Abbey's Advocate

Mike Carlton was born to controversy. His father Jimmy, a renowned Olympic athlete and later a Catholic priest, married his mother after a whirlwind wartime courtship. This scandal was hushed up at first, but eventually it made headlines. Six years later, Jimmy Carlton died in his wife's arms, felled by asthma.

It was a tough beginning. Mike would have a Sydney suburban childhood where every penny counted. Unable to afford a university education, he left school at sixteen to begin a life in journalism that would propel him to the top, as one of Australia's best-known media figures. In an often turbulent career of more than fifty years he has been a war correspondent, political reporter, a TV news and current affairs reporter, an award-winning radio presenter in both Sydney and London, an outspoken newspaper columnist and a biting satirist. In later life he realised a lifelong ambition - to write three bestselling books of Australian naval history.

On Air is his story, no holds barred. With characteristic humour and flair, Mike tells of the feuds and the friendships, the fun and the follies, writing candidly of the extraordinary parade of characters and events he has encountered in the unique life he has led.

As a journalist, Leigh Sales often encounters people experiencing the worst moments of their lives in the full glare of the media. But one particular string of bad news stories - and a terrifying brush with her own mortality - sent her looking for answers about how vulnerable each of us is to a life-changing event. What are our chances of actually experiencing one? What do we fear most and why? And when the worst does happen, what comes next? In this wise and layered book, Leigh talks intimately with people who?ve faced the unimaginable, from terrorism to natural disaster to simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Expecting broken lives, she instead finds strength, hope, even humour. Leigh brilliantly condenses the cutting-edge research on the way the human brain processes fear and grief, and poses the questions we too often ignore out of awkwardness. Along the way, she offers an unguarded account of her own challenges and what she?s learned about coping with life?s unexpected blows. Warm, candid and empathetic, this book is about what happens when ordinary people, on ordinary days, are forced to suddenly find the resilience most of us don?t know we have.

As president of the Human Rights Commission, Gillian Triggs advocated for the disempowered, the disenfranchised, the marginalised. She withstood relentless political pressure and media scrutiny as she defended the defenceless for five tumultuous years.

How did this aspiring ballet dancer, dignified daughter of a tank commander and eminent law academic respond when appreciative passengers on a full airplane departing Canberra greeted her with a round of applause?

Speaking Up shares with readers the values that have guided Triggs' convictions and the causes she has championed. She dares women to be a little vulgar and men to move beyond their comfort zones to achieve equity for all. And she will not rest until Australia has a Bill of Rights.

Triggs' passionate memoir is an irresistible call to everyone who yearns for a fairer world.

Swashbuckler, daredevil racing-car champion, Winter Olympian, gambler, smuggler, scoundrel, stud and suspected Nazi agent who died a mysterious death - this is the fascinating story of the scandalous Freddie McEvoy.

Born in Melbourne in 1907, Freddie's life took him from socialising with a young Errol Flynn in Sydney and on to the French Riviera in the heady years leading up to World War II.

With his dashing good looks and charm, Freddie lived a swashbuckling life, quickly figuring out his path to easy fortune was through lonely rich women. World War II didn't stop Freddie's hedonistic pursuits - he skipped enlistment for Australia and Britain to party on in Hollywood, where he renewed his friendship with the now infamous Errol Flynn. Always short of cash, Freddie smuggled guns and diamonds on his yacht between California and Mexico and was rumoured to have worked as a spy.

It was a life lived large and Freddie's death in 1951 was under the most mysterious circumstances off the coast of Morocco: his body was found naked and scalped...

Frank Walker, bestselling author of The Tiger Man of Vietnam and Maralinga, has for the first time uncovered the complete, outrageous and incredible true story of Freddie McEvoy, Australia's daredevil lothario.

"You don't see me as I really am. All the many nuances of Lika Blum. The light and the dark. You just see the light."

Love is Blind is William Boyd's sweeping, heart-stopping new novel set at the end of the 19th century. It follows the fortunes of Brodie Moncur, a young Scottish musician about to embark on the story of his life.

When Brodie is offered a job in Paris, he seizes the chance to flee Edinburgh and his tyrannical clergyman father and begin a wildly different new chapter in his life. In Paris, a fateful encounter with a famous pianist irrevocably changes his future, sparking an obsessive love affair with a beautiful Russian soprano, Lika Blum. Moving from Paris to St Petersburg to Edinburgh and back again, Brodie's love for Lika - and its dangerous consequences - pursue him around Europe and beyond during an era of overwhelming change as the 19th century becomes the 20th.

This is a tale of dizzying passion and brutal revenge; of artistic endeavour and the illusions it creates; of all the possibilities that life can offer, and how cruelly they can be snatched away. At once an intimate portrait of one man's life and an expansive exploration of the beginning of the 20th century, this is a masterly new novel from one of Britain's best loved storytellers.

In his most autobiographical novel to date, Paulo Coelho interweaves adventure, philosophy and the true stories of his own life to give readers an essential book for our time.

In Hippie Paulo Coelho takes us back in time to relive the dream of a generation that longed for peace and dared to challenge the established social order – authoritarian politics, conservative modes of behaviour, excessive consumerism, and an unbalanced concentration of wealth and power.

Following the 'three days of peace and music' at Woodstock, the 1969 gathering in Bethel, NY that would change the world forever, hippie paradises began to emerge all around the world. In the Dam Square in Amsterdam, long-haired young people wearing vibrant clothes and burning incense could be found meditating, playing music and discussing sexual liberation, the expansion of consciousness and the search for an inner truth. They were a generation refusing to live the robotic and unquestioning life that their parents had known.

At this time, Paulo is a young, skinny Brazilian with a goatee and long, flowing hair who wants to become a writer. He sets off on a journey in search of freedom and a deeper meaning for his life: first, with a girlfriend, on the famous 'Death Train to Bolivia', then on to Peru and later hitchhiking through Chile and Argentina.

His travels take him further, to the famous square in Amsterdam, where Paulo meets Karla, a Dutch woman also in her 20s. She convinces Paulo to join her on a trip to Nepal, aboard the Magic Bus that travels across Europe and Central Asia to Kathmandu. They embark on a journey in the company of fascinating fellow travelers, each of whom has a story to tell, and each of whom will undergo a transformation, changing their priorities and values, along the way. As they travel together, Paulo and Karla explore their own relationship, an awakening on every level that brings each of them to a choice and a decision that sets the course for their lives thereafter.

Our narrator's days are numbered. Estranged from his family, living alone with only his cat Cabbage for company, he was unprepared for the doctor's diagnosis that he has only months to live. But before he can set about tackling his bucket list, the Devil appears with a special offer: in exchange for making one thing in the world disappear, he can have one extra day of life. And so begins a very bizarre week...

Because how do you decide what makes life worth living? How do you separate out what you can do without from what you hold dear? In dealing with the Devil our narrator will take himself - and his beloved cat - to the brink. Genki Kawamura's If Cats Disappeared from the World is a story of loss and reconciliation, of one man's journey to discover what really matters in modern life.

This beautiful tale is translated from the Japanese by Eric Selland, who also translated The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide. Fans of The Guest Cat will also surely love If Cats Disappeared from the World.

'For a while, she wasn't sure that her husband was her husband. Sometimes she thought he was, and sometimes not.'

Berta and Tomas meet in Madrid and, though both young, they decide to spend their lives together. Eighteen and betrothed, Tomas leaves to study at Oxford. His talent for languages quickly catches the interest of a certain government agency, but Tomas resists their offers - until one day he makes a mistake that will affect the rest of his life, and that of his beloved Berta. After university he returns to marry her, knowing he won't be able to stay for long...

Gripping and intricate, Berta Isla is about a relationship built on secrets and lies - and the equal forces of resentment and loyalty at its core.

The epic new novel from the internationally acclaimed and best-selling author of 1Q84.

In Killing Commendatore, a thirty-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a strange painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an Idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious thirteen-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna, a pit in the woods behind the artist?s home, and an underworld haunted by Double Metaphors.

A tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art - as well as a loving homage to The Great Gatsby - Killing Commendatore is a stunning work of imagination from one of our greatest writers.

When Vonita opened the doors of the Center that morning, she had no idea that it would be for the last time.

Wren has missed school to come to the Center, the sole surviving women's reproductive health clinic in the state, chaperoned by her aunt, Bex. Olive told Peg she was just coming for a check-up. Janine is undercover, a pro-life protester disguised as a patient. Joy needs to terminate her pregnancy. Louie is there to perform a service for these women, not in spite of his faith, but because of it.

When a desperate and distraught gunman bursts into the Center, opening fire and taking everyone hostage, Hugh McElroy is the police negotiator called to the scene. He has no idea that his fifteen-year-old daughter is inside.

Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.

Jodi Picoult - one of the most fearless writers of our time - tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation ... and, hopefully, understanding.

As a child, Daniel Sempere discovered a book that would change his life forever. Now a grown man, he is just one step away from solving the mystery of his mother's death when a new plot is revealed, much deeper and darker than he could ever have imagined. That is when Alicia Gris appears, a soul born from the shadows of war, to lead Daniel to the heart of darkness and reveal the secret history of his family... at a terrible price.

This is the final chapter in the story that began with The Shadow of the Wind and brings it to a grand finale. It is a tribute to the world of books, the art of storytelling and the magical link between literature and life.

Winter? Bleak. Earth as iron, water as stone, so the old song goes. But winter makes things visible. And Christmas is a time for family reunions, unexpected guests and evergreen truths.

It's December in Cornwall and Art's mother is seeing things. Art has problems too. His girlfriend has left so he's paying Lux, a young immigrant he found on the street, to impersonate her - but Lux has no intention of sticking to the script. And Iris, Art's prodigal aunt, septuagenarian CND-er and black sheep of the family, is about to arrive with a car full of food and a throat full of protest songs. Four people, strangers and family, in a fifteen-bedroom house for Christmas - will there be enough room for everyone?

Winter casts a merry eye over a bleak post-truth era with a story rooted in history, art, love and memory, protest and survival.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead takes place in a remote Polish village, where Janina, an eccentric woman in her sixties, recounts the events surrounding the disappearance of her two dogs. When members of a local hunting club are found murdered, she becomes involved in the investigation. Janina is reclusive, preferring the company of animals to people; she's unconventional, believing in the stars, and she is fond of the poetry of William Blake, from whose work the title of the book is taken.

Filled with wonderful characters like Maladroit, Big Foot, Black Coat, Dizzy and Boros, this subversive, entertaining noir novel, by 'one of Europe's major humanist writers' (Guardian), offers thought-provoking ideas on our perceptions of madness, injustice against marginalised people, animal rights, the hypocrisy of traditional religion, belief in predestination - and getting away with murder.

WINNER OF THE 2017 PRIX GONCOURT

Eric Vuillard's gripping novel The Order of the Day tells the story of the pivotal meetings which took between the European powers in the run up to World War Two. What emerges is a fascinating and incredibly moving account of failed diplomacy, broken relationships, and the catastrophic momentum which led to conflict.

The titans of German industry - set to prosper under the Nazi government - gather to lend their support to Adolf Hitler. The Australian Chancellor realizes too late that he has wandered into a trap, as Hitler delivers the ultimatum that will lay the groundwork for Germany's annexation of Austria. Winston Churchill joins Neville Chamberlain for a farewell luncheon held in honour of Joachim von Ribbentrop: German Ambassador to England, soon to be Foreign Minister in the Nazi government, and future defendant at the Nuremberg trials.

We know that these meetings took place, but what was the mood in the room? What words were exchanged? What egos that were in play? Vuillard makes it impossible to ignore the fact that the world was brought to the brink of war because of the actions of, and decisions made by, those in power. The sense of failure and tragedy is cumulative: there was nothing inevitable about these disastrous events.

Let me tell you about our brother.
The fourth Dunbar boy named Clay.
Everything happened to him.
We were all of us changed through him.

The Dunbar boys bring each other up in a house run by their own rules. A family of ramshackle tragedy – their mother is dead, their father has fled – they love and fight, and learn to reckon with the adult world.

It is Clay, the quiet one, who will build a bridge; for his family, for his past, for his sins. He builds a bridge to transcend humanness. To survive.

A miracle and nothing less.

Markus Zusak makes his long-awaited return with a profoundly heartfelt and inventive novel about a family held together by stories, and a young life caught in the current: a boy in search of greatness, as a cure for a painful past.

Yes, always for us there was a brother, and he was the one - the one of us amongst five of us - who took all of it on his shoulder.

Fifteen years ago, in Mitch Albom's beloved novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the world fell in love with Eddie, a grizzled war veteran- turned-amusement park mechanic who died saving the life of a young girl named Annie. Eddie's journey to heaven taught him that every life matters. Now, in this magical sequel, Mitch Albom reveals Annie's story.

The accident that killed Eddie left an indelible mark on Annie. It took her left hand, which needed to be surgically reattached. Injured, scarred, and unable to remember why, Annie's life is forever changed by a guilt-ravaged mother who whisks her away from the world she knew. Bullied by her peers and haunted by something she cannot recall, Annie struggles to find acceptance as she grows. When, as a young woman, she reconnects with Paulo, her childhood love, she believes she has finally found happiness.

As the novel opens, Annie is marrying Paulo. But when her wedding night day ends in an unimaginable accident, Annie finds herself on her own heavenly journey - and an inevitable reunion with Eddie, one of the five people who will show her how her life mattered in ways she could not have fathomed.

Poignant and beautiful, filled with unexpected twists, The Next Person You Meet in Heaven reminds us that not only does every life matter, but that every ending is also a beginning - we only need to open our eyes to see it.

In this riveting novel from The New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Architect, a man in disgrace finds that digging up the past is the only road he can take.

In turn of the century London, Douglas Layton is a disgrace. One of the music halls he so lovingly designed fell to pieces during a packed performance, killing dozens and ruining his reputation as an architect - not to mention eventually sending him to jail.

Five years later, Layton is attempting to rebuild some kind of a life for himself, despite the notoriety. He is able to disguise himself as a scenic designer at Nottingham Grand Imperial Theatre, but his past is never far behind... and something ever more dangerous is brewing in the walls of the music hall.

At the fortress of the eagles, three kings will fight... Uhtred of Bebbanburg has won back his ancestral home but, threatened from all sides by enemies both old and new, he doesn't have long to enjoy the victory.

In Mercia, rebellion is in the air as King Edward tries to seize control. In Wessex, rival parties scramble to settle on the identity of the next king. And across the country invading Norsemen continue their relentless incursion, ever hungry for land.

Uhtred - a legendary warrior, admired and sought as an ally, feared as an adversary - finds himself once again torn between his two heritages: fighting on what he considers the wrong side, cursed by misfortune and tragedy and facing one of his most formidable enemies. Only the most astute cunning, the greatest loyalty and the most spectacular courage can save him.

For decades, Uhtred has stood at the intersection between Pagan and Christian, between Saxon and Viking, between the old world he was born into and the new world being forged around him. But as the winds of change gather pace, the pressure on Uhtred as father, as politician and as warrior grows as never before.

Twenty years ago Helen Franklin did something she cannot forgive herself for, and she has spent every day since barricading herself against its memory. But the sheltered life she has crafted for herself is about to change.

