of Wall Street and Washington, Time assistant managing editor and economic columnist Rana Foroohar shows how the "financialization of America" - the trend by which finance and its way of thinking have come to reign supreme - is perpetuating Wall Street's reign over Main Street, widening the gap between rich and poor, and threatening the future of the American Dream.
Policy makers get caught up in the details of regulating "Too Big To Fail" banks, but the problems in our market system go much broader and deeper than that. Consider that:

· Thanks to 40 years of policy changes and bad decisions, only about 15 % of all the money in our market system actually ends up in the real economy - the rest stays within the closed loop of finance itself.
· The financial sector takes a quarter of all corporate profits in this country while creating only 4 % of American jobs.
· The tax code continues to favor debt over equity, making it easier for companies to hoard cash overseas rather than reinvest it on our shores.
· Our biggest and most profitable corporations are investing more money in stock buybacks than in research and innovation.
· And, still, the majority of the financial regulations promised after the 2008 meltdown have yet come to pass, thanks to cozy relationship between our lawmakers and the country's wealthiest financiers.      

Exploring these forces, which have have led American businesses to favor balancing-sheet engineering over the actual kind and the pursuit of short-term corporate profits over job creation, Foroohar shows how financialization has so gravely harmed our society, and why reversing this trend is of grave importance to us all. Through colorful stories of both "Takers" and "Makers," she'll reveal how we change the system for a better and more sustainable shared economic future.

- Inc.com - The 7 Books That Explain 2016
- Financial Times/McKinsey - Shortlisted for the Business Book of the Year Award 2016
- 800 CEO Read - Longlisted for Business Book of the Year Award 2016
- Financial Times - Best Books of 2016: Economics
- The Atlantic - Best Business Books for Summer 2016
- Success.com - #16 on list of 41 Books to Motivate You to Be Your Best Self

So begins this new approach to the greatest social ill of our time, and nearly every other era. From a country with one of the world's lowest rates of income and social imbalance, award-winning Swedish analyst Per Molander's book changes the conversation about the causes and effects of inequality. Molander addresses the obvious questions that other pundits often avoid-including why the wealthiest countries, such as the United States, have the greatest incidences of inequality. Drawing from anthropology, statistics, references to literature, and political science, Molander looks at his subject across various political and ideological systems to examine policies that have created more just societies, and demonstrate how we can enact similar changes in the name of equality. In doing so, he presents a persuasive and moving case that humankind is much greater than the inequalities it has created.From the Hardcover edition.

Millennials have it bad. In 2017, they face the problems of underemployment, unaffordable housing and economists who write crap columns telling them that it's their fault for taking an Uber to brunch.Today, the future's so dark, we need night vision goggles, not a few liberal guys shining a torch on a sandwich. Maybe today, we could use the light of Karl Marx.Marx may not have had much to say about brunch in the twenty-first century, but he sure had some powerful thoughts about where the system of capitalism would land us. Over time, it would produce a series of crises, he said, before pushing the wealth so decisively up, a top-heavy system would come crashing down with a push.Pushy old communist Helen Razer offers an introduction to the thought of Marx for Millennials, and anyone else tired of wage stagnation, growing global poverty and economists writing desperate columns saying everything would work better, if only we stopped eating sandwiches. Brunchers of the world must unite! They have nothing to lose but a life lived for the wealth of a few. Both for themselves and their comrades in the Global South, they have a world to win.

An empowering and practical set of seven principles to effect actual change for the better in the world around us.

It's easy to feel dispirited by the world around us. We need change but as one person alone, it can all seem far too daunting. What can one person alone achieve? Where to begin?

How to Resist reminds us that all great social change movements in history have been organised by ordinary people coming together, being brave and changing the course of history. Whoever and wherever we are, if we want to effect change, the first step is to look at ourselves. We need to think about what we care about, what motivates us and how we want to be remembered. We need to do more than react against others: we need to look forwards.

With illuminating stories and clear procedures, change seems genuinely achievable. Matthew Bolton, who created and led the successful campaign in Britain that led to millions of people in the UK being given the Living Wage, calmly and clearly shows us how together, we can effect positive change in the world around us.

Until quite recently, almost no philosophers trained in the continental tradition saw anything of value in realism. The situation in analytic philosophy was always different, but in continental philosophy realism was usually treated as a pseudo-problem. That is no longer the case.

