Non Fiction

  • An Irish Atlantic Rainforest

    An Irish Atlantic Rainforest

    21.95
    Description
    On the Beara peninsula in West Cork, a temperate rainforest flourishes. It is the life work of Eoghan Daltun, who had a vision to rewild a 73-acre farm he bought, moving there from Dublin with his family in 2009. An Irish Atlantic Rainforest charts that remarkable journey.

    Part memoir, part environmental treatise, as a wild forest bursts into life before our eyes, we’re invited to consider the burning issues of our time: climate breakdown, ecological collapse, and why our very survival as a species requires that we urgently and radically transform our relationship with nature. This is a story as much about doing nothing as taking action – allowing natural ecosystems to return and thrive without interference, and in doing so heal an ailing planet. Powerfully descriptive, lovingly told, An Irish Atlantic Rainforest presents an enduring picture of the regenerative force of nature, and how one Irishman let it happen.

  • Brilliant Maps

    Brilliant Maps

    18.00
    Description
    WITH A FOREWORD BY TIM HARFORD
    Which nations have North Korean embassies? Which region has the highest number of death metal bands per capita? How many countries have bigger economies than California? Who drives on the ‘wrong’ side of the road? And where can you find lions in the wild?Revelatory, thought-provoking and fun, Brilliant Maps is a unique atlas of culture, history, politics and miscellanea, compiled by the editor of the iconic Brilliant Maps website. As visually arresting as Information is Beautiful and as full of surprising facts and figures as any encyclopaedia, Brilliant Maps is a stunning piece of cartography that maps our curious and varied planet. For graphic design enthusiasts, compulsive Wikipedia readers and those looking for the sort of gift they buy for someone else and wind up keeping for themselves, this book will change the way you see the world and your place in it.
  • East West Street

    East West Street

    12.50

    Description
    THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLERWhen he receives an invitation to deliver a lecture in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, international lawyer Philippe Sands begins a journey on the trail of his family’s secret history. In doing so, he uncovers an astonishing series of coincidences that lead him halfway across the world, to the origins of international law at the Nuremberg trial. Interweaving the stories of the two Nuremberg prosecutors (Hersch Lauterpacht and Rafael Lemkin) who invented the crimes or genocide and crimes against humanity, the Nazi governor responsible for the murder of thousands in and around Lviv (Hans Frank), and incredible acts of wartime bravery, EAST WEST STREET is an unforgettable blend of memoir and historical detective story, and a powerful meditation on the way memory, crime and guilt leave scars across generations.

  • Lawrence of Arabia

    Lawrence of Arabia

    19.95

    Thomas Edward Lawrence first set foot on the hot sands of Arabia in 1909.
    By 1918 there was a £20,000 price on his head.

    His journey to this point has long been legend. From his first postings as archaeologist, liaison and map officer, to fighting alongside guerrilla forces during the Arab Revolt. Journeying more than 300 miles through blistering heat to capture Aqaba, to his involvement in peace conferences that decided the future of the Middle East. Lawrence gave over his life the Middle East and its people.

    A legend in his own lifetime, Lawrence’s epic story has always been ripe for the retelling – but Ranulph Fiennes is no ordinary biographer . . . Having led Arab troops into battle on the Arabian peninsula in a war fought only fifty years later. Fiennes too discovered the wonders of these far-flung lands and the people who live there, and is one of very few who can claim a true insight into the kind of life that Lawrence lived – bold and adventurous to the end.

    With detailed access to records and an in-depth knowledge, Lawrence of Arabia is at long last a true and full account of this mysterious adventurer who captivated the world.

  • Keira and Me

    Keira and Me

    22.50

    Let national treasure Professor Noel Fitzpatrick – the Supervet – break your heart and put it back together again in this beautiful new Christmas story. ‘With you by my side, just doing my best was the best thing to do.’

    Keira is an extraordinary dog. She held the key to Noel’s heart from the moment he first met her.

    That’s because Keira doesn’t judge. When Noel struggles, Keira is there to remind him he need only do his best. When he sees only darkness, Keira is ready to lift him back into the light.

    Keira & Me is the real-life story of Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick, his companion Keira and their life together. It captures the incredible bond of unconditional love between us and our canine friends. Inspiring and healing in equal measure, this beautifully illustrated and deeply heartfelt story of Noel and Keira’s journey together teaches us all how to embrace the ups with the downs, the joy and the sorrow, the darkness and the light, that make up a life.

    For animal lovers everywhere, or anyone who needs a little comfort this Christmas, Keira & Me promises to break your heart and put it back together again – even better than it was before.

  • Big Beacon

    Big Beacon

    19.95

    In Big Beacon, Norwich’s favourite son and best broadcaster, Alan Partridge, triumphs against the odds.

    TWICE.