A strange manuscript has come into her possession, and its contents have the power to unravel every strand of her fragile safety net. It is filled with testimonies from the darkest chapters of human history, which all record sightings of a tall, silent woman in black, with unblinking eyes and bleeding feet: Melmoth, the loneliest being in the world. Condemned to walk the Earth forever, she tries to beguile the guilty and lure them away for a lifetime wandering alongside her.

Everyone that Melmoth seeks out must make a choice: to live with what they've done, or be led into the darkness. Despite her scepticism, Helen can't stop reading, or shake the feeling that someone or something is watching her. As her past finally catches up with her, she too must choose which path to take.

Exquisitely written, and gripping until the very last page, this is a masterpiece of moral complexity, asking us profound questions about mercy, redemption, and how to make the best of our conflicted world.

When the Black Death enters England through the port of Melcombe in Dorseteshire in June 1348, no one knows what manner of sickness it is or how it spreads and kills so quickly.

The Church proclaims it a punishment from God but Lady Anne of Develish has different ideas. With her brutal husband absent, she decides on more sensible ways to protect her people than the daily confessions of sin recommended by the Bishop. Anne gathers her serfs within the gates of Develish and refuses entry to outsiders, even to her husband.

She makes an enemy of her daughter by doing so, but her resolve is strengthened by the support of her leading serfs ... until food stocks run low and the nerves of all are tested by their ignorance of what is happening in the world outside. The people of Develish are alive. But for how long? And what will they discover when the time comes for them to cross the moat?

Compelling and suspenseful, The Last Hours is a riveting tale of human ingenuity and endurance against the worst pandemic known to history. In Lady Anne of Develish - leader, saviour, heretic - Walters has created her most memorable heroine to date.

Mike Carlton was born to controversy. His father Jimmy, a renowned Olympic athlete and later a Catholic priest, married his mother after a whirlwind wartime courtship. This scandal was hushed up at first, but eventually it made headlines. Six years later, Jimmy Carlton died in his wife's arms, felled by asthma.

It was a tough beginning. Mike would have a Sydney suburban childhood where every penny counted. Unable to afford a university education, he left school at sixteen to begin a life in journalism that would propel him to the top, as one of Australia's best-known media figures. In an often turbulent career of more than fifty years he has been a war correspondent, political reporter, a TV news and current affairs reporter, an award-winning radio presenter in both Sydney and London, an outspoken newspaper columnist and a biting satirist. In later life he realised a lifelong ambition - to write three bestselling books of Australian naval history.

On Air is his story, no holds barred. With characteristic humour and flair, Mike tells of the feuds and the friendships, the fun and the follies, writing candidly of the extraordinary parade of characters and events he has encountered in the unique life he has led.

As a journalist, Leigh Sales often encounters people experiencing the worst moments of their lives in the full glare of the media. But one particular string of bad news stories - and a terrifying brush with her own mortality - sent her looking for answers about how vulnerable each of us is to a life-changing event. What are our chances of actually experiencing one? What do we fear most and why? And when the worst does happen, what comes next? In this wise and layered book, Leigh talks intimately with people who?ve faced the unimaginable, from terrorism to natural disaster to simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Expecting broken lives, she instead finds strength, hope, even humour. Leigh brilliantly condenses the cutting-edge research on the way the human brain processes fear and grief, and poses the questions we too often ignore out of awkwardness. Along the way, she offers an unguarded account of her own challenges and what she?s learned about coping with life?s unexpected blows. Warm, candid and empathetic, this book is about what happens when ordinary people, on ordinary days, are forced to suddenly find the resilience most of us don?t know we have.

As president of the Human Rights Commission, Gillian Triggs advocated for the disempowered, the disenfranchised, the marginalised. She withstood relentless political pressure and media scrutiny as she defended the defenceless for five tumultuous years.

How did this aspiring ballet dancer, dignified daughter of a tank commander and eminent law academic respond when appreciative passengers on a full airplane departing Canberra greeted her with a round of applause?

Speaking Up shares with readers the values that have guided Triggs' convictions and the causes she has championed. She dares women to be a little vulgar and men to move beyond their comfort zones to achieve equity for all. And she will not rest until Australia has a Bill of Rights.

Triggs' passionate memoir is an irresistible call to everyone who yearns for a fairer world.

Swashbuckler, daredevil racing-car champion, Winter Olympian, gambler, smuggler, scoundrel, stud and suspected Nazi agent who died a mysterious death - this is the fascinating story of the scandalous Freddie McEvoy.

Born in Melbourne in 1907, Freddie's life took him from socialising with a young Errol Flynn in Sydney and on to the French Riviera in the heady years leading up to World War II.

With his dashing good looks and charm, Freddie lived a swashbuckling life, quickly figuring out his path to easy fortune was through lonely rich women. World War II didn't stop Freddie's hedonistic pursuits - he skipped enlistment for Australia and Britain to party on in Hollywood, where he renewed his friendship with the now infamous Errol Flynn. Always short of cash, Freddie smuggled guns and diamonds on his yacht between California and Mexico and was rumoured to have worked as a spy.

It was a life lived large and Freddie's death in 1951 was under the most mysterious circumstances off the coast of Morocco: his body was found naked and scalped...

Frank Walker, bestselling author of The Tiger Man of Vietnam and Maralinga, has for the first time uncovered the complete, outrageous and incredible true story of Freddie McEvoy, Australia's daredevil lothario.

'Their years in the Aegean may have been half perfect at best, but it was on Hydra that they connected to a place, a lifestyle and a community that allowed them to live and express themselves intensely, and as they wished. They refused to believe their dreams were an illusion, or that boldness, ambition and a leap-of-faith might not allow them to reach beyond the constraints of their birthright'.

Half the Perfect World tells the story of the post-war international artist community that formed on the Greek island of Hydra. Most famously, it included renowned singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen and his partner Marianne Ihlen, as well as many other artists and writers including the Australian literary couple, Charmian Clift and George Johnston, who fostered this fabled colony.

Drawing on many previously unseen letters, manuscripts and diaries, and richly illustrated by the eyewitness photographs of LIFE magazine photo-journalist James Burke, Half the Perfect World reveals the private lives and relationships of the Hydra expatriates. It charts the promise of a creative life that drew many of them to the island, and documents the fracturing of the community as it came under pressure from personal ambitions and wider social changes. For all the unrealised youthful ambitions, internal strife and personal tragedy that attends this story, the authors nonetheless find that the example of these writers, dreamers and drifters continues to resonate and inspire.

She was already well-known in some circles before March 6, 2018, but that's probably the first time you heard the name Stormy Daniels. That's the day she filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump over a nondisclosure agreement negotiated before the election but never signed.

How did Stormy Daniels become the woman willing to take on a president? What is it like to be reviled by some, held up as a beacon of hope by others, and to be an object of fascination to all?

In this book, Stormy Daniels tells her whole story for the first time: everything about the events that led to the nondisclosure agreement and the behind-the-scenes attempts to intimidate her, how she came to be a leading actress and director in the adult film business, and the full truth about her journey from a rough childhood in Louisiana onto the national stage.

Stormy is funny, sharp, warm, and impassioned by turns. Her story is a thoroughly American one, of a girl who loved reading and horses and who understood from a very young age what she wanted - and who also knew she'd have to get every step of the way there on her own.

People can't stop talking about Stormy Daniels. And they won't be able to stop talking about her fresh, surprising, completely candid, nothing-held-back book.

The second book in the Why I Write series provides generous insight into the creative process of award-winning Norwegian novelist Karl Ove Knausgaard, most famous for his 6-book series, My Struggle.

“Why I Write” may prove to be the most difficult question Karl Ove Knausgaard has struggled to answer, yet it is central to the project of one of the most influential writers working today.

To write, for the Norwegian artist, is to resist easy thinking and preconceived notions that inhibit awareness of our lives. Knausgaard writes to “erode my own notions about the world... It is one thing to know something, another to write about it.”

The key to enhanced living is the ability to hit upon something inadvertently, to regard it from a position of defencelessness and unknowing.

A deeply personal meditation, Inadvertent is a cogent and accessible guide to the creative process of one of our most prolific and ingenious artists.



The Why I Write series is based on the Windham-Campbell Lectures, delivered annually to commemorate the awarding of the Donald Windham - Sandy M Campbell Literature Prizes at Yale University. Administered by Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the series publishes works based on the lecture given by the event's keynote speaker.

The series launched in 2017 with the release of Devotion, by renowned musician, artist and author Patti Smith. Future editions are due from Pulitzer Prize winner Hilton Als and poet-playwright Elizabeth Alexander, who recited her poetry at the 2009 presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.

Winston Churchill dominates our view of the history of Britain in the twentieth century - the brash, brave and ambitious young aristocrat who sought out danger in late Victorian wars, the mercurial First Lord of the Admiralty who was responsible for the Dardanelles disaster in 1915, the Colonial Secretary who rode with T. E. Lawrence and Gertrude Bell at the Pyramids, the Chancellor who took the country back to the Gold Standard and crushed the General Strike in 1926, and then spent more than ten years in the political wilderness - and who, finally, was summoned to save his country in 1940. 'I felt that I was walking with destiny, and all my life had been but preparation for that hour.'

Andrew Roberts' titanic new biography re-interprets all these events, especially Churchill's leadership during the Second World War, which he sees through the prism of all Churchill's earlier life. He gives full visibility to Churchill's flaws, and brilliantly explains his genius. He has used over forty collections of papers not available to Churchill's previous biographer Roy Jenkins (2001) and he is the first Churchill biographer to be granted access by the Queen to the private diaries of King George VI. This is the Churchill biography for our times.

'The small translucent bottle of shampoo outlived him. It was the kind you take home from hotels in distant places. For over a year it had sat on the shower shelf where he had left it. I looked at it every day.'

After the death of her partner of thirty-two years, Lisa Appignanesi was thrust into a state striated by rage and superstition in which sanity felt elusive. The dead of prior generations loomed large and haunting. Then, too, the cultural and political moment seemed to collude with her condition: everywhere people were dislocated and angry.

In this electrifying and brave examination of an ordinary enough death and its aftermath, Appignanesi uses all her evocative and analytic powers to scrutinize her own and our society's experience of grieving, the effects of loss and the potent, mythical space it occupies in our lives.

With searing honesty, lashed by humour, she navigates us onto the terrain of childhood, the way it forms our feelings of love and hate, and steers us towards a less tumultuous version of the everyday.

This book may be short, but life, death, madness, love, and grandchildren, are all there – seen through the eyes of a writer who is ever aware of the historical and current vagaries of woman's condition.

The trial of the Knights Templar is one of the most infamous in history. Accused of heresy by the king of France, the Templars were arrested and imprisoned, had their goods seized and their monasteries ransacked. Under brutal interrogation and torture, many made shocking confessions: denial of Christ, desecration of the Cross, sex acts and more.

This book follows the everyday reality of the trial, from the early days of scandal and scheming in 1305, via torture, imprisonment and the dissolution of the order, to 1314, when leaders Jacques de Molay and Geoffroy de Charnay were burned at the stake. Through first-hand testimony and written records of the interrogations of 231 French Templars, this book illuminates the stories of hundreds of ordinary members, some of whom testified at the trial, as well as the many others who denied the charges or retracted their confessions.

A deeply researched and immersive account that gives a striking vision of the relentless persecution, and the oft-underestimated resistance, of the once-mighty Knights Templar.

A prominent scholar explores King Arthur’s historical development, proposing that he began as a fictional character developed in the ninth century.

According to legend, King Arthur saved Britain from the Saxons and reigned over it gloriously sometime around A.D. 500. Whether or not there was a “real” King Arthur has all too often been neglected by scholars; most period specialists today declare themselves agnostic on this important matter. In this erudite volume, Nick Higham sets out to solve the puzzle, drawing on his original research and expertise to determine precisely when, and why, the legend began.
 
Higham surveys all the major attempts to prove the origins of Arthur, weighing up and debunking hitherto claimed connections with classical Greece, Roman Dalmatia, Sarmatia, and the Caucasus. He then explores Arthur’s emergence in Wales - up to his rise to fame at the hands of Geoffrey of Monmouth. Certain to arouse heated debate among those committed to defending any particular Arthur, Higham’s book is an essential study for anyone seeking to understand how Arthur’s story began.

Look to the sky and see the stories in the stars.

The stars and constellations are among the few remaining objects that appear to us just as they appeared to our distant ancestors. From anywhere on Earth, a person may view the celestial panorama simply by stepping outside at night and gazing upward.

This non- fiction narrative presents the tales of the forty- eight classical constellations, compiled from literature spanning a thousand years from Homer (c. 800 BC) to Claudius Ptolemy (c. 150 AD). These age-old tales have captured the human imagination from ancient times to the present, and through them we can examine the early practical astronomy, philosophical speculation on the cosmos, and fundamental moral beliefs of much of Western civilization.

Illustrations and star charts carefully reconstructed from ancient sources lend a visual element and immerse the reader in the world of ancient cosmology and constellation mapping. Through Marshall’s research and storytelling, Ancient Skies brings the belief systems of the classical world to shining life.

75 b&w illustrations

In The Restless Kings Nick Barratt presents the tumultuous struggle for supremacy between the first Plantagenet king, Henry II, and his four sons - a drama that tore apart the most powerful family in western Europe and shaped the future of two nations.

Although the key events took place over 800 years ago, their significance still resonates today. Whether you're looking for the root causes of Brexit or tension in the Middle East, their origins can be found in the actions of the Angevin kings of England.

As well as exploring the personalities and crises facing these extraordinary people as a family, The Restless Kings follows them as they raced around western Europe, struggling to hold together a vast conglomeration of lands - often through force of arms - whilst constantly harried by the their nominal overlord and arch rival, Philip Augustus, king of France.

We also learn about some of the most powerful women of the medieval period, from Emma of Normandy to Eleanor of Aquitaine - formidable and canny politicians in their own right who outlived their spouses and children.

The Restless Kings will challenge everything you assumed you knew about the medieval world. Above all, it brings to life some of the most remarkable, complex, flawed and brilliant monarchs ever to have sat on the English throne.

A Daily Telegraph Book of the Year

The story of England's medieval queens is vivid and stirring, packed with tragedy, high drama and even comedy. It is a chronicle of love, murder, war and betrayal, filled with passion, intrigue and sorrow, peopled by a cast of heroines, villains, stateswomen and lovers.

In the first volume of this epic new series, Alison Weir strips away centuries of romantic mythology and prejudice to reveal the lives of England's queens in the century after the Norman Conquest. It begins with Matilda of Flanders, who supported William the Conqueror in his invasion of England in 1066, and culminates in the turbulent life of the Empress Maud, who claimed to be queen of England in her own right.

Queens of the Conquest is a seamless tale of interconnected lives in which these five extraordinary women reclaim their rightful roles at the centre of English history.

This captivating popular history shines a light on the notorious Julio-Claudian women who forged an empire.

Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero - these are the names we associate with the early Roman Empire. Yet not one of these emperors was the blood son of his predecessor.

In this captivating history, a prominent scholar of the era documents the Julio-Claudian women whose bloodline, ambition and ruthlessness made it possible for the emperors' line to continue.