In this provocative new book, two leading philosophers examine the remarkable rise of realism in the continental tradition. While exploring the similarities and differences in their own positions, they also consider the work of others and assess rival trends in contemporary philosophy. They begin by discussing the relation between realism and materialism, which DeLanda links closely but which Harman tries to separate. Part Two covers the many different meanings of realism, with the two authors working together to develop an expanded definition of the term. Part Three features a spirited exchange on the respective virtues and drawbacks of DeLanda's realism of attractors and singularities and Harman's object-oriented theory. Part Four shifts to the question of the knowability of the real, as the authors discuss whether scientific knowledge does full justice to reality. In Part Five, they shift the focus to space, time, and science more generally, and here Harman offers a defence of actor-network theory despite its obvious anti-realist elements.

Lively, accessible and engaging, this book is the best attempt so far to clarify the different paths for realism in continental philosophy. It will be of great value to students and scholars of continental philosophy and to anyone interested in the cutting-edge debates in philosophy and critical theory today.

The Dalai Lama is one of the best-known and respected public figures of modern times. A Nobel Peace Prize Winner, advocate for peace and campaigner for compassion, he regularly speaks at sell-out arena tours across the globe. In this new biography, the first in 25 years, Alexander Norman reveals the complex and compelling character of the Dalai Lama in more detail than ever before. Drawing on his long friendship with His Holiness and with his full support, Norman gives unparalled insights into the Dalai Lama's life, from being chosen as a young boy, his exile from Tibet and his involvement in political negotiations, to the present day. Uniquely, however, this book also reveals the private life of a very public man, including his personal spiritual experiences, daily Buddhist practice and the issues that are closest to his heart. Norman also explains how the turbulent history of Tibet has shaped the Dalai Lama's thinking and personality and corrects the myths that have built up around him. Illuminating, surprising and fascinating, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the Dalai Lama.

Martin Luther's posting of the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517 is one of the most famous events of Western history. It inaugurated the Protestant Reformation, and has for centuries been a powerful and enduring symbol of religious freedom of conscience, and of righteous protest against the abuse of power.

But did it actually really happen?

In this engagingly-written, wide-ranging and insightful work of cultural history, leading Reformation historian Peter Marshall reviews the available evidence, and concludes that, very probably, it did not. The theses-posting is a myth. And yet, Marshall argues, this fact makes the incident all the more historically significant. In tracing how - and why - a "non-event" ended up becoming a defining episode of the modern historical imagination. Marshall compellingly explores the multiple ways in which the figure of Martin Luther, and the nature of the Reformation itself, have been remembered and used for their own purposes by subsequent generations of Protestants and others - in Germany, Britain, the United States and elsewhere.

As people in Europe, and across the world, prepare to remember, and celebrate, the 500th anniversary of Luther's posting of the theses, this book offers a timely contribution and corrective. The intention is not to "debunk", or to belittle Luther's achievement, but rather to invite renewed reflection on how the past speaks to the present - and on how, all too often, the present creates the past in its own image and likeness.

To coincide with the bicentenary of Jane Austen's death (and her appearance on English banknotes) in July 2017, this illuminating account of the novelist's life is told with particular reference to the great men and women who inspired and influenced her, and whose portraits, along with her own, are now in the Collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

From the author of the monumental My Struggle series, Karl Ove Knausgaard, one of the masters of contemporary literature and a genius of observation and introspection, comes the first in a new autobiographical quartet based on the four seasonsI want to show you our world as it is now- the door, the floor, the water tap and the sink, the garden chair close to the wall beneath the kitchen window, the sun, the water, the trees. You will come to see it in your own way, you will experience things for yourself and live a life of your own, so of course it is primarily for my own sake that I am doing this- showing you the world, little one, makes my life worth living. Autumn begins with a letter Karl Ove Knausgaard writes to his unborn daughter, showing her what to expect of the world. He writes one short piece per day, describing the material and natural world with the precision and mesmerising intensity that have become his trademark. With acute sensitivity he describes daily life with his wife and children in rural Sweden, drawing upon memories of his own childhood to give an inimitably tender perspective on the precious and unique bond between parent and child. Nothing is too small or too vast to escape his attention; this is a personal encyclopaedia on everything from chewing gum to the stars. Beautifully illustrated by Vanessa Baird, this tender and deeply personal book is the first of four volumes marvelling at the vast, unknowable universe around us.