    Using an innovative ‘dual narrative’ structure you sometimes see in films, Big Beacon tells the story of how Partridge heroically rebuilt his TV career, rising like a phoenix from the desolate wasteland of local radio to climb to the summit of Mount Primetime and regain the nationwide prominence his talent merits.

    But then something quite unexpected and moving, because Big Beacon also tells the story of a selfless man, driven to restore an old lighthouse to its former glory, motivated by nothing more than respect for a quietly heroic old building that many take for granted, which some people think is a metaphor for Alan himself even though it’s not really for them to say.*

    Leaving his old life behind and relocating to a small coastal village in Kent, Alan battles through adversity, wins the hearts and minds of a suspicious community, and ultimately shows himself to be a quite wonderful man.

    * The two strands will run in tandem, their narrative arcs mirroring each other to make the parallels between the two stories abundantly clear to the less able reader.

  • From Malin Head to Mizen Head

    From Malin Head to Mizen Head

    22.95

    The Sea Area Forecast is broadcast daily on RTE radio at 6 a.m. and midnight. Foretelling fair days or fierce storms coming in across our seas, it has become a national institution – its hypnotic, rhythmic language as reassuring as the Angelus.

    Acting as a gentle morning wake-up call and a soothing bedtime lullaby, it transports us to faraway places and describes weather patterns we can’t comprehend. From Mizen Head to Malin, Valentia to Loop Head, and Carlingford Lough to Hook Head – rising or falling slowly, backing south-east to north-east or veering south-to-south-west – it has a unique language all of its own, but what does it all mean? Here, meteorologist Joanna Donnelly takes readers on a journey around Ireland’s Sea Area Forecast, visiting the places that are a familiar part of the daily broadcast and explaining its unique history, language and science.

  • The Dictionary People

    The Dictionary People

    17.50

    The Oxford English Dictionary has long been associated with elite institutions and Victorian men; its longest-serving editor, James Murray, devoted 36 years to the project, as far as the letter T. But the Dictionary didn’t just belong to the experts; it relied on contributions from members of the public. By the time it was finished in 1928 its 414,825 entries had been crowdsourced from a surprising and diverse group of people, from archaeologists and astronomers to murderers, naturists, novelists, pornographers, queer couples, suffragists, vicars and vegetarians.

    Lexicographer Sarah Ogilvie dives deep into previously untapped archives to tell a people’s history of the OED.

    She traces the lives of thousands of contributors who defined the English language, from the eccentric autodidacts to the family groups who made word-collection their passion. With generosity and brio, Ogilvie reveals, for the first time, the full story of the making of one of the most famous books in the world – and celebrates to sparkling effect the extraordinary efforts of the Dictionary People.

  • The Gilligan Tapes

    The Gilligan Tapes

    17.95

    ‘I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD, BUT I KNOW I’M GOING TO HELL.’

    In this remarkable book – the first of its kind – journalist Jason O’Toole distils hours of sensational face-to-face, no-holds-barred interviews with the feared criminal John Gilligan into a fast-paced and jaw-dropping account of the Irish gangland scene.

    Starting out as a petty thief in Dublin, Gilligan rapidly rose to the status of crime lord, mixing with serious criminals such as Martin ‘The General’ Cahill, Christy ‘The Dapper Don’ Kinahan, Patrick ‘Dutchy’ Holland and John ‘The Coach’ Traynor. He was deeply involved with money laundering, miraculously survived an assassination attempt, and it is said he has millions stashed away at a secret location. O’Toole demands answers to all the hard questions; some of Gilligan’s responses will make readers shiver.

    Gilligan knew that laying all his cards on the table could mean signing his own death warrant. But he has done it here. And with a cast of all the country’s deadliest underworld figures, this exposé is nothing short of explosive.

  • Happy-Go-Lucky

    Happy-Go-Lucky

    13.50

    In Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris once again captures what is most unexpected, hilarious, and poignant about recent upheavals, personal and public, and expresses in precise language both the misanthropy and desire for connection that drive us all. If we must live in interesting times, there is no one better to chronicle them than the incomparable David Sedaris.

    ‘Unquestionably the king of comic writing’ HADLEY FREEMAN, Guardian

    ‘Although Sedaris is famous for being funny, he does pain heartbreakingly well’ MELISSA KATSOULIS, The Times

    ‘His wickedly hilarious riffs are pyrotechnics in words’ PETER CONRAD, Observer

  • Walfrid

    Walfrid

    23.95

    Andrew Kerins [Brother Walfrid] [1840 – 1915] was one of
    the most significant Irish immigrants to Scotland. He
    was an outstanding individual in relation to Catholic
    education and charity in Glasgow and a major
    contributor to the emergence of organised sport in
    Scotland in the late nineteenth century.
    He was but one individual, amongst countless thousands
    of victims, who survived the catastrophe of An Gorta Mor
    in Ireland, only to be forced to leave behind family,
    community and homeland in the hope of finding a
    better life overseas. Over one million others perished
    owing to the prevalence of starvation and disease during
    Ireland’s darkest period. Kerins left for Glasgow as a
    fifteen-year-old boy and the spectre of hunger,
    accompanied by a concern for the spiritual and physical
    well-being of others, are motifs which endured
    throughout his long and impactful life.