Eminent scholar Guy de la Bedoyere, author of Praetorian, asserts that the women behind the scenes - including Livia, Octavia and the elder and younger Agrippina - were the true backbone of the dynasty. He draws on the accounts of ancient Roman historians to revisit a familiar time from a completely fresh vantage point. Anyone who enjoyed I, Claudius will be fascinated by this study of dynastic power and gender interplay in ancient Rome.

A thrilling sequence of journeys across France in the footsteps of Caesar and his successors, revealing how the Romans changed the face of France, and of Europe, forever.

In the 50s BC, Julius Caesar conducted a brutal war against the tribes of ancient Gaul. On the pretext of curbing an imminent barbarian threat to the Roman Republic, he first defeated and decimated the Helvetii tribe, before subjugating the other Celtic peoples who occupied the territory of what is now France. Caesar laid Gallic civilization to waste, but the cultural revolution the Romans brought in their wake transformed the Celtic culture of that country, as the Gauls exchanged their tribal quarrels for togas and acquired the paraphernalia of civilized urban life. The Romans also left behind a legacy of language, literature, law, government, religion, architecture and industry.

From Marseille to Mulhouse, and from Orleans to Autun, Bijan Omrani journeys across Gaul in the footsteps of its Roman conquerors. He tells the story of Caesar's Gallic Wars and traces the indelible imprint on modern Europe of the Gallo-Roman civilization that emerged in their wake.

From the best-selling author of All Hell Let Loose comes a masterly chronicle of one of the most devastating international conflicts of the 20th century and how its people were affected.

'This is a comprehensive, spellbinding, surprisingly intimate, and altogether magnificent historical narrative.' Tim O'Brien

Vietnam became the Western world's most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the United States in 1975. Max Hastings has spent the past three years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs, to create an epic narrative of an epic struggle. He portrays the set pieces of Dienbienphu, the Tet offensive, the air blitz of North Vietnam, and less familiar battles such as the bloodbath at Daido, where a US Marine battalion was almost wiped out, together with extraordinary recollections of Ho Chi Minh's warriors. Here are the vivid realities of strife amid jungle and paddies that killed 2 million people.

Many writers treat the war as a US tragedy, yet Hastings sees it as overwhelmingly that of the Vietnamese people, of whom forty died for every American. US blunders and atrocities were matched by those committed by their enemies. While all the world has seen the image of a screaming, naked girl seared by napalm, it forgets countless eviscerations, beheadings and murders carried out by the communists. The people of both former Vietnams paid a bitter price for the Northerners' victory in privation and oppression. Here is testimony from Vietcong guerrillas, Southern paratroopers, Saigon bargirls and Hanoi students alongside that of infantrymen from South Dakota, Marines from North Carolina, Huey pilots from Arkansas.

No past volume has blended a political and military narrative of the entire conflict with heart-stopping personal experiences, in the fashion that Max Hastings' readers know so well. The author suggests that neither side deserved to win this struggle with so many lessons for the 21st century about the misuse of military might to confront intractable political and cultural challenges. He marshals testimony from warlords and peasants, statesmen and soldiers, to create an extraordinary record.

The extraordinary story of Stan Savige - from Gallipoli marksman to Pacific War General and the founder of Legacy.

'Stan Savige had been on Gallipoli for just two weeks, in the trenches firing at Turks less than 20 metres away. But Sniper's Ridge was a different proposition. Killing took on another dimension. In the flurry of trench warfare, a soldier would rarely be certain he had hit an enemy. On this ridge of death, however, Savige's job was to make sure he struck as many of the opposition as possible.'

The son of a country butcher, Stan Savige left school at twelve to become a blacksmith's striker. But in 1915, a passage in the bible inspired the devout scout leader and Sunday school teacher to enlist. Soon his abilities as a crack marksman attracted the attention of the officers and he was put in charge of Sniper's Ridge, his job to eliminate the enemy assassins in Anzac Cove. Savige succeeded and survived Gallipoli, only to be sent to the Western Front then Iran as part of the crack squad Dunsterforce. It was the beginning of a long, dangerous and distinguished military career spanning both world wars, with Savige commanding and fighting in Europe, Iran, North Africa, the Middle East and the Pacific in World War II, initially as Major-General then Lieutenant General.

In this gripping biography, Roland Perry paints a fascinating and complex portrait of Lieutenant General Sir Stanley George Savige, KBE, CB, DSO, MC, ED, a man of character and compassion, a quiet outsider who founded the war veterans' support charity Legacy, who still has few peers in courage, skill and achievement and whose record is second to none in Australian military history, in the scope of his combat over two world wars.

Australia's official First World War correspondent, Charles Bean, saw more of the Australian Imperial Force's actions and battles on the Western Front than anyone.

Bean's extensive private wartime diaries, held by the Australian War Memorial, form a unique and personal record of his experiences and observations throughout the war and were the basis of his monumental multi-volume official war history.

While a selection of his diaries relating to the Gallipoli campaign have been available for some time, Bean's Western Front diaries are published here for the first time, edited by esteemed historian Peter Burness, and accompanied by over 500 remarkable photographs, sketches and maps.

For the ten years from 1902, when Australia’s suffrage campaigners won the vote for white women, the world looked to this trailblazing young democracy for inspiration.

Clare Wright’s epic new history tells the story of that victory - and of Australia’s role in the subsequent international struggle - through the eyes of five remarkable players: the redoubtable Vida Goldstein, the flamboyant Nellie Martel, indomitable Dora Montefiore, daring Muriel Matters, and artist Dora Meeson Coates, who painted the controversial Australian banner carried in the British suffragettes’ monster marches of 1908 and 1911.

Clare Wright’s Stella Prize-winning. The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka retold one of Australia’s foundation stories from a fresh new perspective. With You Daughters of Freedom she brings to life a time when Australian democracy was the envy of the world - and the standard bearer for progress in a shining new century.

The story of Ned Kelly is also the untold story of Michael Kennedy, the police sergeant slain and robbed by the outlaw 140 years ago. Both Kennedy and Kelly were Irish immigrants struggling to make their way in the new colonies of Australia - Kennedy was committed to defending the law, while Kelly was hell-bent on breaking it. When their paths crossed one fateful day at Stringybark Creek, it triggered the end for one and the beginning of an incredible myth about the other.

Author Leo Kennedy is the great grandson of Sergeant Michael Kennedy. He was raised in the shadow of his great grandfather's murder. He witnessed the deep psychological wounds inflicted on successive generations of his family - and the families of other victims - as the Ned Kelly myth grew around them and the sacrifice of their loved ones was forgotten. Leo himself was nicknamed 'Red Ned' at school and taunted for being on the wrong side of Australian history.

Now, for the first time and in brilliant prose that brings these historical episodes to life, Black Snake challenges the legend of Ned Kelly. Instead of celebrating an heroic man of the people, it gives voice to the victims of a merciless gang of outlaws. This is a captivating true story, gleaned from meticulous research and family history, of two men from similar backgrounds whose legacies were distorted by history.

The white colonisers of Australia suffered from Alliumphobia, a fear of garlic. Local cooks didn't touch the stuff and it took centuries for that fear to lift.

This food history of Australia shows we held onto British assumptions about produce and cooking for a long time and these fed our views on racial hierarchies and our place in the world. Before Garlic we had meat and potatoes; After Garlic what we ate got much more interesting. But has a national cuisine emerged? What is Australian food culture?

Renowned food writer John Newton visits haute cuisine or fine dining restaurants, the cafes and mid-range restaurants, and heads home to the dinner tables as he samples what everyday people have cooked and eaten over centuries. His observations and recipes old and new, show what has changed and what hasn't changed as much as we might think even though our chefs are hailed as some of the best in the world.

Diarmaid MacCulloch's biography is the most complete life ever written of this elusive figure, making connections not previously seen and revealing the channels through which power in early Tudor England flowed.

Thomas Cromwell is one of the most famous - or notorious - figures in English history. Born in obscurity in Putney, he became a fixer for Cardinal Wolsey in the 1520s. After Wolsey's fall, Henry VIII promoted him to a series of ever greater offices, such that in the 1530s he was effectively running the country for the King. That decade was one of the most momentous in English history: it saw a religious break with the Pope, unprecedented use of parliament, the dissolution of all monasteries, and the coming of the Protestantism. Cromwell was central to all this, but establishing his role with precision has been notoriously difficult.

Diarmaid MacCulloch's biography is the most complete life ever written of this elusive figure, making connections not previously seen and revealing the channels through which power in early Tudor England flowed. It overturns many received interpretations, for example that Cromwell and Anne Boleyn were allies because of their common religious sympathies, showing how he in fact destroyed her. It introduces the many different personalities contributing to these foundational years, all worrying about the 'terrifyingly unpredictable' Henry VIII, and allows readers to feel that all this is going on around them. For a time, the self-made 'ruffian', as he described himself - ruthless, adept in the exercise of power, quietly determined in religious revolution - was master of events.

WINNER OF THE GUILD OF FOOD WRITERS BOOK AWARD 2018

The glamorous daughter of an African chief shares a pineapple with a slave trader... Surveyors in British Columbia eat tinned Australian rabbit... Diamond prospectors in Guyana prepare an iguana curry...

In twenty meals The Hungry Empire tells the story of how the British created a global network of commerce and trade in foodstuffs that moved people and plants from one continent to another, reshaping landscapes and culinary tastes. The Empire allowed Britain to harness the globe’s edible resources from cod fish and salt beef to spices, tea and sugar.

Lizzie Collingham takes us on a wide-ranging culinary journey, revealing how virtually every meal we eat still contains a taste of empire

'A wholly pleasing book, which offers a tasty side dish to anyone exploring the narrative history of the British Empire' Max Hastings, Sunday Times

Christmas in Tudor times was a period of feasting, revelry and merrymaking 'to drive the cold winter away?. A carnival atmosphere presided at court, with a twelve-day-long festival of entertainments, pageants, theatre productions and 'disguisings?, when even the king and queen dressed up in costume to fool their courtiers. Throughout the festive season, all ranks of subjects were freed for a short time from everyday cares to indulge in eating, drinking, dancing and game-playing. We might assume that our modern Christmas owes much to the Victorians. In fact, as Alison Weir and Siobhan Clarke reveal in this fascinating book, many of our favourite Christmas traditions date back much further. Carol-singing, present-giving, mulled wine and mince pies were all just as popular in Tudor times, and even Father Christmas and roast turkey dinners have their origins in this period. The festival was so beloved by English people that Christmas traditions survived remarkably unchanged in this age of tumultuous religious upheaval. Beautifully illustrated with original line drawings throughout, this enchanting compendium will fascinate anyone with an interest in Tudor life - and anyone who loves Christmas.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE

SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017 BY THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, MAIL ON SUNDAY AND OBSERVER

'A glittering gemstone of a book' The Times

The Jewish story is a history that is about, and for, all of us. And in our own time of anxious arrivals and enforced departures, the Jews' search for a home is more startlingly resonant than ever.

Belonging is a magnificent cultural history abundantly alive with energy, character and colour. It spans centuries and continents, from the Jews' expulsion from Spain in 1492 it navigates miracles and massacres, wandering, discrimination, harmony and tolerance; to the brink of the twentieth century and, it seems, a point of profound hope.

It tells the stories not just of rabbis and philosophers but of a poetess in the ghetto of Venice; a boxer in Georgian England; a general in Ming China; an opera composer in nineteenth-century Germany. The story unfolds in Kerala and Mantua, the starlit hills of Galilee, the rivers of Colombia, the kitchens of Istanbul, the taverns of Ukraine and the mining camps of California. It sails in caravels, rides the stage coaches and the railways; trudges the dawn streets of London, hobbles along with the remnant of Napoleon's ruined army.

Through Schama's passionate telling of this second chronicle in an epic tale, a history emerges of the Jewish people that feels it is the story of everyone, of humanity.

Abducted by slave traders from her home in Ruthenia - modern-day Ukraine - around 1515, Roxelana was brought to Istanbul and trained in the palace harem as a concubine for Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, ruler of the Ottoman Empire and one of the world's most powerful men.

Suleyman became besotted with Roxelana and foreswore all other concubines, freeing and marrying her. The bold and canny Roxelana became a shrewd diplomat and philanthropist, helping Suleyman keep pace with a changing world in which women - Isabella of Hungary, Catherine de Medici - were increasingly close to power.

Until now Roxelana has been seen by historians as a seductress who brought ruin to the empire, but in Empress of the East, acclaimed historian Leslie Peirce reveals with panache the compelling story of an elusive woman who transformed the Ottoman harem into an institution of imperial rule.

On a warm July evening in 1985, a middle-aged man stood on the pavement of a busy avenue in the heart of Moscow, holding a plastic carrier bag. In his grey suit and tie, he looked like any other Soviet citizen. The bag alone was mildly conspicuous, printed with the red logo of Safeway, the British supermarket.

The man was a spy. A senior KGB officer, for more than a decade he had supplied his British spymasters with a stream of priceless secrets from deep within the Soviet intelligence machine. No spy had done more to damage the KGB. The Safeway bag was a signal - to activate his escape plan to be smuggled out of Soviet Russia.

So began one of the boldest and most extraordinary episodes in the history of spying. Ben Macintyre reveals a tale of espionage, betrayal and raw courage that changed the course of the Cold War forever...

D-Day was the greatest invasion in history. An epic battle that involved 156,000 men, 7,000 ships and 20,000 armoured vehicles, the desperate struggle that unfolded on 6 June was, above all, a story of individual heroics - men who were driven to keep fighting, until the German defences were smashed and the precarious beachheads secured.

In D-DAY Giles Milton paints a dazzling canvas of the opening day of battle, exploring the momentous events through the prism of those who took part. Sweeping from the principal architects at Supreme Command to the graphic testimonies of the men who struggled ashore on the morning of 6 June, his narrative lays bare the absolute terror of those on both sides trapped in the frontline massacres of Operation Overlord.

In an overview that is both meticulous and vast, 'the longest day' is revealed as never before - less a masterpiece of strategic planning than a day on which thousands of scared young men found themselves staring death in the face - told through the eyes of those who took part, as we approach the 75th anniversary of the battle in 2019.

4th March 2018, Salisbury, England.

Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were enjoying a rare and peaceful Sunday spent together, completely unaware they had been poisoned with the deadly nerve agent Novichok. Hours later both were found slumped on a park bench close to death.

Following their attempted murders on British soil, Russia was publically accused by the West of carrying out the attack, marking a new low for international relations between the two since the end of the Cold War.

The Skripal Files is the definitive account of how Skripal's story fits into the wider context of the new spy war between Russia and the West. The Skripal Files explores the time Skripal spent as a spy in the Russian Military Intelligence, how he was turned to work as an agent by MI6, his imprisonment in Russia and his eventual release as part of a spy-swap that would bring him to Salisbury, where on that fateful day he and his daughter found themselves fighting for their lives.

Americans who remember World War II reminisce about how it brought the country together. The less popular truth behind this warm nostalgia: until the attack on Pearl Harbor, America was deeply, dangerously divided.

Hitler's American Friends exposes the homegrown antagonists who sought to protect and promote Hitler, leave Europeans (and especially European Jews) to fend for themselves, and elevate the Nazi regime.