"I am completely an elitist, in the cultural but emphatically not the social sense. I prefer the good to the bad, the articulate to the mumbling, the aesthetically developed to the merely primitive, and full to partial consciousness. I love the spectacle of skill, whether it's an expert gardener at work, or a good carpenter chopping dovetails... I don't think stupid or ill-read people are as good to be with as wise and fully literate ones. I would rather watch a great tennis player than a mediocre one... Consequently, most of the human race doesn't matter much to me, outside the normal and necessary frame of courtesy and the obligation to respect human rights. I see no reason to squirm around apologizing for this. I am, after all, a cultural critic, and my main job is to distinguish the good from the second-rate."

Robert Hughes wrote with brutal honesty about art, architecture, culture, religion, and himself. He translated his passions-of which there were many, both positive and negative-brilliantly, convincingly, and with vitality and immediacy, always holding himself to the same rigorous standards of skill, authenticity, and significance that he did his subjects. There never was, and never will be again, a voice like this. In this volume, that voice rings clear through a gathering of some of his most unforgettable writings, culled from nine of his most widely read and important books. This selection shows his enormous range and gives us a uniquely cohesive view of both the critic and the man.

Most revealing, and most thrilling for Hughes's legions of fans, are the never-before-published pages from his unfinished second volume of memoirs. These last writings show Robert Hughes at the height of his powers and can be read only with pleasure and a tinge of sadness that his extraordinary voice is no longer here to educate us as well as to clarify and define our world.

Caroline Taggart, who has made a name for herself expounding on the subjects of grammar, usage and words generally (and who for decades made her living putting in the commas in other people's work), takes her usual gentle and gently humorous approach to punctuation. She points out what matters and what doesn't; why using six exclamation marks where one will do is perfectly OK in a text but will lose you marks at school; why hang glider pilots in training really need a hyphen; and how throwing in the odd semicolon will impress your friends. Sometimes opinionated but never dogmatic, she is an ideal guide to the (perceived) minefield that is punctuation.

Endearing, charming, honest and absorbing, Detours is the most anticipated literary and rock n' roll memoir of the year - it is witty, endearing, funny, sad, truthful tender and beautiful - think Patti Smith meet Dylan Thomas, via Banjo Paterson.

Tim Rogers - the front man and singer of hugely popular rock n'roll band You Am I - is a shambolic, flamboyant and dapper Aussie flâneur - a seeker after truth, love and understanding. He's a contradiction: a hard drinking rock star with the soul of a poet; a wordsmith and a raconteur, a romantic and a realist, a bon vivant op-shop-dressed dandy. He's the wild man of Australian rock n' roll, a man who loves footy, who was brought up in the wild emptiness of Kalgoorlie, but he's now an urban hipster - a legend of Australian rock music, more at home in St Kilda than the bush.

In this offbeat and immensely charming literary memoir, Tim Rogers talks about what it is to be a man, about accepting who you are, about masculinity, love, sex, drinking, footy, his father, being a dad, anxiety, and above all, his continuing, magical, ever-present muse - music. It is by turns revealing, warm, self-deprecating, intimate, shocking, confessional, sharp, funny and immensely engaging.

High Voltage is the first biography to focus exclusively on Angus. It tells of his remarkable rise from working-class Glasgow and Sydney to the biggest stages in the world.

Angus Young, the co-founder and the last remaining original member of AC/DC, has for more than 40 years been the face, sound and sometimes the exposed backside of the trailblazing rock band. In his trademark schoolboy outfit, guitar in hand, Angus has given his signature sound to songs such as 'A Long Way to the Top', 'Highway to Hell' and 'Back in Black', helping AC/DC become the biggest rock band on the planet.

High Voltage is the first biography to focus exclusively on Angus. It tells of his remarkable rise from working-class Glasgow and Sydney to the biggest stages in the world. The youngest of eight kids, Angus always seemed destined for a life in music, and it was his passion and determination that saw AC/DC become hard rock's greatest act. Over the years, Angus has endured the devastating death of iconic vocalist Bon Scott, the forced retirement of his brother in arms, Malcolm Young, and more recently the loss from the band of singer Brian Johnson and drummer Phil Rudd. Yet somehow the little guitar maestro has kept AC/DC not just on the rails, but at the top of the rock pile.

Journeys into the Wild is a poetic escape to a fragile and breathtaking wilderness, with celebrated photographer Peter Dombrovskis as our guide.