  • Journey to the Well

    Journey to the Well

    15.95

    For sisters Mary Kennedy and Deirdre Ni Chinneide, spirituality has been at the centre of their lives since childhood. Their home in St Brigid’s Road in Clondalkin, Dublin, was around the corner from a holy well, a place that signalled family, community, and divine ritual. Drawing on Celtic spirituality – a key focus in Deirdre’s work as a psychotherapist, retreat leader and singer, and a long-held area of interest for much-loved broadcaster and author Mary – in Journey to the Well, the sisters share a voyage, as they invite us to journey with them through the Celtic seasons of Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtaine, and Lughnasa.

  • Tea for One

    Tea for One

    18.95
    Description
    Many of us spend the later years of life living solo when children have grown up and moved on. Others choose this lifestyle. We get used to being on our own while also enjoying family and communal occasions.

    But 2020 brought new challenges to this solo lifestyle. We rose to the first challenge thinking that it would all be over in a matter of weeks. But no.

    Instead came a series of on-again off-again lockdowns of different levels. This was a new, radical, solitary living experience which was really going to test our endurance and resilience. Would the coping skills we had already acquired see us through? But this was more a hermitage existence than we had ever experienced and it would really test our mettle.

    Then, gradually, a realisation dawned that maybe there were things to be learnt from this unique situation? Might we discover a new understanding and appreciation of things previously ignored? Alice began to wonder how best to handle this new, solitary experience, and to document her progress though this most extraordinary year. This is her journey.

  • The Book of St. Brigid

    The Book of St. Brigid

    14.95

    Description
    Feminist, farmer, abbess, bishop, convent founder and miracle worker, St. Brigid has inspired Irish women and men down through the ages. She cared for the poor, healed the sick, and managed monastic settlements.

    She became patron saint of revolutionaries and women fighting for their rights. She is also credited with inventing the Rosary beads, brewing ale, and inspiring the first tiered wedding cake and Buy Irish campaign. Pirate Queen Grace O’Malley, Lady Gregory and Maud Gonne MacBride regarded her as a guiding light.

    All of them, including Brigitte Bardot, Bridget Hitler and Cromwell’s daughter Bridget, are featured in this book. The book also describes her holy wells, St. Brigid’s Crosses, churches, miracles and cures – providing you with all you will ever need to know about Ireland’s female patron saint.

  • The Good Ancestor

    The Good Ancestor

    15.50

    How can we be good ancestors?

    From the first seeds sown thousands of years ago, to the construction of the cities we still inhabit, to the scientific discoveries that have ensured our survival, we are the inheritors of countless gifts from the past. Today, in an age driven by the tyranny of the now, with 24/7 news, the latest tweet, and the buy-now button commanding our attention, we rarely stop to consider how our actions will affect future generations. With such frenetic short-termism at the root of contemporary crises, the call for long-term thinking grows every day – but what is it, has it ever worked, and can we even do it? In The Good Ancestor, leading public philosopher Roman Krznaric argues that there is still hope.

    From the pyramids to the NHS, humankind has always had the innate ability to plan for posterity and take action that will resonate for decades, centuries, even millennia to come. If we want to become good ancestors, now is the time to recover and enrich this imaginative skill. The Good Ancestor reveals six profound ways in which we can all learn to think long-term, exploring how we can reawaken oft-neglected but uniquely human talents like ‘cathedral thinking’ that expand our time horizons and sharpen our foresight.

    Drawing on radical solutions from around the world, Krznaric celebrates the innovators who are reinventing democracy, culture and economics so that we all have the chance to become good ancestors and create a better tomorrow.

  • Rememberings

    Rememberings

    13.50

    THE LANDMARK MEMOIR OF A GLOBAL MUSIC ICON

    Sinead O’Connor’s voice and trademark shaved head made her famous by the age of twenty-one. Her recording of Prince’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ made her a global icon. She outraged millions when she tore up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on American television.

    O’Connor was unapologetic and impossible to ignore, calling out hypocrisy wherever she saw it. She has remained that way for three decades. Now, in Rememberings, O’Connor tells her story – the heartache of growing up in a family falling apart; her early forays into the Dublin music scene; her adventures and misadventures in the world of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll; the fulfilment of being a mother; her ongoing spiritual quest – and through it all, her abiding passion for music.

    Rememberings is intimate, replete with candid anecdotes and full of hard-won insights. It is a unique and remarkable chronicle by a unique and remarkable artist.