Some of these friends were Americans of German heritage who joined the Bund, whose leadership dreamed of installing a stateside Fuhrer. Some were as bizarre and hair-raising as the Silver Shirt Legion, run by an eccentric who claimed that Hitler fulfilled a religious prophecy. Some were Midwestern Catholics like Father Charles Coughlin, an early right-wing radio star who broadcast anti-Semitic tirades. They were even members of Congress who used their franking privilege - sending mail at cost to American taxpayers - to distribute German propaganda. And celebrity pilot Charles Lindbergh ended up speaking for them all at the America First Committee.

We try to tell ourselves it couldn't happen here, but Americans are not immune to the lure of fascism. Hitler's American Friends is a powerful look at how the forces of evil manipulate ordinary people, how we stepped back from the ledge, and the disturbing ease with which we could return to it.

One of the most important politics books of the year, To Obama is a record of a time when politics intersected with empathy.

Every day, President Obama received ten thousand letters from ordinary American citizens. Every night, he read ten of them before going to bed. In To Obama, Jeanne Marie Laskas interviews President Obama, the letter-writers themselves and the White House staff in the Office of Presidential Correspondence who were witness to the millions of pleas, rants, thank-yous and apologies that landed in the mailroom during the Obama years. There is Peggy, a patriotic grandmother who thinks the President is trying to lead the country into socialism and recommends that he read the Constitution; Bill, a lifelong Republican whose attitude towards immigration reform was transformed when he met a boy who escaped MS-13 gang leaders in El Salvador; Jordan, a seven-year-old about to be adopted, who wants to thank the President for keeping him safe; James, who on the morning after the 2016 election tells the President to start packing; and Dawn, who writes to say that he made it possible for a very jaded generation to begin to hope and believe in the good.

They wrote to Obama out of gratitude and desperation, in their darkest times of need, with anger, fear and respect. To Obama is an intimate look at one man's relationship with the American people, and at how this extraordinary dialogue shaped an era-defining presidency.

By Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter Greg Miller comes an exclusive book uncovering the truth behind the Kremlin's attempt to destroy Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump win the presidency, Trump's steadfast allegiance to Vladimir Putin and Robert Mueller's ensuing investigation of the president and those close to him.

It has been called the political crime of the century: a foreign government, led by a brutal authoritarian leader, secretly interfering with the American presidential election to help elect the candidate of its choice.

The Washington Post's Pulitzer Prize-winning US national security reporter Greg Miller and his team unveil their findings from this in-depth investigation into what happened. Miller uses interviews with hundreds of people in Trump's inner circle, current and former government officials, individuals with close ties to the White House, members of the law enforcement and the intelligence communities, foreign officials, and confidential documents. The Apprentice offers exclusive information about:

* the hacking of the Democrats by Russian intelligence;
* Russian hijacking of Facebook and Twitter;
* National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's hidden communications with the Russians;
* the attempt by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, to create a secret backchannel to Moscow using Russian diplomatic facilities;
* Trump's disclosure to Russian officials of highly classified information about Israeli intelligence operations;
* Trump's battles with the CIA and the FBI and fierce clashes within the West Wing;
* Trump's efforts to enlist the director of national intelligence and the director of the National Security Agency to push back against the FBI's investigation of his campaign;
* the mysterious Trump Tower meeting;
* the firing of FBI Director James Comey;
* the appointment of Mueller and the investigation that has followed;
* the internal battles within Trump's legal camp;
* and Trump's jaw-dropping behaviour in Helsinki.

Deeply reported and masterfully told, The Apprentice is essential reading for anyone trying to understand Vladimir Putin's secret operation, its catastrophic impact, and the nature of betrayal.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko was one of the most successful – and feared – female snipers of all time. When Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 she left her university studies to join the Red Army. Ignoring offers of positions as a nurse she became part of Soviet Russia’s elite group of female snipers. Within a year she had 309 confirmed kills, including 29 enemy sniper kills.

Renowned as the scourge of German soldiers, she was regarded as a key heroic figure for the war effort and, in 1942, on Stalin’s personal orders, she travelled as part of a Soviet delegation to the West, fundraising in Canada, Great Britain and the USA. Dubbed ‘Lady Death’, she spoke out about gender equality in the Red Army and made the case for the USA to continue the fight against the Nazis in Europe. The folk singer Woody Guthrie wrote a song about her exploits – ‘Miss Pavlichenko’ – and she visited the White House, where she formed an unlikely but long-lasting friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt.

In November 1942 she visited Coventry and accepted donations of £4,516 from Coventry workers to pay for three X-ray units for the Red Army. She also visited a Birmingham factory as part of her fundraising tour.

WRITTEN IN HISTORY celebrates the great letters of world history, creative culture and personal life. Acclaimed historian Simon Sebag Montefiore selects over one hundred letters from ancient times to the twenty-first century: some are noble and inspiring, some despicable and unsettling; some are exquisite works of literature, others brutal, coarse and frankly outrageous; many are erotic, others heartbreaking. The writers vary from Elizabeth I, Rameses the Great and Leonard Cohen to Emmeline Pankhurst, Mandela, Stalin, Michelangelo, Suleiman the Magnificent and unknown people in extraordinary circumstances - from love letters to calls for liberation, declarations of war to reflections on death. In the colourful, accessible style of a master storyteller, Montefiore shows why these letters are essential reading: how they enlighten our past, enrich the way we live now - and illuminate tomorrow.

Published in collaboration with the Royal Geographical Society in London, this exquisite collection of maps traces the evolution of tourism, from the elite realms of the Grand Tour to beyond the boundaries of the known world. It charts a course across the globe on the first steam voyages, captures the romance of the golden age of train travel, and navigates to the heart of why we travel: for adventure; for education; for escapism; for pilgrimage.

Arranged chronologically and contextualised by the personal anecdotes, diary extracts, and photographs of intrepid early travelers, The Map Tour looks at the ways in which maps facilitated, dictated, and directed the burgeoning travel industry. It reveals the progress in map-making techniques and considers the shape of global tourism today, reflecting on just how accessible - or hostile - the world has become. Rich with the spirit of adventure, this entertaining collection presents the story of travel and tourism from the 1700s to the present.

After decades of writing about European history, Norman Davies embarked upon an extended journey that took him round the world. He aimed to test his powers of observation, but equally to encounter history in a new way. Beneath Another Sky is partly a historian's travelogue, partly a highly engaging exploration of events and personalities that have fashioned today's world.

Davies's circumnavigation takes him to Baku, the Emirates, India, Malaysia, Mauritius, Tasmania, Tahiti, Texas, Madeira and many places in between. At every stop, he not only describes the current scene but also excavates the layers of accumulated experience that underpin the present. He tramps round ancient temples, delves into the fate of indigenous peoples, uncovers the Nazi origins of Frankfurt airport and lectures on imperialism in a desert oasis.

'Everything has its history', he writes, 'including the history of finding one's way or of getting lost.' As always, Norman Davies watches the historical horizon as well as what is close at hand, and brilliantly complicates our view of the past.

In three thousand years of history, China has spent at least eleven centuries at war. The Roman Empire was in conflict during at least 50 per cent of its lifetime. Since 1776, the United States has spent over one hundred years at war. The dream of peace has been universal in the history of humanity. So why have we so rarely been able to achieve it? In A Political History of the World, Jonathan Holslag has produced a sweeping history of the world, from the Iron Age to the present, that investigates the causes of conflict between empires, nations and peoples and the attempts at diplomacy and cosmopolitanism. A birds-eye view of three thousand years of history, the book illuminates the forces shaping world politics from Ancient Egypt to the Han Dynasty, the Pax Romana to the rise of Islam, the Peace of Westphalia to the creation of the United Nations.

This truly global approach enables Holslag to search for patterns across different eras and regions, and explore larger questions about war, diplomacy, and power. Has trade fostered peace? What are the limits of diplomacy? How does environmental change affect stability? Is war a universal sin of power? At a time when the threat of nuclear war looms again, this is a much-needed history intended for students of international politics, and anyone looking for a background on current events.

For centuries humanity has engaged in a virtual exploration of space through astronomical observation, aided by astounding scientific and technological advances. In more than sixty years since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, more than 6,000 functioning satellites have been launched into Earth's orbit and beyond - some to the farthest reaches of the Solar System - and more than 540 people have travelled into space.

Unprecedented in its chronological and geographical scope, this book charts the history of space exploration from the first gunpowder rockets through the Moon landings, and into a future of space tourism. Numerous sidebars focus on the key individuals and inventions that brought us closer to the farthest reaches of the universe.

Filled with astonishing images from the Smithsonian, NASA archives and other international collections, this is the first in-depth, fully illustrated survey of this universal human journey.

In this fascinating foray into the millennia-long relationship between science and military power, acclaimed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and writer Avis Lang examine how the methods and tools of astrophysics have been enlisted in the service of war.

"The overlap is strong, and it's a two- way street," say the authors, because the astrophysicists and military planners care about many of the same things: multi- spectral detection, ranging, tracking, imaging, high ground, nuclear fusion, and access to space. Tyson and Lang call it a "curiously complicit" alliance.

Spanning early celestial navigation to satellite-enabled warfare, Accessory to War is a richly researched and provocative examination of the intersection of science, technology, industry, and power that will introduce Tyson's millions of fans to yet another dimension of how the universe has shaped our lives and our world.

This annual gem (produced each year since 1991) continues to take the Australian stargazer on a wondrous journey of the night sky. This critically acclaimed work, produced by three well known experts in the field, takes a unique approach to explaining and identifying the Sun, Moon, planets and constellations; it is simply the best publication of its type in the world.

Bees are the darlings of the insect world. It is a great joy to see these tenacious insects hard at work, peacefully buzzing from flower to flower on warm and sunny days. Many people recognise the worth of bees, as well as that they face many threats. But very few know about the diversity and importance of our native bee species. There are an estimated 2000 to 3000 bee species in Australia, yet we know very little about the vast majority of these and there are many that are yet to be described.

Bees of Australia introduces some of our incredible native bees, many of which, if you look closely, can be found in your own garden. Open this book wherever you like or read it from cover to cover. The combination of photography and contributions from many of Australia's leading bee researchers allows anyone to become enthralled by our native bees. Don't be surprised if you find yourself looking closer at every flower that you pass in search of our wonderful native bees.

Stephen Hawking was the most renowned scientist since Einstein, known both for his groundbreaking work in physics and cosmology and for his mischievous sense of humor. He educated millions of readers about the origins of the universe and the nature of black holes, and inspired millions more by defying a terrifying early prognosis of ALS, which originally gave him only two years to live. In later life he could communicate only by using a few facial muscles, but he continued to advance his field and serve as a revered voice on social and humanitarian issues.

Hawking not only unraveled some of the universe's greatest mysteries but also believed science could be used to fix problems here on Earth. Now, as we face immense challenges on our planet - from climate change to the development of artificial intelligence - he turns his attention to the most urgent issues facing us.

Will humanity survive? Should we colonize space? Does God exist? These are just a few of the questions Hawking addresses in this wide-ranging, passionately argued final book from one of the greatest minds in history.

Featuring a foreword by Eddie Redmayne, who won an Oscar playing Stephen Hawking, an introduction by Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne, and an afterword from Hawking's daughter, Lucy, Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a brilliant last message to the world.

Science tells us a good deal about who we are, where we come from, the nature of the universe, how our brains work, and much, much more. Unfortunately, most people are largely unaware of this treasure trove of information. As a result, we are more prone to do things like aim nuclear weapons at each other, inflate the meaning of cultural differences, lay waste to the land, poison and deplete the oceans, fill the sky with carbon, and generally make poor judgments that cause needless trouble.

This book seeks to remedy this situation by providing scientific answers to the most basic yet important questions about existence. Following the standard six-question list used by journalists researching a news story, critical-thinking advocate Guy P. Harrison turns to science to answer the who, what, why, when, where and how of life on Earth.

How old is our planet? Where did it come from and where is it located in the universe? What is everything made of? When did life begin? Who are we as a species and what connections do we share with other life forms? Why is human culture continuously plagued by war, disease, and crime? Harrison not only offers science's best current answers to these crucial questions but shows how all of this information fits together. Going well beyond the simplistic factoids readily available on any smartphone, he reveals the wider implications and deeper meanings inherent in the scientific worldview.

Both entertaining and informative, this exciting tour of the cosmos and human nature will leave readers with an accurate, up-to-date view of realities small and large, near and far.

Human civilization is on the verge of spreading beyond Earth. More than a possibility, it is becoming a necessity - whether our hand is forced by climate change and resource depletion or whether future catastrophes compel us to abandon Earth, one day we will make our homes among the stars.

World-renowned physicist and futurist Michio Kaku explores in rich, accessible detail how humanity might gradually develop a sustainable civilization in outer space. With his trademark storytelling verve, Kaku shows us how science fiction is becoming reality- mind-boggling developments in robotics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology could enable us to build habitable cities on Mars; nearby stars might be reached by microscopic spaceships sailing through space on laser beams; and technology might one day allow us to transcend our physical bodies entirely.

With irrepressible enthusiasm and wonder, Dr. Kaku takes readers on a fascinating journey to a future in which humanity could finally fulfil its long-awaited destiny among the stars - and perhaps even achieve immortality.

What makes us remember? Why do we forget? And what, exactly, is a memory?

Diving for Seahorses answers these questions and more, offering an illuminating look at one of our most fascinating faculties: our memory. Sisters Hilde and Ylva Ostby - one an acclaimed writer the other a neuropsychologist-skilfully interweave history, research and personal stories in this fascinating exploration of the evolving science of memory from its Renaissance beginnings to the present day. They interview top neuroscientists, famous novelists, taxi drivers and quizmasters to help explain how memory works, why it sometimes fails and what we can do to improve it.

Filled with cutting-edge research and compelling case studies, the result is a gripping-and unforgettable-adventure through human memory.

`UNFORGETTABLE - so many fascinating people, stories and brilliant techniques. I'll never trust a memory again.' - Robyn Williams, presenter of The Science Show `Gorgeously researched and written. Be prepared to emerge with a different sense of your life's memories.' - David Eagleman, neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author of The Brain

It is hard to overstate just how unusual Europe was towards the end of the age of the dinosaurs. It was a dynamic island arc whose individual landmasses were made up of diverse geological types, including ancient continental fragments, raised segments of oceanic crust, and land newly minted by volcanic activity. Yet even at this early stage Europe was exerting a disproportionate influence on the world.

About 100 million years ago, the interaction of three continents - Asia, North America and Africa - formed the tropical island archipelago that would become the Europe of today, a place of exceptional diversity, rapid change and high energy.

Europe- A Natural History is full of surprises. Over the millennia Europe has received countless immigrant species and transformed them. It is where the first coral reefs formed. It was once home to some of the world?s largest elephants. And it played a vital role in the evolution of our own species.

When the first modern humans arrived in Europe 40,000 years ago, they began to exert an astonishing influence on the continent?s flora and fauna, and now, Europeans lead the way in wildlife restoration - there are more wolves in Europe today than in the USA. This enthralling ecological history is more than the story of Europe and the Europeans, it will change our understanding of life itself.

In his international bestseller, The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben opened readers' eyes to the wonders and amazing processes at work in the forest. Now this new, breathtakingly illustrated edition brings those wonders to life like never before.