A silhouette of a damaged twisted Pencil Pine, wearing a fine dusting of fresh snow and precariously positioned above the Pool of Siloam in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park, is like a portrait of a lively old friend. A fresh ice sheet, uniquely patterned, is coloured by the alpenglow, as the day's first sunlight reflects on a Cradle Mountain tarn. A flowering white Olearia pinifolia at the base of a massive boulder on Mount Wellington is a study in permanency and transience. Here, too, are photographs of the Snowy Mountains and the tropical rainforests of Queensland's Daintree and Hinchinbrook Island, Fiji and Borneo.

Bob Brown and Peter Dombrovskis forged their friendship in the battle to save the Gordon and Franklin rivers. As a founder of the Wilderness Society, Bob organised the blockade of dam works on the Franklin, recruiting Peter and his iconic photography to make the case for conservation over profit. During the campaign, Bob accompanied Peter on one of his kayak trips down the Franklin and observed his process as a photographer. Peter would go on to take one of the most famous photographs in Australian history, Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend, Franklin River, an image that featured in calendars and diaries across Australia and that was integral to the success of the campaign. The two remained friends until Peter's death in 1996.

Since the announcement of Jorn Utzon's winning Sydney Opera House competition entry in early 1957 the project has excited controversy. Testing the very boundaries of technology, the gestation of this sublime building was long and fraught with problems, none more so than the departure of its architect in early 1966, never to return. With the building only a series of empty shells there was much for Utzon's successor, the 34-year old Sydney architect Peter Hall, to resolve.

For both architects the Opera House would be a 'poisoned chalice' – a compelling and unprecedented challenge, but one that presented almost insurmountable obstacles. But while Utzon's reputation has been restored, Hall's completion of the building has, ultimately, brought little recognition and enduring condemnation. It is the powerful myth of Utzon, the misunderstood architectural genius undone by the forces of conservatism, and of a building flawed by subsequent compromise, which has firmly taken root as the subtext in the popular imagination and in most narratives.

The Poisoned Chalice examines in detail for the first time the extraordinary tangle of complex issues that confronted Hall and his team at the inception of the 'post-Utzon' phase, or Stage 3, of the project and the changes that were initiated to break the gridlock that stymied progress in early 1966. It draws on extensive, previously overlooked, primary sources – including Hall's own papers – and the recollections and archives of key participants to track the design evolution of the building's unresolved areas, focusing on the two main auditoria, the seating and the northern glass walls.

It proposes that the changes introduced in the late 1960s were both justifiable and inevitable and that they have contributed substantially to the unprecedented success of the Opera House as an acclaimed performing arts centre. Ultimately, the book argues for a new narrative - a more inclusive, unbiased and balanced understanding of this magnificent building, unencumbered by the divisive undercurrents that have hitherto skewed most histories.

Jamie's brand-new cookbook is here!

Featuring simple, delicious recipes from the latest BBC Channel 4 series Quick and Easy Food, Jamie Oliver's 5 Ingredients is his most straightforward book yet.

Using five ingredients, cleverly combined, you can conjure up the most exciting food. It's all about making the journey to good food, super-simple.

Quick Asian fishcakes - juicy salmon fillets flavoured with lemongrass, ginger, coriander and dipped into chilli jam.

Italian seared beef - blushing in the middle with green pesto, fiery rocket, pine nuts and Parmesan.

Pear and Gorgonzola farfalle - strong, creamy Gorgonzola cheese and ripened sweet pears, crumbled walnuts and red chicory over pasta.

Chickpea chard pork - seared pork in a casserole of chickpeas flavoured with fennel seeds, rainbow chard and roasted peppers.

Cherry chocolate mousse - delicious dark chocolate, black-pitted cherries folded into a simple mousse made from eggs, double cream and golden caster sugar.

Every recipe uses just five key ingredients, ensuring you create a plate of food fast, whether it's finished and on the table super-quickly or after minimal hands-on prep, you've let the oven do the hard work for you. We're talking quality over quantity, a little diligence on the cooking front, and in return massive flavour.

Each recipe has been tried and tested (and tested again!) to ensure the book is packed with no-fuss, budget-friendly dishes that you can rustle up any day of the week. With over 130 recipes, plus chapters on Chicken, Beef, Pork, Lamb, Fish, Eggs, Vegetables, Salads, Pasta, Rice and Noodles and Sweet Things, there's plenty of quick and easy recipe inspiration to choose from.

How about pomegrante jewels, fresh mint and feta tossed into a Carrot and grain salad. Roast tikka chicken - whole chicken flavoured in tikka paste, roasted with crispy potatoes, golden cauliflower and coriander, finished with a deliciously sumptuous and impressive honey berry filo smash topped with coconut yoghurt and pistachios. All ready to tuck into in less than 30 minutes.

With every recipe you'll find a visual ingredient guide, serving size, timings, a short, easy-to-follow method and quick-reference nutritional information.

Jamie's new cookbook takes the stress out of meal times to inspire cooks and non-cooks alike with beautiful, crazily simple ideas!

I began to notice how everything out there, in the wild, seemed to move. Oceans. Sharks. Wolves. Elephants. Rivers. Nothing stayed in the same place. I wanted to be like them too, and the only way to do this was to keep moving. When Kate Mathieson finds herself with nothing to show except a well-adorned house and too many business suits, she makes the sudden decision to leave everything behind, and begins an elemental journey across Africa. Weaving a personal tale of reflection, adventure and discovery, Kate beautifully details the lives we have marked for ourselves - school, university, careers, marriages, mortgages, children, school - and that other life, the one that calls to us from dreams, and out of books, that suggests the life we are living, may not be ours. Shortlisted for the 2017 Finch Memoir Prize, Ways to Come Home is a powerful memoir about the need to know who we really are, and what it means to find our way back home.

Explore behind the over-familiar facade of the world's most visited city. In this book, Paris-based writer and Invisible Paris blogger, Adam Roberts, provides a concise and informative portrait of the iconic metropolis. He uncovers the story of how a provincial backwater rose up to become the richest and most powerful city in Europe, and a world leader in fashion, the arts, and gastronomy - and why it continues to dazzle today. In short, illustrated chapters, Roberts casts his eye over 2,000 years of turbulent history, from a time when roaming Celtic tribes first set up camp to the present day: he covers the rise and fall of royalty, uprisings and invasions, destruction and magnificent redevelopments, and he explores the city's contributions to the world, including gothic architecture, city planning, mammoth museums and urban art. A section on the city today - perceptive essays and observations on topics ranging from Parisian Sundays to the inside workings of a historic hotel - reveal the twenty-first-century city of Paris.

A timely and important new book that challenges everything we think we know about cultivating true belonging in our communities, organizations, and culture, from the #1 bestselling author of Rising Strong, Daring Greatly, and The Gifts of Imperfection

“True belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are. It requires us to be who we are.” Social scientist Brené Brown, PhD, LMSW, has sparked a global conversation about the experiences that bring meaning to our lives—experiences of courage, vulnerability, love, belonging, shame, and empathy. In Braving the Wilderness, Brown redefines what it means to truly belong in an age of increased polarization. With her trademark mix of research, storytelling, and honesty, Brown will again change the cultural conversation while mapping a clear path to true belonging.

Brown argues that we’re experiencing a spiritual crisis of disconnection, and introduces four practices of true belonging that challenge everything we believe about ourselves and each other. She writes, “True belonging requires us to believe in and belong to ourselves so fully that we can find sacredness both in being a part of something and in standing alone when necessary. But in a culture that’s rife with perfectionism and pleasing, and with the erosion of civility, it’s easy to stay quiet, hide in our ideological bunkers, or fit in rather than show up as our true selves and brave the wilderness of uncertainty and criticism. But true belonging is not something we negotiate or accomplish with others; it’s a daily practice that demands integrity and authenticity. It’s a personal commitment that we carry in our hearts.” Brown offers us the clarity and courage we need to find our way back to ourselves and to each other. And that path cuts right through the wilderness. Brown writes, “The wilderness is an untamed, unpredictable place of solitude and searching. It is a place as dangerous as it is breathtaking, a place as sought after as it is feared. But it turns out to be the place of true belonging, and it’s the bravest and most sacred place you will ever stand.”

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- A new book from Pamela Allen is always going to be a treat, and this one is darling! A little boy and his mother pack a lunch, set out from Kirribilli to walk across the Bridge and go to the Botanic Gardens for the day. When they are there, they see an ibis caught up in a plastic bag, and with a lot of help, set it free. This is reminiscent of the well-loved Alexander's Outing and is a joyful portrait of the city with a quiet environmental message conveyed in simple rhythmic text and clean-lined illustrations - a book that will be enjoyed by resident and tourist alike! Lindy Jones

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This is a story of a plastic bag and a bird - a cautionary tale about taking care of our environment as well as being a wonderful showcase of some of the famous sights of Sydney.'One day, a long time ago when I lived in Kirribilli, Sydney, I packed a lunch and set out to walk to the Botanic Gardens... I crossed the harbour bridge then climbed down to Circular Quay. I walked beside the sea wall, past the Opera House until I reached the Botanic Gardens.And this is what I saw.'