With compelling selections from the original book and eighty six stunning photographs of trees from around the world, this gorgeous volume distills the essence of Peter Wohlleben's message to show trees in all their glory and diversity. Through rich language highlighting the interconnectedness of forest ecosystems, the book offers fascinating insights about the fungal communication highway known as the 'wood wide web,' the difficult life lessons learned in tree school, the hard-working natural clean-up crews that recycle dying trees, and much more.

Beautiful images provide the perfect complement to Wohlleben's words, with striking close-ups of bark and seeds, panoramas of vast expanses of green, and a unique look at what is believed to be the oldest tree on the planet.

This is the road from climate change to primate change.

If you think you are you, think again.

Primate Change is a wide-ranging, polemical look at how and why the human body has changed since humankind first got up on two feet. Spanning the entirety of human history - from primate to transhuman - Vybarr Cregan-Reid's book investigates where we came from, who we are today and how modern technology will change us beyond recognition.

In the last two hundred years, humans have made such a tremendous impact on the world that our geological epoch is about to be declared the 'Anthropocene', or the Age of Man. But while we have been busy changing the shape of the world we inhabit, the ways of living that we have been building have, as if under the cover of darkness, been transforming our bodies and altering the expression of our DNA, too.

Primate Change beautifully unscrambles the complex architecture of our modern human bodies, built over millions of years and only starting to give up on us now.

'Our bodies are in a shock. Modern living is as bracing to the human body as jumping through a hole in the ice. Our bodies do not know what century they were born into and they are defending and deforming themselves in response'.

Do plants have intelligence? Do they have memory? Are they better problem solvers than people? The Revolutionary Genius of Plants - a fascinating, paradigm-shifting work that upends everything you thought you knew about plants - makes a compelling scientific case that these and other astonishing ideas are all true.

Plants make up eighty percent of the weight of all living things on earth, and yet it is easy to forget that these innocuous, beautiful organisms are responsible for not only the air that lets us survive, but for many of our modern comforts: our medicine, food supply, even our fossil fuels.

On the forefront of uncovering the essential truths about plants, world-renowned scientist Stefano Mancuso reveals the surprisingly sophisticated ability of plants to innovate, to remember, and to learn, offering us creative solutions to the most vexing technological and ecological problems that face us today. Despite not having brains or central nervous systems, plants perceive their surroundings with an even greater sensitivity than animals. They efficiently explore and react promptly to potentially damaging external events thanks to their cooperative, shared systems; without any central command centers, they are able to remember prior catastrophic events and to actively adapt to new ones.

Every page of The Revolutionary Genius of Plants bubbles over with Stefano Mancuso's infectious love for plants and for the eye-opening research that makes it more and more clear how remarkable our fellow inhabitants on this planet really are. In his hands, complicated science is wonderfully accessible, and he has loaded the book with gorgeous photographs that make for an unforgettable reading experience. The Revolutionary Genius of Plants opens the doors to a new understanding of life on earth.

Why is a rainbow curved? Why aren't left-handers extinct? How is a sunflower like a synchronised swimmer? Why is 'e' a magic number?

The answer to these questions is contained within one simple word: MATHS. Because maths is all about patterns, and our universe is extraordinarily patterned.

With enthusiasm, humour and heart, Eddie Woo shows how card tricks, conspiracy theories, teacups, killer butterflies, music, lightning and so much more illuminate the spellbinding world of maths that surrounds us.

"I never thought I'd read a maths book cover to cover, let alone sing its praises. Eddie Woo makes maths fun, accessible and relevant. Now we can all benefit from his extraordinary skill as a teacher." -  Jenny Brockie, journalist and TV host

"Not just a great teacher, Woo's Wonderful World of Maths shows Eddie to be a storyteller too. Is there anything the Woo cannot do?" - Adam Spencer, Ambassador for Mathematics, University of Sydney

You can't present the history of art without pictures; equally equations are central to any history of mathematics.

Spanning 4,000 years of civilisation, The Story of Mathematics describes twenty -four great equations that have shaped science and society - from the elementary (1+1=2) to the sophisticated (the Black -Scholes formula) and from the famous (E=mc2) to the arcane (Hamilton's quaternion equations). This is a tale of genius, drama and beauty brought vividly to life in a compelli ng narrative by Dana Mackenzie and at the same time he tells us why these equations have something timeless to say about the universe.

Do you eat too much sugar? Is violence in the world increasing or decreasing? What proportion of your country are Muslim? What does it cost to raise a child? How much do we need to save for retirement? How much tax do the rich pay?

When we estimate the answers to these fundamental questions that directly affect our lives, we tend to be vastly wrong, irrespective of how educated we are. This landmark book - informed by over ten exclusive major polling studies by IPSOS across 40 countries - asks why in the age of the internet, where information should be more accessible than ever, we remain so poorly informed.

Using the latest research into the media, decision science, heuristics, and emotional reasoning, Bobby Duffy examines why the populations of some countries seem better informed than others, and how we can address our ignorance of key public data and trends. An essential read for anyone who wants to be smarter and better informed, this fascinating book will transform the way you engage with the world.

What's behind the rise of the mummy bullies?

Coerced by the media, interrogated by other mothers, frowned upon even by those who are closest to them, the mothers of today face a barrage of criticism.

Dangerous Ideas About Mothers confronts the issues that do not appear in more pious discussions of mothering, from divorce and over-burdened court systems, to the big business of mummy-dom, to shifting ideas about fathers, to the increasing numbers of women who 'choose' to remain childfree.

In the era of Insta-mums, Mumpreneurs, and Sharenting, apparently trivial or mother-focused questions have become questions for all women.

'Everyone's afraid that their daughters might be hurt. No one seems to be scared that their sons might be the ones to do it... This book... is the culmination of many years of writing about power, abuse, privilege, male entitlement and rape culture. After all that, here's what I've learned: we should be f*cking terrified.' Clementine Ford, from the introduction

Fearless feminist heroine Clementine Ford is a beacon of hope and inspiration to hundreds of thousands of Australian women and girls. Her incendiary first book, Fight Like A Girl, is taking the world by storm, galvanising women to demand and fight for real equality and not merely the illusion of it.

Now Boys Will Be Boys examines what needs to change for that equality to become a reality. It answers the question most asked of Clementine: 'How do I raise my son to respect women and give them equal space in the world? How do I make sure he's a supporter and not a perpetrator?'

All boys start out innocent and tender, but by the time they are adolescents many of them will subscribe to a view of masculinity that is openly contemptuous of women and girls. Our world conditions boys into entitlement, privilege and power at the expense not just of girls' humanity but also of their own.

Ford demolishes the age-old assumption that superiority and aggression are natural realms for boys, and demonstrates how toxic masculinity creates a disturbingly limited and potentially dangerous idea of what it is to be a man.

Crucially, Boys Will Be Boys reveals how the patriarchy we live in is as harmful to boys and men as it is to women and girls, and asks what we have to do to reverse that damage. The world needs to change and this book shows the way.

She was already well-known in some circles before March 6, 2018, but that's probably the first time you heard the name Stormy Daniels. That's the day she filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump over a nondisclosure agreement negotiated before the election but never signed.

How did Stormy Daniels become the woman willing to take on a president? What is it like to be reviled by some, held up as a beacon of hope by others, and to be an object of fascination to all?

In this book, Stormy Daniels tells her whole story for the first time: everything about the events that led to the nondisclosure agreement and the behind-the-scenes attempts to intimidate her, how she came to be a leading actress and director in the adult film business, and the full truth about her journey from a rough childhood in Louisiana onto the national stage.

Stormy is funny, sharp, warm, and impassioned by turns. Her story is a thoroughly American one, of a girl who loved reading and horses and who understood from a very young age what she wanted - and who also knew she'd have to get every step of the way there on her own.

People can't stop talking about Stormy Daniels. And they won't be able to stop talking about her fresh, surprising, completely candid, nothing-held-back book.

Be the dictator you've always dreamed of being, with this handy guide to life inspired by everyone's favourite autocrat.

What can the rise and reign of this century's most feared politician teach us about life, work and love? Rob Sears shows how the machinations that enabled Putin to dominate the Kremlin and undermine the United States of America could also help you take control of your mundane life. How would you like to ruin your enemies by sharing compromising material about that time they didn't wash their hands? Or annex territory by claiming the stationery cupboard at work as your personal empire? Fancy hacking democracy at the parent-teacher association to ensure you're a shoo-in for social secretary? Or serving up a cold dish called revenge in a high street restaurant?

Filled with stories from Putin's extraordinary time in power, and ideas and illustrations to help you emulate him on a small scale, Vladimir Putin: Life Coach is the ultimate guide to releasing the pseudo-elected, judo black-belt, 5D chess-playing autocrat inside each and every one of us.

In 1966, Australia and the US signed a treaty that allowed the establishment of a jointly run satellite tracking station, just south of Alice Springs. For more than fifty years it has operated in a shroud of secrecy and been the target of much public and political controversy.

David Rosenberg, a US high-tech spy who worked at Pine Gap for 18 years, was the first to speak out to give an insider's account of what happens behind those locked gates in the middle of the Australian desert. Rosenberg detailed his career with an American intelligence agency during a tumultuous period in history that covered the terms of three American Presidents, four Australian Prime Ministers, the end of the Cold War, a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, two wars in Iraq, genocide in Rwanda, as well as the 'War against Terror' and the emergence of North Korea as a nuclear-armed nation.

This revised and expanded edition of Rosenberg's account is a fascinating glimpse inside the top-secret world of military surveillance.

Pauline Hanson claims to represent the average Australian but The Stalking of Julia Gillard 's Kerry-Anne Walsh has discovered nothing could be further from the truth.

'Very few public figures can claim the level of fame, or infamy, that Pauline does. So much so, her surname isn't needed. Everyone knows her, or knows of her, and nearly everyone has a passionate viewpoint about her; she doesn't engender indifference.'

So who is Pauline Hanson, the woman and politician? Does she really stand for the battler, or has it only ever been about her personal pursuit for power and infamy? Has she duped her loyal supporters, who have kept her in the public eye and propelled her back into parliament because she 'speaks for them'? Pulling no punches, and with a finely developed sense of the absurd, Kerry-Anne Walsh's conclusion is an emphatic yes.

Through all the ups, the downs, the downs and the ups, Kerry-Anne probes and prods the evidence to uncover the many faces of Pauline Hanson: her time as an accidental local councillor, her emergence as a surprising national figure in 1996 and her resurrection in 2016, her careful profile-building through the media during the intervening years, the friends she's used and discarded, the men who control her, the money trail of her party and her personal finances. And then there's the rise and rise of the disaffected voters who now control political destinies, and the collapse of trust in the system that has allowed chancers such as Hanson to flourish.

Perceptive, surprising and revealing, get ready for Hoodwinked to take you on one wild ride.

The fourth issue of Australian Foreign Affairs examines the challenge of defending Australia at a time of regional uncertainty and fast-changing military technology. It explores the nation’s main vulnerabilities and the capabilities needed to secure against them, including the consequences of a nuclear arms race in Asia.

    * Michael Wesley examines where Australia’s next war will occur, and how we can defend ourselves.
    * John Birmingham analyses Australia’s weapons capabilities and how they compare to those of our Asian allies.
    * Patrick Walters probes into Australia’s expanding intelligence agencies.
    * Stephan Frühling considers if Australia should go nuclear, in the event of a looming Asian arms race.

Plus:

    * Jane Perlez on Francois Bougon’s Inside the Mind of Xi Jinping and the aspirations of China’s leader for life.
    * Tess Newton Cain on Matthew G. Allen’s Resource Extraction and Contentious States and mining in the Pacific region.
    * Matthew Thompson on Jonathan Miller’s Duterte Harry and Duterte’s murderous rule in the Philippines.
    * Richard Moore on Jack Corbett’s Australia's Foreign Aid Dilemma and the role that Australia could and should play in assisting other nations.

 
Also: Correspondence on AFA3: Australia and Indonesia, including responses from the feature essayists.

Two weeks before his death, Oliver Sacks outlined the contents of The River of Consciousness, the last book he would oversee. The best-selling author of On the Move, Musicophilia, and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Sacks is known for his illuminating case histories about people living with neurological conditions at the far borderlands of human experience. But his grasp of science was not restricted to neuroscience or medicine; he was fascinated by the issues, ideas, and questions of all the sciences. That wide-ranging expertise and passion informs the perspective of this book, in which he interrogates the nature not only of human experience but of all life.

In The River of Consciousness, Dr Sacks takes on evolution, botany, chemistry, medicine, neuroscience, and the arts, and calls upon his great scientific and creative heroes - above all, Darwin, Freud, and William James. For Sacks, these thinkers were constant companions from an early age; the questions they explored - the meaning of evolution, the roots of creativity, and the nature of consciousness - lie at the heart of science and of this book.

The River of Consciousness demonstrates Sacks's unparalleled ability to make unexpected connections, his sheer joy in knowledge, and his unceasing, timeless endeavour to understand what makes us human.

P.J. O'Rourke channels his extensive experience of making fun of terrible things in despicable places and applies it to somewhere even worse - Wall Street.

After decades covering war and disaster, bestselling author and acclaimed satirist P. J. O'Rourke takes on his scariest subjects yet - business, investment, finance and the political chicanery behind them.

Want to get rich overnight for free in 3 easy steps with no risk? Then don't buy this book. (Actually, if you believe there's a book that can do that, you shouldn't buy any books because you probably can't read.)

P.J.'s approach to business, investment, and finance is different. He takes the risks for you in his chapter 'How I Learned Economics by Watching People Try to Kill Each Other.' He proposes 'A Way to Raise Taxes That We'll All Love' - a 200% tax on celebrities. He offers a brief history of economic transitions before exploring the world of high tech innovation with a chapter on 'Unnovations', which asks, 'The Internet-whose idea was it to put all the idiots on earth in touch with each other?' He misunderstands bitcoin, which seems 'like a weird scam invented by strange geeks with weaponized slide rules in the high school Evil Math Club.'

He closes with a fanciful short story about the morning that P.J. wakes up and finds that all the world's goods and services are free!

This is P.J. at his finest, a book not to be missed.

From world-renowned economist Paul Collier, a candid diagnosis of the failures of capitalism and a pragmatic and realistic vision for how we can repair it.

Deep new rifts are tearing apart the fabric of Britain and other Western societies - thriving cities versus the provinces, the highly skilled elite versus the less educated, wealthy versus developing countries.

As these divides deepen, we have lost the sense of ethical obligation to others that was crucial to the rise of post-war social democracy. So far these rifts have been answered only by the revivalist ideologies of populism and socialism, leading to the seismic upheavals of Trump, Brexit and the return of the far right in Germany. We have heard many critiques of capitalism but no one has laid out a realistic way to fix it, until now.

In a passionate and polemical book, celebrated economist Paul Collier outlines brilliantly original and ethical ways of healing these rifts - economic, social and cultural - with the cool head of pragmatism, rather than the fervour of ideological revivalism. He reveals how he has personally lived across these three divides, moving from working-class Sheffield to hyper-competitive Oxford, and working between Britain and Africa, and acknowledges some of the failings of his profession.

Drawing on his own solutions as well as ideas from some of the world's most distinguished social scientists, he shows us how to save capitalism from itself - and free ourselves from the intellectual baggage of the 20th century.