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Greer has had the choice while her father is on an extended filming job to stay with her rather dull aunt or to take a place at St Aidans the Great boarding school. She's smart so it seems a good idea to go to the school, with its extensive educational programmes. However, it caters for an entirely different class of people, and she soon finds herself friendless and struggling amongst the privileged set.A gripping, sometimes genuinely terrifying, novel - one that was hard to put down! Ages 14+ Lindy Jones

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It is the autumn term and Greer MacDonald is struggling to settle into the sixth form at the exclusive St. Aidan the Great boarding school, known to its privileged pupils as S.T.A.G.S. Just when she despairs of making friends Greer receives a mysterious invitation with three words embossed upon on it: huntin' shootin' fishin'. When Greer learns that the invitation is to spend the half term weekend at the country manor of Henry de Warlencourt, the most popular and wealthy boy at S.T.A.G.S., she is as surprised as she is flattered.But when Greer joins the other chosen few at the ancient and sprawling Longcross Hall, she realises that Henry's parents are not at home; the only adults present are a cohort of eerily compliant servants. The students are at the mercy of their capricious host, and, over the next three days, as the three bloodsports - hunting, shooting and fishing - become increasingly dark and twisted, Greer comes to the horrifying realisation that those being hunted are not wild game, but the very misfits Henry has brought with him from school...

Pig just LOVES attention.

In fact, he's a great, bit SHOW-OFF.

But when ANOTHER star appears at the photo shoot, Pig doesn't like it.

No, Pig doesn't like it at ALL...

Gumboots is a beautiful pet rabbit, but he likes to escape. A story that celebrates what it means to live in a community and a reminder that life is full of surprises.

Simon's little brother can't sleep without his special blanket. Simon usually just tells Casper what to do. But he is going to have to be very, very brave to solve this problem.

Kate, a quiet boarder, making some risky choices to pursue the experimental music she loves. Clem, shrugging off her old swim-team persona, exploring her first sexual relationship, and trying to keep her annoying twin, Iris, at arm's length. Ady, grappling with a chaotic family, and wondering who her real friends are; she's not the confident A-lister she appears to be. When St Hilda's establishes a Year 10 Wellness Program in response to the era of cyber-bullying, the three girls are thrown together and an unlikely friendship is sparked. One thing they have in common: each is targeted by PSST, a site devoted to gossip and slander that must have a source within St Hilda's. Who can you trust when rumour is the new truth?

Halloween's coming up, and Bella and Weir are busy working on their costumes. But everything will be turned upside-down when Weir Do finds out his family are moving away!

The next hilarious rhyming picture book from award-winning Kes Gray and Roald Dahl Funny Prize winner Jim Field, creators of the bestselling Oi Frog! and Oi Dog!

According to Frog...

Cats sit on gnats

Dogs sit on logs

Raccoons sit on macaroons

Armadillos sit on pillows and

Chicks sit on bricks

But wait! Cat doesn't like sitting on gnats, they keep biting his bottom!

Will Frog and Dog help him change the rules?

He's the first teacher to cook us breakfast.Is his spark-maker beetle really that dangerous?I heard he drank yak's milk in Mongolia.He's the only person who isn't afraid of Canteen Carol.My mum says he used to be in the circus.The class in room 12B has a new teacher, and nothing is ever going to be the same...

Imogen is an heiress, a runaway, and a cheat.Jule is a fighter, a chameleon, and a liar.Imogen is done pretending to be perfect, and Jule refuses to go back to the person she once was. Somewhere between the mansions of Martha's Vineyard and the shores of Cabo San Lucas, their intense friendship takes a dark turn.A masterful thriller from the author of the unforgettable We Were Liars.

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Once, there was a small rhinoceros who wanted to see the big world. And although the other rhinos told her how she had a good life already with everything a rhino could need, still she listened to her own heart and built a boat. Despite all of the others' doubts, she sails away and sees more than she ever dreamed, until she returns home to share her tales: and perhaps kindle the spirit of enquiry in an even smaller rhinoceros. With gentle and happy illustrations in coloured pencil and watercolour by Leila Rudge, this is a sweet encouragement to step outside the everyday and discover the world for yourself. Ages 3-5 Lindy Jones

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“Don’t you wish,” said the small rhinoceros, “that you could see the world?” And so begins this delightful picture book by award-winning creators Meg McKinlay and Leila Rudge. Once, there was a small rhinoceros who wanted to see the big world. So she built a boat. And sailed away... From the duo behind award-winning picture book No Bears comes a simple yet inspirational tale about challenging the norm, pushing boundaries and being true to oneself.

From his seat in the tiny aeroplane, Fred watches as the mysteries of the Amazon jungle pass by below him. He has always dreamed of becoming an explorer, of making history and of reading his name amongst the lists of great discoveries. If only he could land and look about him. As the plane crashes into the canopy, Fred is suddenly left without a choice. He and the three other children may be alive, but the jungle is a vast, untamed place. With no hope of rescue, the chance of getting home feels impossibly small. Except, it seems, someone has been there before them ...

Finn, Kas and Willow have survived the winter of storms. Severe winds and cold have kept the Wilders at bay. Now that spring has come, everything has changed. They're being hunted again, and they won't be safe while Ramage wants their blood. But Finn and Kas made a promise to Rose - to find her baby and bring her back. And finding Hope means finding RamageaWilder Country is the exciting, action-packed sequel to Mark Smith's highly acclaimed The Road to Winter.

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Esther's family has been cursed, ever since her grandfather met Death's apprentice in Vietnam, and actually escaped the fate that was meant to be his. Each member has a great fear, and it will be the thing that kills them - her father is agoraphobic, her mother an addicted gambler who fears bad luck, and her twin brother can't abide the dark. When Esther is conned by Jonah, a former friend, and he makes off with her list of things she could potentially be killed by, it starts a strange and beautiful friendship. Jonah is determined to help Esther surmount her fears, and challenges her to confront them - filming them as they go through the list. Unbeknownst to her, she is becoming a social media star… A likable and imaginative young adult novel, with interesting characters (including Death, who has a world-weary line of snappy but almost-compassionate rejoinders) and the stirrings of first love. Lindy Jones

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Ever since Esther Solar's grandfather was cursed by Death, everyone in her family has been doomed to suffer one great fear in their lifetime. Esther's father is agoraphobic and hasn't left the basement in six years, her twin brother can't be in the dark without a light on, and her mother is terrified of bad luck.

The Solars are consumed by their fears and, according to the legend of the curse, destined to die from them.

Esther doesn't know what her great fear is yet (nor does she want to), a feat achieved by avoiding pretty much everything. Elevators, small spaces and crowds are all off-limits. So are haircuts, spiders, dolls, mirrors and three dozen other phobias she keeps a record of in her semi-definitive list of worst nightmares.

Then Esther is pickpocketed by Jonah Smallwood, an old elementary school classmate. Along with her phone, money and a fruit roll-up she'd been saving, Jonah also steals her list of fears. Despite the theft, Esther and Jonah become friends, and he sets a challenge for them- in an effort to break the curse that has crippled her family, they will meet every Sunday of senior year to work their way through the list, facing one terrifying fear at a time, including one that Esther hadn't counted on - love.

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Gabe was left as a foundling on the steps of a monastery, and has known no other life than the cloistered and disciplined institution. Nor does he have any great curiosity about the outer world, thinking his life will always be ordered and neat - until a dying man thrusts a mysterious manuscript into his hands with instructions to take it to Aidan and no-one else. Before he has time to blink, Gabe is swept up into a grand adventure, unable to return to the monastery, not knowing who to trust and on the run. Fortunately for him he falls into the hands of a notorious band of robbers - who happen to be girls with a mission of their own. A swift-paced adventure for readers 9-12. Lindy Jones

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What's the secret of the book, and why is it so valuable? These are the questions Gabe must answer when a dying man hands him a coded manuscript with one instruction: take it to Aidan. Gabe is hurled into a quest that takes him beyond his monastery home and into a world of danger, political intrigue and adventure. As he seeks to decipher the code and find a mystery man who may not even exist, Gabe learns that survival must be earned and that some of life's biggest lessons are not found in books. Gabe finds himself questioning everything he knows about right and wrong and wondering if he'll ever find a way back home. He also discovers that the biggest secret of all may be his own.