In her #1 NYT bestsellers, Brene Brown taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers and culture shifters, she's showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead.

Leadership is not about titles, status and power over people. Leaders are people who hold themselves accountable for recognising the potential in people and ideas, and developing that potential. This is a book for everyone who is ready to choose courage over comfort, make a difference and lead.

When we dare to lead, we don't pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don't see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it and work to align authority and accountability. We don't avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into the vulnerability that's necessary to do good work.

But daring leadership in a culture that's defined by scarcity, fear and uncertainty requires building courage skills, which are uniquely human. The irony is that we're choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the same time we're scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines can't do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection and courage to start.

Brene Brown spent the past two decades researching the emotions that give meaning to our lives. Over the past seven years, she found that leaders in organisations ranging from small entrepreneurial start-ups and family-owned businesses to non-profits, civic organisations and Fortune 50 companies, are asking the same questions:

How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders? And, how do you embed the value of courage in your culture?

Dare to Lead answers these questions and gives us actionable strategies and real examples from her new research-based, courage-building programme.

Brene writes, 'One of the most important findings of my career is that courage can be taught, developed and measured. Courage is a collection of four skill sets supported by twenty-eight behaviours. All it requires is a commitment to doing bold work, having tough conversations and showing up with our whole hearts. Easy? No. Choosing courage over comfort is not easy. Worth it? Always. We want to be brave with our lives and work. It's why we're here.'

What are the consequences if the people given control over our government have no idea how it works? Stay tuned.

"The election happened," remembers Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, then deputy secretary of the Department of Energy. "And then there was radio silence." Across all departments, similar stories were playing out: Trump appointees were few and far between; those that did show up were shockingly uninformed about the functions of their new workplace. Some even threw away the briefing books that had been prepared for them.

Michael Lewis's brilliant narrative takes us into the engine rooms of a government under attack by its own leaders. In Agriculture, the funding of vital programs like food stamps and school lunches is being slashed. Commerce may not have enough staff to conduct the 2020 Census properly. Over at Energy, where international nuclear risk is managed, it's not clear there will be enough inspectors to track and locate black market uranium before terrorists do.

Lewis finds the linchpins of the system-those public servants whose knowledge, dedication, and proactivity keep the machinery running. And he asks them what keeps them up at night.

The man lives, quite literally, in a building serviced by a golden elevator. Somehow, he presented himself as the scourge of the elites. For decades, he built a persona based on the most conspicuous consumption and the crassest of excess - and then he won the presidency on an antiestablishment ticket. The unlikely rise of Donald J Trump exemplifies the political paradox of the twenty-first century.

In this new Gilded Age, the contrast between the haves and the have-nots could not be starker. The world?s eight richest billionaires control as much wealth as the poorest half of the planet - a disparity of wealth and political power unknown in any previous period. Yet not only have progressives failed to make gains in circumstances that should, on paper, favour egalitarianism and social justice, the angry populism that?s prospered explicitly targets ideas associated with the left - and none more so than so-called 'political correctness?.

If Trump - and others like Trump - can turn hostility to PC into a winning slogan, how should the left respond? In the face of a vicious new bigotry, should progressives double-down on identity politics and gender theory? Must they abandon political correctness and everything associated with it to re-connect with a working class they?ve alienated? Or is there, perhaps, another way entirely?

In Trigger Warnings, Jeff Sparrow excavates the development of a powerful new vocabulary against progressive causes. From the Days of Rage to Gamergate, from the New Left to the alt-right, he traces changing attitudes to democracy and trauma, symbolism and liberation, in an exhilarating history of ideas and movements. Challenging progressive and conservative orthodoxies alike, Trigger Warnings is a bracing polemic and a persuasive case for a new kind of politics.

The bestselling author of The Origins of Political Order and The End of History offers a provocative examination of modern identity politics and their effect on domestic and international affairs of state.

In 2014, Francis Fukuyama wrote that American and global institutions were in a state of decay, as the state was captured by powerful interest groups. Two years later, his predictions were borne out by the rise to power of a series of political outsiders whose economic nationalism and authoritarian tendencies threatens to destabilise the entire international order. These populist nationalists seek direct charismatic connection to 'the people', who are usually defined in narrow identity terms that offer an irresistible call to an in-group and exclude large parts of the population as a whole.

The demands of identity direct much of what is going on in world politics today. The universal recognition on which liberal democracy is based has been increasingly challenged by restrictive forms of recognition based on nation, religion, sect, race, ethnicity, or gender, which have resulted in anti-immigrant populism, the upsurge of politicised Islam, the fractious environment of many college campuses, and the hideous emergence of white nationalism.

Identity is an urgent and necessary book: a sharp warning that unless we forge a universal understanding of human dignity, we will doom ourselves to continual conflict.

Walls are going up. Nationalism and identity politics are on the rise once more. Thousands of miles of fences and barriers have been erected since the turn of the century, and they are redefining our political landscape.

There are many reasons why walls go up, because we are divided in many ways: wealth, race, religion, politics. In Europe the divisions of the past decade threaten not only European unity, but in some countries liberal democracy itself. In China, the Party's need to contain the divisions wrought by capitalism will define the nation's future. In the USA the rationale for the Mexican border wall runs deeper than the need to control illegal immigration; it taps into the fear that the USA will no longer be a white majority country during the course of this century.

Understanding what has divided us, past and present, is essential to understanding much of what's going on in the world today. In eight chapters covering China; the USA; Israel; the Middle East; India and Bangladesh; Africa; Europe and the UK, bestselling author Tim Marshall presents an unflinching and essential overview of the fault lines that will shape our world for years to come.

"Accomplished, well researched and pacey ... for anyone who wants to look beyond the headlines and explore the context of some of the biggest challenges facing the world today, it is fascinating" - City AM

"One of the best books about geopolitics you could imagine" - Nicholas Lezard, Evening Standard, on Prisoners of Geography

In recent years, techno-scientific progress has started to utterly transform our world - changing it almost beyond recognition. In this extraordinary new book, renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek turns to look at the brave new world of Big Tech, revealing how, with each new wave of innovation, we find ourselves moving closer and closer to a bizarrely literal realisation of Marx's prediction that 'all that is solid melts into air.' With the automation of work, the virtualisation of money, the dissipation of class communities and the rise of immaterial, intellectual labour, the global capitalist edifice is beginning to crumble, more quickly than ever before-and it is now on the verge of vanishing entirely.

But what will come next? Against a backdrop of constant socio-technological upheaval, how could any kind of authentic change take place? In such a context, Zizek argues, there can be no great social triumph-lasting revolution has already come into the scene, like a thief in broad daylight, stealing into sight right before our ever eyes. What we must do now is wake up and see it. Urgent as ever, Like a Thief in Broad Daylight illuminates the new dangers as well as the radical possibilities thrown up by today's technological and scientific advances, and their electrifying implications for us all.

Nearly seventy years after the discovery of the structure of DNA, and the birth of the genetic age, a powerful new vocabulary has emerged to express science's growing command over the matter of life. Armed with knowledge of the code that governs all living things, biology and biotechnology are poised to edit, even rewrite, the texts of life to correct nature's mistakes.

Yet, how far should the capacity to manipulate what life is at the molecular level authorize science to define what life is for? This book looks at flash points in law, politics, ethics, and culture - assisted reproduction, stem cell research, agricultural GMOs, gene drives, creation of synthetic organoids - to argue that science's promises of perfectibility have gone too far. Science may have editorial control over the material elements of life, but it does not supersede the languages of sense-making that have helped define human values through millennia of history: the meanings of autonomy, integrity, and privacy; the bonds of kinship, family, and society; and the place of humans in nature.

The life and times of the New Testament's most mystifying and incendiary book Few biblical books have been as revered and reviled as Revelation. Many hail it as the pinnacle of prophetic vision, the cornerstone of the biblical canon, and, for those with eyes to see, the key to understanding the past, present, and future. Others denounce it as the work of a disturbed individual whose horrific dreams of inhumane violence should never have been allowed into the Bible. Timothy Beal provides a concise cultural history of Revelation and the apocalyptic imaginations it has fueled.

Taking readers from the book's composition amid the Christian persecutions of first-century Rome to its enduring influence today in popular culture, media, and visual art, Beal explores the often wildly contradictory lives of this sometimes horrifying, sometimes inspiring biblical vision. He shows how such figures as Augustine and Hildegard of Bingen made Revelation central to their own mystical worldviews, and how, thanks to the vivid works of art it inspired, the book remained popular even as it was denounced by later church leaders such as Martin Luther. Attributed to a mysterious prophet identified only as John, Revelation speaks with a voice unlike any other in the Bible. Beal demonstrates how the book is a multimedia constellation of stories and images that mutate and evolve as they take hold in new contexts, and how Revelation is reinvented in the hearts and minds of each new generation.

This succinct book traces how Revelation continues to inspire new diagrams of history, new fantasies of rapture, and new nightmares of being left behind.

A leading biblical scholar offers a powerful reexamination of the Bible’s origins and its connections to human suffering.

Human trauma gave birth to the Bible, suggests eminent religious scholar David Carr. The Bible’s ability to speak to suffering is a major reason why the sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity have retained their relevance for thousands of years. In his fascinating and provocative reinterpretation of the Bible’s origins, the author tells the story of how the Jewish people and Christian community had to adapt to survive multiple catastrophes and how their holy scriptures both reflected and reinforced each religion’s resilient nature.
 
Carr’s thought-provoking analysis demonstrates how many of the central tenets of biblical religion, including monotheism and the idea of suffering as God’s retribution, are factors that provided Judaism and Christianity with the strength and flexibility to endure in the face of disaster. In addition, the author explains how the Jewish Bible was deeply shaped by the Jewish exile in Babylon, an event that it rarely describes, and how the Christian Bible was likewise shaped by the unspeakable shame of having a crucified savior.

How to Be a Christian brings together the best of Lewis's insights on Christian practice and its expression in our daily lives. Cultivated from his many essays, articles, and letters, as well as his classic works. From the revered teacher and best-selling author of such classic Christian works as Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters comes a collection that gathers the best of C. S. Lewis's practical advice on how to embody a Christian life.

The most famous adherent and defender of Christianity in the twentieth century, C. S. Lewis has long influenced our perceptions and understanding of the faith. More than fifty years after his death, Lewis's arguments remain extraordinarily persuasive because they originate from his deep insights into the Christian life itself. Only an intellectual of such profound faith could form such cogent and compelling reasons for its truth.

By provoking readers to more carefully ponder their faith, How to Be a Christian can help readers forge a deeper understanding of their personal beliefs and what is means to be a Christian, and strengthen their profound relationship with God.

Pope Francis's impact on the modern world has already proved extraordinary. It is no surprise that he was voted Time magazine's Person of the Year (in 2013), joining the likes of Martin Luther King (1964) and President John F. Kennedy (1961). Francis has turned the Catholic Church upside-down, flung open the windows of the Vatican and started to purge the church of corruption, nepotism and financial skulduggery. But above all he is engaged with the poor, the starving and the marginalised. He has made important visits to troubled spots in the world and invariably people say his appearances change everything.

Pope Francis is in constant dialogue with the outside world and with the universal Catholic Church. He likes being asked questions, finding it easy to respond, and maintains a good relationship with the press. In this new book are some of his most valuable engagements in dialogue form with people of all sorts and kinds. On the one hand, there is his recent engagement with priests in Colombia who are locked in a struggle for human rights. In another lengthy piece, he talks about the importance of scripture, in a way which shows how this is a living source of inspiration. Also included are the texts of the Pope's most recent addresses in Myanmar, Peru and Chile.

Open to God: Open to the World offers a fascinating glimpse into the mind and workings of this entirely different Pope. As we see in these conversations the Franciscan revolution is under way and, in spite of Francis's critics, the revolution will roll on and new horizons will be opened for the one and a half billion Catholics in the world today.

The sequel to the Sunday Times bestseller Bletchley Park Brainteasers and perfect for fans of The GCHQ Puzzle Book.

Whether you have linguistic flair, an instinct for technology or good old common sense, pit your wits against some of the greatest minds of our time with ingenious brainteasers including secret languages, sabotage themed brain bogglers, deadly countdowns and hidden codes.

Weaving astonishing stories of the men and women who operate from the shadows, the secret heroes and heroines of MI5 and MI6 who have faced extraordinary and terrifying challenges and a wide range of mind twisting puzzles, Secret Service Brainteasers will test your mental agility to discover: Do YOU have what it takes to be a spy?

Recent studies have shown that puzzle-solving and wordplay are among the most effective ways to boost the power and agility of your brain. A cryptic crossword a day can help keep memory loss at bay.

Why? The answer lies in the art of teasing out a clue, a discipline that calls for logic, interpretation, intuition and deduction as well as the ability to filter nuance and connotation. All these challenges and more are found in the cryptic crossword. And all are invaluable in increasing your brainpower and improving your memory and cognitive capacity.

In this entertaining and essential book, cryptic crossword guru David Astle explains how your brain responds to and benefits from attempting these crosswords. A growing body of research suggests cryptic crosswords are the ideal workout for your brain, and Astle shows how regular training of this kind can be fun as well as fundamental.

If you've always been intimidated by cryptic crosswords, fear not! Rewording the Brain is an accessible guide to developing and sharpening your puzzle talents. Novices and expert solvers alike will gain plenty of cryptic insights. There has never been a better time to start solving, nor a better teacher than the legendary DA.

Also included are 50 cryptic crosswords hand-picked to keep your brain abuzz, ranging from beginner-friendly to fiendishly complicated!

Maps can transport us, they are filled with wonder, the possibility of real adventure and travels of the mind. This is an atlas of the journeys that writers make, encompassing not only the maps that actually appear in their books, but also the many maps that have inspired them and the sketches that they use in writing.

For some, making a map is absolutely central to the craft of shaping and telling their tale. A writer's map might mean also the geographies they describe, the worlds inside books that rise from the page, mapped or unmapped, and the realms that authors inhabit as they write. Philip Pullman recounts a map he drew for an early novel; Robert Macfarlane reflects on his cartophilia, set off by Robert Louis Stevenson and his map of Treasure Island; Joanne Harris tells of her fascination with Norse maps of the universe; Reif Larsen writes about our dependence on GPS and the impulse to map our experience; Daniel Reeve describes drawing maps and charts for The Hobbit trilogy of films; Miraphora Mina recalls creating 'The Marauder's Map' for the Harry Potter films; David Mitchell leads us to the Mappa Mundi by way of Cloud Atlas and his own sketch maps. And there's much more besides.

Amidst a cornucopia of images, there are maps of the world as envisaged in medieval times, as well as maps of adventure, sci-fi and fantasy, maps from nursery stories, literary classics, collectible comics - a vast range of genres.

Fourteen years in the making and fifth in the series that has over 4.4 million copies in print, 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die is an eclectic and extraordinary book about books, as compulsively readable, entertaining, surprising, and enlightening as the 1,000-plus volumes it recommends.

The author, James Mustich, has been a bookseller for decades, including two running the acclaimed independent book catalog A Common Reader, and 1,000 Books is like his personal store, where every book is excellent. Mustich’s incomparable writing – lively, informed, erudite yet with an undisguised enthusiasm – not only reveals why the particular title you’re reading about is vital but also gives you the urgent feeling that you need to drop everything, right now, and read that book.

The expected pillars are here – Dante, Proust, Shakespeare, Faulkner, Woolf, Joyce, Kafka – but made completely fresh in these animated essays. And in between, the unexpected titles – from Harold and the Purple Crayon to Fun Home, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? to Tell Me a Riddle – are made completely essential. Aeschylus is here, and so is Nancy Drew, Herman Melville, and Edwidge Danticat.

The alphabetical listing by last name results in the joy of juxtaposition – Grimm next to Grisham, Clarice Lispector followed by Hugh Lofting – prompting a rich appreciation for the gorgeous mosaic that is our literary heritage, whether poetry, science fiction, memoir, travel writing, biography, children’s literature, the novel. Because ultimately what this book is not is a canon. It is, rather, an uncommon celebration of the best that authors have put into words – and, as one of the entrants, the critic David Denby, put it, that “special character of solitude and rapture” that is the act of reading.

One of the finest writers of our time turns his razor sharp wit to the US elections, pornography celebrity culture and a brief history of the name Tim.

Of all the great novelists writing today, none shows the same gift as Martin Amis for writing non-fiction – his essays, literary criticism and journalism are justly acclaimed.

The Rub of Time comprises superb critical pieces on Amis’s heroes Nabokov, Bellow and Larkin to brilliantly funny ruminations on sport, Las Vegas, John Travolta and the pornography industry. The collection includes his essay on Princess Diana and a tribute to his great friend Christopher Hitchens, but at the centre of the book, perhaps inevitably, are essays on politics, and in particular the American election campaigns of 2012 and 2016.

One of the very few consolations of Donald Trump’s rise to power is that Martin Amis is there to write about him.

Some stories couldn't happen just anywhere or any time - often the scenery , landscape or era is as central to the tale as any character - and just as easily recognised. Wh at adventures would Heidi have had without her mountain neighbours? W ould Jim Hawkins have experienced such an adventure had he not lived in mid - 1700s England? Literary Landscapes brings together an eclectic collage of over 50 familiar literary worlds paired with original maps and archive material, as well as illustrations and photography.

In this collection of essays the reader will follow Leopold Bl oom's footsteps around Dublin, become immerse d in Les Mis e rable's revolutionary Paris, feel the chill wind of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, and hear the churning paddles of Mississippi steamboats in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn.

The landscapes of enduring fictional characters and literary legends are vividly brought to life, evoking all the sights and sounds of the original works. For anyone wh o ever dreamt of escaping the everyday, Literary Landscapes will transport you to the greatest places in literature.

An Open Book celebrates the power of poetry and reaffirms David Malouf as one of Australia's most celebrated and beloved writers.

This is only David Malouf's third new poetry volume in nearly 40 years, so it is a significant publishing event. As one of Australia's greatest living poets, Malouf continues to meditate and reflect on themes of mortality and memory.

The poems in An Open Book are attentive and evocative, vital and beautiful, revisiting and reimagining some of the key themes that have resonated with readers over his impressive career. Like the 'small comfort of light... as night comes on', Malouf's new poems hold close the precious and tender.

Only a few of these poems have ever been published, so most of the collection will be completely new to readers everywhere. An Open Book will be the literary gift of the Christmas and summer of 2018.

When Franz Kafka died in 1924, his loyal friend and champion Max Brod could not bring himself to fulfill Kafka’s last instruction: to burn his remaining manuscripts. Instead, Brod devoted the rest of his life to canonizing Kafka as the most prescient chronicler of the twentieth century. By betraying Kafka’s last wish, Brod twice rescued his legacy – first from physical destruction, and then from obscurity. But that betrayal also led to an international legal battle over which country could lay claim to Kafka’s legacy: Germany, where Kafka’s own sister perished in the Holocaust and where he would have suffered a similar fate had he remained, or Israel?

At once a brilliant biographical portrait of Kafka and Brod and the influential group of writers and intellectuals known as the Prague Circle, Kafka’s Last Trial offers a gripping account of the controversial trial in Israeli courts – brimming with dilemmas legal, ethical, and political – that determined the fate of the manuscripts Brod had rescued when he fled with Kafka’s papers at the last possible moment from Prague to Palestine in 1939.

It describes a wrenching escape from Nazi invaders as the gates of Europe closed; of a love affair between exiles stranded in Tel Aviv; and two countries whose national obsessions with overcoming the traumas of the past came to a head in a fascinating and hotly contested trial. Ultimately, Benjamin Balint invites us to question: who owns a literary legacy – the country of one’s language and birth or of one’s cultural and religious affinities – and what nation can claim a right to it.

Handel in London tells the story of a young German composer who in 1712, followed his princely master to London and would remain there for the rest of his life. That master would become King George II and the composer was Georg Friederich Handel.

Handel, then still only twenty-seven and largely self-taught, would be at the heart of musical activity in London for the next four decades, composing masterpiece after masterpiece, whether the glorious coronation anthem, Zadok the Priest, operas such as Giulio Cesare, Rinaldo and Alcina or the great oratorios, culminating, of course, in Messiah.

Here, Jane Glover, who has conducted Handel's work in opera houses and concert halls throughout the world, draws on her profound understanding of music and musicians to tell Handel's story. It is a story of music-making and musicianship, of practices and practicalities, but also of courts and cabals, of theatrical rivalries and of eighteenth-century society. It is also, of course, the story of some of the most remarkable music ever written, music that has been played and sung, and loved, in this country - and throughout the world - for three hundred years.

With over 100 movies to his credit over six decades, Hollywood legend and British national treasure Michael Caine shares the wisdom, stories, insight and skills that life has taught him in his remarkable career - and now his 85th year.

One of our best-loved actors Michael Caine has starred in a huge range of films - including all-time favourites - from the classic British movies Alfie, Zulu and The Italian Job to the Hollywood blockbusting Dark Knight trilogy, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hannah and Her Sisters and Cider House Rules. Caine has excelled in every kind of role - with a skill that's made it look easy.

He knows what success takes - he's made it to the top of his profession from the toughest beginning. But as he says 'Small parts can lead to big things. And if you keep doing things right, the stars will align when you least expect it.' Now in his 85th year he wants to share everything he's learned.

With brilliant new insight into his life and work and with his wonderful gift for story, this is Caine at his wise and entertaining best.

Stanley Plumly explores immortality in art through the work of two impressive landscape artists: John Constable and J.M.W. Turner. Seeking the transcendent aesthetic awe of the sublime and reeling from personal tragedy, these painters portrayed the terrible beauty of the natural world from an intimate, close-up perspective. Plumly studies the paintings against the pull of the artists' lives, probing how each finds the sublime in different, though connected, worlds. At once a meditation on the difficulties in achieving truly immortal works of art and an exploration of the relationship between artist and artwork, Elegy Landscapes takes a wide-angled look at the philosophy of the sublime.

From the mummies of Ancient Egypt; via the silken dragon robes of Imperial China and the woollen sails of Viking longboats to the Indian calicoes and chintzes that powered the Industrial Revolution (and sparked more than one war); arriving finally at the lab-blended fibres that have allowed astronauts to moonwalk - fabrics, manmade and natural, have changed and shaped the world we live in.

In twelve fascinating chapters, Kassia St Clair lays out an alternative history of civilisation and human creativity. Wittily written and compellingly argued, this book will change the way you see the world.

The 2019 edition of this acclaimed, highly trusted national guide – the home of the hats – reviews 500 restaurants around Australia and award the best eateries from Darwin to Hobart, Melbourne to Perth, and Sydney to Brisbane.

The Age Good Food Guide was launched in 1979 and The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide followed five years later. With the addition of The Brisbane Times, The Canberra Times and WA Today, the Good Food Guide is Australia's most trusted restaurant guide, compiled and edited by respected, independent critics. Reviewers arrive unannounced, pay for their own meals and are stringent judges, looking at service, ambiance, the X factor and, of course, the food.

Hats are awarded to the best of the best. To achieve a hat is a pinnacle of a chef's career and a restaurant's history, and the term ‘hatted’ has become part of the Australian lexicon.

From the author of the bestselling classic, The Cook's Companion

Cook's Apprentice is the essential teaching cookbook for the younger cook who is just starting out. This wonderful book is full to the brim with everything new foodies need to know to become relaxed and confident in the kitchen.

Arranged alphabetically, it includes 56 ingredient chapters - from Apples to Zucchini - and more than 300 achievable recipes ranging from classics every cook will want to try to exciting new dishes that reflect our diverse nation.

Stephanie takes you into her kitchen as she explains more than 100 important techniques in straightforward language, discusses the kitchen tools she likes to use, and describes ingredients you might not know: How do I whisk eggs to soft peaks? What does it mean to 'make a well' in dry ingredients? Why should I roast spices? How do I prepare fresh chillies safely? Why should I 'rest meat'? How do I prepare a mango? What flavours work well together? What is fresh mozzarella? How do I say 'quinoa'?

This book gives all new cooks the inspiration needed for a lifetime of enjoyment in the kitchen.

THE ODDYSIUM explores extraordinary journeys, pilgrimages, expeditions and meanders of the mind that helped us to figure out our place in the world.

We will learn about epic trips to the bottom of the ocean, to outer space and to the deepest cave on earth ( like climbing an inverted Mount Everest ) as well as micro-journeys, such as Xavier de Maistre's six-week odyssey around his bedroom and the tale of a Nazi who attempted to walk around the world without setting foot outside of his prison.

Brought to you by the bestselling authors of THE ODDITORIUM and THE MYSTERIUM, this book is a call to arms to step off the beaten path and embark on your own eccentric, remarkable odyssey.

In September 2014 the wreck of a sailing vessel was discovered at the bottom of the sea in the frozen wastes of the Canadian arctic. It was broken at the stern and covered in a woolly coat of underwater vegetation. Its whereabouts had been a mystery for over a century and a half. Its name was HMS Erebus.

Now Michael Palin - former Monty Python stalwart and much-loved television globetrotter - brings this extraordinary ship back to life, following it from its launch in 1826 to the epic voyages of discovery that led to glory in the Antarctic and to ultimate catastrophe in the Arctic. He explores the intertwined careers of the men who shared its journeys- the dashing James Clark Ross who charted much of the 'Great Southern Barrier' and oversaw some of the earliest scientific experiments to be conducted there; and the troubled John Franklin, who at the age of sixty and after a chequered career, commanded the ship on its final, disastrous expedition. And he vividly recounts the experiences of the men who first stepped ashore on Antarctica's Victoria Land, and those who, just a few years later, froze to death one by one in the Arctic ice, as rescue missions desperately tried to reach them.

The result is a wonderfully evocative account of one of the most extraordinary adventures of the nineteenth century, as reimagined by a master explorer and storyteller.

'I adored this book - a wondrous compendium of Iceland's best sagas' - Hannah Kent

A new friendship. An unforgettable journey. A beautiful and bloody history.

This is Iceland as you've never read it before...

Broadcaster Richard Fidler and author Kari Gislason are good friends. They share a deep attachment to the sagas of Iceland - the true stories of the first Viking families who settled on that remote island in the Middle Ages.

These are tales of blood feuds, of dangerous women, and people who are compelled to kill the ones they love the most. The sagas are among the greatest stories ever written, but the identity of their authors is largely unknown.

Together, Richard and Kari travel across Iceland, to the places where the sagas unfolded a thousand years ago. They cross fields, streams and fjords to immerse themselves in the folklore of this fiercely beautiful island. And there is another mission: to resolve a longstanding family mystery - a gift from Kari's Icelandic father that might connect him to the greatest of the saga authors.

Following the success of Wine Trails, we now bring you 40 perfect weekends in Australia and New Zealand wine country, introducing vineyards in regions including the Clare Valley, Margaret River, Hawkes Bay, Tamar Valley and Marlborough, as well as celebrating secret gems off the beaten path.

Wine Trails - Australia & New Zealand is perfect for travel enthusiasts with a passion for wine. It includes detailed itineraries recommending the most interesting wineries and the best places to stay and where to eat in 40 wine regions near major cities.

Winemakers offer personal insights into what wines to taste and why they're special, and help you understand a place, its people and their traditions through the wine that's made there. Entries are accompanied by gorgeous photos, maps and in-the-know authors.

About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world's number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, on mobile, video and in 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more.

Where does luggage go after check in? What happens in the control tower? How do planes actually fly? This interactive, lift-the-flap book takes you behind-the-scenes to uncover the hidden secrets of the airport - from a peek inside the cockpit to the hustle and bustle of departures.

In this follow-up to How Cities Work, we explore the earliest airports through to today's giant transport hubs and what airports could look like in the future. Packed with amazing facts and illustrations from James Gulliver Hancock, it'll surprise and delight readers young and old, ensuring they never look at air travel in the same way again.

Ancient Wonders - Then & Now introduces children to some of history's most famous civilisations and the amazing palaces, temples and buildings they created. In this interactive and fact-filled tour, kids will discover all about each man-made marvel, what it looks like today, and its influence on modern life.

Then, by opening the gatefolds and lifting flaps, they'll find out how these wonders were built, what they once looked like, and their role in ancient society. Kids will experience gladiatorial combat in Rome, a Chinese army built from clay, Cleopatra's sunken underwater palace, and lots more.

Experience 60 of the world's greatest and most unforgettable train journeys, from classic long-distance trips like Western Canada's Rocky Mountaineer and Darwin to Adelaide's The Ghan, to little-known gems on regular commuting lines.

We've always had a soft spot for trains. We know the moment a train pulls out of a station bound for somewhere fantastic is when the adventure truly starts. Amazing Train Journeys is the culmination of asking more than 200 travel writers for their absolute favourites.

Some are epic international adventures, others short suburban routes along stunning coastline. There are incredible feats of engineering, trains that snake their way through mountain peaks, and even those which have achieved Unesco World Heritage status.

Each profile contains practical information including ticket options, timetables and stops, plus inspiring photos and illustrated maps.

Calling all dinosaur experts! We need your help.

We've just received a crate of dinosaur fossils - and they need assembling! Fast! Can you find the right room for each skeleton and build them in time for the museum's big opening? There are five pop-up dinosaurs to put back together, including a Triceratops, Stegosaurus and T-rex. It's going to be roarsome!

Lonely Planet's Build Your Own Dinosaur Museum is an activity book with a difference, where you get to play chief palaeontologist. The museum rooms are ready, but there aren't any skeletons to display. It's up to you to figure out which one is which and where they need to go.

Fun, interactive and with lots of facts to discover, this book is perfect for any dinosaur fan, budding biologist or model maker.

Discover 100 life-changing travel experiences.

Familiar faces from the world of travel, plus Lonely Planet writers, share their most remarkable, poignant and memorable experiences from the road - moments that changed them as individuals and reshaped their perspective on the world.

Tales include: a Rwandan gorilla encounter, reincarnation on the Ganges, horse riding with Patagonian gauchos, witnessing Nelson Mandela's first free speech, watching a space shuttle launch, crossing the Gobi desert on foot, and a son journeying with his mother back to Alexandria, the city of her childhood.

Destinations include: Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in Utah, Cape Town, Gir National Park in India, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, the Trans-Siberian Railway, Antarctica, Samburu National Reserve in Kenya, Samye Monastery in Tibet and Madagascan forests.

With each story, you'll get a powerful account of how the experience unfolded and what it was like to be there, right at that moment. A `Build Up' and `Take Away' complete the story, detailing how the moment made a lasting impact on the contributor's life.

'I couldn't put it down' Sofie Laguna

This is a true story...

A young man heads off on a journey to find out if magic still exists in the world, to know its wonder, and to see if it might save him when his own life is unexpectedly at stake.

Instead of retreating after being deported from Mexico, or beaten up in Guatemala, he travels to the Caribbean where he meets a Rastafarian Don Juan who teaches him about the `natural mystic;' a magical tradition that had travelled to the Caribbean centuries earlier with the slavery trade. Fate further propels his travels through the Americas and Europe to locate the source of this esoteric knowledge in Mother Africa, where his emerging mastery of mysticism is tested by the Sahara desert. He is imprisoned in Nigeria, and tortured, and then sold as a slave.

Magic is the story of an incredible journey, both physical and spiritual, that reverberates with literary voice and authenticity: the uniqueness of lived adventure and of a passionate heart and vision. Upon closing the last page of this book, we ache for the innocence to lose our way and travel deeper, to rediscover the savage but delicious nature of the miraculous in our own lives.

The story of Australia starts with a piece of land that went for a swim. About 200 million years ago it floated away from Africa.
Very, very, slowly.

It was home to dinosaurs and giant animals, then the first Australians showed up and got comfortable. And for a long time this wild and wonderful land was a mystery to the rest of the world. Until the English decided it would make the best jail ever...

Funny, heroic and tragic – the story of our country from prehistory to federation.

Hazard hunters Eddie and Junko are exploring some of the most extreme environments on Earth! But don't worry, they have their dangermobile packed with gadgets to tackle everything they come across. Join them and discover the fires of erupting Stromboli, the world's fastest winds on Mt. Washington, Brazil's venomous snake island, and much more.

In this fascinating round-the-world adventure, you'll travel to 35 of the planet's most dangerous natural places. With a mix of photos and illustrations, amazing facts and danger stats, it's a fun and absorbing introduction to our wild and wonderful world.

Why are things the way they are? Why do we do things a certain way? Wouldn't it be better if we did things differently? The Short & Curly Guide to Life poses the thorniest questions and the toughest topics to think about - all in the most fun and entertaining way!

You'll find yourself wondering if it's okay to break a promise - even if it is in a video game! Questioning whether you would want to spend eternity in an amazing virtual reality. Umming and ahhing over whether there's anything wrong with keeping the cutest baby fox for a pet... and so much more!

Covering topics such as fairness, bullying, bravery, friendship and choice, The Short & Curly Guide to Life is a must-read for every child, parent and teacher.

Where can we live if not in each other's shadow?

World-renowned artist Shaun Tan applies his unique imagination to a reflection on the nature of humans and animals, and our urban coexistence. From crocodile to frog, tiger to bee, this is a dark and surreal exploration of the perennial love and destruction we feel and inflict - of how animals can save us, and how our lives are forever entwined, for better or for worse.

Tales from the Inner City is a masterful work, bearing all of Shaun Tan's trademark wit and poignancy in both its prose and exquisite illustrations.

Age range 3 to 6 8 little planets with the sun at the center, each one wishing it were a little bit better...

Old slow Neptune felt he was behind. 165 years to circle the sun is an awful long time. But the 8th little planet didn't need to worry. It spins on its axis in a really big hurry!

To the tune of Ten Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed comes a new bedtime story from bestselling author Chris Ferrie that's sure to get little ones excited about the solar system while learning new facts about each planet!

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Sixteen birds, mostly ones that are fairly common in distribution ( such as magpie, kookaburra, rainbow lorikeet, pelican, galah) are given double page spreads in this lovely book. One page gives information, such as habitat, habits or breeding, but it is the illustrations that make this so arresting. Full page portraits focussing on the head and chest, with the eye as the point that draws the viewer's attention. Young ornithologists will enjoy this, but so will the older ones! Lindy Jones

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It took millions of years of isolation and a diverse range of habitats for Australian birds to evolve the way they did. The result is many of the world's most striking and beautiful birds, including some that are stranger than fiction. In Australian Birds, acclaimed artist Matt Chun showcases 16 remarkable species that have captured the imagination of the world. From the iconic cockatoo, to the endangered Cassowary, Australian Birds has been carefully curated to inform and entrance readers of all ages.

Join a bunch of cheeky galahs in the latest look-and-find adventure in the Hello...! series. This time we're taking a trip around Australia to discover more about the animals, birds and plants that live here. Along the way, you'll meet some very friendly quokkas, take a ferry to Kangaroo Island, marvel at the Big Things and learn about some places that are sacred to the traditional owners of the land. From sunny Queensland to the ski fields of Victoria, there's so much to see and do around Australia.

When a Bedouin boy, Omar, is separated from his family in Libya during WW2, he makes his way to the coast to look for them. Tired and hungry, Omar is taken in and cared for by two Australia soldiers, Bluey and Albert, as they struggle to survive during the Siege of Tobruk. When Bluey disappears during a patrol, Omar is determined to find him, and uses all his knowledge of the desert as he searches for his friend. This is a story of friendship found in the most unusual of places, and a boy's determination against all the odds.

Catvinkle is used to being top cat, completely pampered by Mr Sabatini the barber. So she is horrified when Mr Sabatini brings home a wide-eyed, lost Dalmatian named Ula.

Soon Ula is warming herself by Catvinkle's fire. To her surprise, Catvinkle likes the innocent, trusting Dalmatian, and she finds herself telling Ula her three secrets. But a cat and a dog can't be best friends - can they?

Catvinkle must choose. Will she be brave and join her new friend on a mission to help two sad children, even if it means visiting the biggest, scariest dog in Amsterdam? Or will she leave Ula to face the danger alone?

Duckling and Pummel are trying to take the Young Margrave to a place of safety, far away from the dreadful Harshman. But they have enemies they don't know about, and all too soon they find themselves captured and taken to the salt mines, where slaves work night and day until they die.

Their witchery should save them - but their witchery has gone, vanished. How will they get it back? Is the girl Sooli their friend or their enemy? And why is Otte's chicken behaving so strangely?

Meanwhile, the Harshman has broken out of the Strong-hold, and is on their trail...

It is winter in Peppercorn Valley and Tan and her very best friend Gloria go to a bonfire. At school. At night.

They also go on a lantern walk and spy on Journeys End. Journeys End is the creepiest house in Peppercorn Valley. And the old ladies who live there have painted weird symbols all over the outside walls. What could the symbols mean? And is the house haunted and if so, are the old ladies in danger? Tan has a hunch they are, but this mystery is complicated and she is baffled!

'I wish I could be best friends with Tan in real life! She's funny, brave and clever and an AWESOME spy!' Maia, age 11

'I finished reading this book in one go in two hours! The book was Truly Tan-tastic!' Tilda, age 10

'This is the ultimate must read of the century. I would love to be Tan and solve all the mysteries.' Heather, age 9

'I love the Tan books so much. I read the whole series in one week!' Declan, age 10

Nelson is a ninja. Hes not the coolest. Or the bravest. But he is the worlds nerdiest ninja! And now he has to stop an animal rampage and machines going crazy all over town! For that, hell need his new jetpack... and some serious ninja skills! How will Nelson learn to fly when hes scared of heights?!

Someone will take their final bow...

Fresh from their adventures in Hong Kong, Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells have returned to England. But they're not going straight back to school - first they're staying with Daisy's uncle Felix in London. But when London life gets a bit too exciting, the girls are packed off to the Rue Theatre to face an entirely new challenge- acting.

But adventure has a nasty habit of catching up with the Detective Society, and it soon becomes clear there is trouble afoot at the Rue. Jealousy, threats and horrible pranks quickly spiral out of control - and then a body is found. Now Hazel and Daisy must take centre stage and solve the crime... before the murderer strikes again.

Follow-up to the New York Times Bestselling Raymie Nightingale, from an internationally revered author, twice winner of the Newbery Medal.

When Louisiana Elefante's granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn't overly worried. After all, Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas. But this time, things are different. This time, Granny intends for them never to return. Separated from best friends Raymie and Beverly, Louisiana struggles to oppose the winds of fate (and Granny) and find a way home. But as Louisiana's life becomes entwined with the lives of the people of the small Georgia town in which they find themselves - including a surly motel owner, a walrus-like minister and a mysterious boy with a crow on his shoulder - she starts to worry that she is destined only for goodbyes. (Which could be due to the curse on Louisiana's and Granny's heads. But that is a story for another time.)

Called "one of DiCamillo's most singular and arresting creations" by The New York Times Book Review, the heartbreakingly irresistible Louisiana Elefante was introduced to readers in Raymie Nightingale - and now, with humour and tenderness, Kate DiCamillo returns to tell her story.

Straw into Gold: Fairy Tales Re-Spun is a classic fairy tale collection to treasure. Featuring Hilary McKay's imaginative retellings of key favourites, this ten-story collection includes the much-loved tales of Rapunzel, Cinderella, the Princess and the Pea, Rumpelstiltskin, the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the Swan Brothers, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Red Riding Hood, the Twelve Dancing Princesses and Hansel and Gretel.

This gorgeous gift book features black-and-white line and tone illustrations throughout from the talented Sarah Gibb.

This book was originally published in hardback as Hilary McKay's Fairy Tales.

A graphically stunning, comprehensive introduction to the constellations This artful and accessible introduction to constellations equips readers with the information they need to locate, name, and explain all 88 internationally recognized constellations. Each cluster of stars is featured alongside the story (mythological or historical) behind its naming, tips on how to find it, what times of year it is visible, and key stars and asterisms within its grouping. Complete with star maps and a glossary, this keepsake volume of visual reference and beauty is perfect for inquisitive young stargazers. Colors are brighter than they appear - printed in pure Pantones. Book jacket features foil stamping and laser-cut pinholes.

Ages 7-10

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Sound books have come a long way since the annoying and tinny ones of even a few years ago! This one has excerpts from 11 musical masterpieces, which are set within the story of a young boy learning to play piano and discovering where music can take the listener. With paragraphs on each composer, and the piece from which the excerpts are drawn, this is a fine way of introducing very young readers to classic music. Lindy Jones

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Classical music comes to life like never before in this magical journey through 11 timeless compositions. Meet Allegro, an ordinary boy who can't stand practicing the piano. Those black dots on the page drive him crazy - until the music itself whisks him away on a breathtaking journey. Each beautifully illustrated scene on Allegro's journey is accompanied by a famous classical theme that can be played with the press of a button. Hear Grieg's Morning Mood while meandering through a misty meadow, Dvorak's New World Symphony while exploring uncharted lands, Debussy's Claire de Lune while pondering a shimmering night sky, and 7 more!

Beautiful gold foil, lavish illustrations, and high-quality sound make this a musical masterpiece to treasure forever.

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- First there was Paris Up and Away, then London with Mary Poppins, and now the amazing laser cut artist has turned to New York. A little note released from a symphony orchestra at Carnegie Hall makes its way round New York, visiting other musicians and locations until it becomes part of the great melody of the city. Exquisite and intricate laser cut illustrations make this a beautiful book, but it is one that needs to be handled carefully! One of those works-of-art-masquerading-as-a-kids-book that adults enjoy for themselves. Lindy Jones

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Quiet. The concert is beginning. The notes follow one after the other with elegance and grace except for one... A note filled with wanderlust yearning for escape. There is no place for her on the sheet music! She hops onto the piano. She leaps. Black keys, white keys, do, re, mi... and the little note lifts off into the night. So begins Helene Druvert's new book, the latest in the series that has so far included Paris Up, Up and Away and Mary Poppins Up, Up and Away. This book joins a runaway musical note as she soars out of the orchestra and into the New York night. Druvert's intricate lasercuts and delicate illustrations show the Big Apple and its sights at their very best, and offer a wonderfully imaginative introduction to the city and its music.

Who did Cleopatra grow up with? Where did Gengis Khan's fierce nature come from? And what was life like in the Kennedy household? Step into the lives of 25 famous faces from history and discover the intricate web of family that helped make them. Loved and loathed, this introduction to history comes with twenty-five family trees for the whole family to explore.

For centuries, mankind has gazed up at the Moon in awe and wonder. It has been a source of both aspiration and inspiration to astronomers, poets, mathematicians and artists alike. But how much do we know about our closest neighbour? In this book, you'll discover the history of man's relationship with the Moon - the science, the myths, the facts and the fiction - and how it affects our everyday lives and the world around us.

A beautiful children's picture book about diversity from award-winning author Maxine Beneba Clarke and illustrator Isobel Knowles.

Difference is everywhere, just look and see. This whole-wide-big-world is wondrous-unique.

A gorgeous picture book about our diverse and wonderful world from award-winning author Maxine Beneba Clarke and illustrator Isobel Knowles.

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Rawa is a remote community on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert, and when Alison Lester and Jane Godwin visited, they worked together with the children to produce this charming book. Told in rhyme and with exuberant illustrations, the simple sentences and active verbs make this great fun to read aloud. Perfect for the younger pre-schooler age. Lindy Jones

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Monster Party is an explosion of fun and pure joy. Children will love the hilarious, naughty desert monsters who come out of the ground to have a party on Dora Lake.

Eating chips and monster cake, they go 'galumphing' all over the place with a drum and a bass! Of all shapes and sizes, these monsters create havoc for the children at Rawa Community School who live on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert - `dancing and stomping', 'crashing and crunching', 'prowling and growling', 'happy and smiling'! Jeepers creepers! The monster cut-out illustrations created by the students are delightful. Monster Party will capture the hearts of the very young and the young at heart.

'Alison Lester and Jane Godwin have proven yet again that collaborating with children can help realise joyous storytelling and delightful illustrations... Monster Party is sure to find a well-loved home across age groups, from toddlers to primary-aged children. A useful jumping off point for group activities and classroom discussions - including interactive storytelling and learning about remote Indigenous communities - this is a picture book that belongs in schools, libraries and households alike.' - Michael Earp, Books+Publishing

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- From the team that brought us Penguin Problems comes another wonderfully quirky book about the existential dilemma of discontent! Giraffe feels really bad about his neck. Really really really bad. He is extremely self-conscious about it, until he meets a turtle, and learns that there can be worse things than too much neck… A delightful story with simple but expressive illustrations; one that adults will appreciate on a different level from the young readers who will find it humourous.  Lindy Jones

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Penguins aren't the only animal out there with problems, oh no...

From Jory John and Lane Smith, the winner of the 2017 Kate Greenaway Medal, comes a laugh-out-loud companion to the acclaimed Penguin Problems. Edward the giraffe can't understand why his neck is as long and bendy and ridiculous as it is. No other animal has a neck this absurd. He's tried disguising it, dressing it up, strategically hiding it behind bushes... anything he can think of. But just when he's exhausted his neck-hiding options, a turtle ambles in and tries to help him understand that his neck has a purpose... and looks excellent in a bow tie.

There's a Monster in my Bedroom. Keep very, very still. Tell me you can see it. It's giving me a chill... A funny, charming rhyming picture book about a house full of monsters with an unexpected twist from internationally acclaimed comedy duo The Umbilical Brothers. With gorgeous, rich illustrations by Berlin artist, Johan Potma.