Books

  • The World

    The World

    19.95

    From the master storyteller and internationally bestselling author – the story of humanity from prehistory to the present day, told through the one thing all humans have in common: family. We begin with the footsteps of a family walking along a beach 950,000 years ago. From here, Montefiore takes us on an exhilarating epic journey through the families that have shaped our world: the Caesars, Medicis and Incas, Ottomans and Mughals, Bonapartes, Habsburgs and Zulus, Rothschilds, Rockefellers and Krupps, Churchills, Kennedys, Castros, Nehrus, Pahlavis and Kenyattas, Saudis, Kims and Assads.

    A rich cast of complex characters form the beating heart of the story. Some are well-known leaders, from Alexander the Great, Attila, Ivan the Terrible and Genghis Khan to Hitler, Thatcher, Obama, Putin and Zelensky. Some are creative, from Socrates, Michelangelo and Shakespeare to Newton, Mozart, Balzac, Freud, Bowie and Tim Berners-Lee.

    Others are lesser-known: Hongwu, who began life as a beggar and founded the Ming dynasty; Kamehameha, conqueror of Hawaii; Zenobia, Arab empress who defied Rome; King Henry of Haiti; Lady Murasaki, first female novelist; Sayyida al-Hurra, Moroccan pirate-queen. Here are not just conquerors and queens but prophets, charlatans, actors, gangsters, artists, scientists, doctors, tycoons, lovers, wives, husbands and children. This is world history on the most grand and intimate scale – spanning centuries, continents and cultures, and linking grand themes of war, migration, plague, religion, medicine and technology to the people at the centre of the human drama.

    As spellbinding as fiction, The World captures the story of humankind in all its joy, sorrow, romance, ingenuity and cruelty in a ground-breaking, single narrative that will forever shift the boundaries of what history can achieve.

  • Talking Heads

    Talking Heads

    19.95

    Our brains have distinct mechanisms for talking about thoughts, about memories, about feelings and about the future. In Praise of Talking will be about the neuroscience of how we talk about ourselves, how we disclose information, and how that activity is central to the bonds we make with each other. It draws on a wealth of the latest neurological research, some of which the author has conducted himself, on talking about ourselves to other people – how we do it and why we do it, and what our brains are up to while we do it.

    We talk about ourselves so consistently and pervasively we are unaware how much talking about ourselves to others supports our intense social lives.

    It is the currency underlying social transactions and social life, allowing us to build trust and rapport with others. In turn, building trust and rapport with others is at the core of our mental and social well-being. Conversation depends critically on having a richly-stocked autobiographical memory that we use not just in the service of remembering, but also in negotiating our position and status with others.

    We talk about ourselves to change what other people think of us, feel about us, will do for us.

    This novel way of thinking about talking turns our view of identity inside-out because our sense of identity arises out of what we think others think about us. We tell our stories to others, drawing on our fragile and fallible autobiographical memories, which are in turn shaped by the questions we are asked and the stories we want to tell about ourselves, and by what others tell us. And we do so to affect what others think about us – not simply to disclose ourselves to others.

    And this is all in the service of social belonging: to the family, to tribes, to institutions, to cultures and subcultures, to nations, to those who profess the same ideals and stories that we do.

    In Praise of Talking blends expertise and a scientific journey of discovery, leavened by Shane O’Mara’s warm tone and evangelical gift for transmitting the wonder of the brain to a wide readership.

  • Chasing Shadows

    Chasing Shadows

    19.95

    Three very different men battle to control their destinies as they hurtle through the hall of mirrors of the global shadow economy.

    Jack Kelly, a veteran US Drug Enforcement Administration agent, tasked with following a trail of dirty money across continents from a top-secret investigative unit based in Virginia.

    Salvatore Pititto is an ambitious Mafia capo working on a vast cocaine shipment who becomes unexpectedly pulled into an arms-smuggling conspiracy.

    Mustafa Badreddine is a ghost-like master terrorist wanted by governments across the world who has been secretly dispatched to Syria for his final mission.

    Each man, born in radically different circumstances in the 1960s, is in his own way grappling with the powerful and unstoppable forces that shape the world around us; forces which topple governments, send refugees fleeing across borders, and put guns in the hands of mercenaries and militias. Each has devoted his whole life to an institution – the DEA, the Mafia and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah – and each will eventually be destroyed or betrayed by the thing they believe in the most.

    Set during 2015 and 2016, as the global order began to implode under the pressures of the Syrian civil war and the European refugee crisis, CHASING SHADOWS looks back over the historical conflicts, events and personal histories that have shaped the lives of these three men. It’s a book that shows the betrayals, the disillusionment and the violence as Jack Kelly hunts down his targets.

  • Oh Miriam!

    Oh Miriam!

    19.95

    Join us on another unforgettable adventure through the extraordinary life and strong opinions of Miriam Margolyes.

    ‘My new book is called OH MIRIAM! – something that has been said to me a lot over the years, often in tones of strong disapproval. It contains lots more revelations and stories and discoveries and I can’t wait to share it with you all!’

    From being escorted off the Today programme (for saying what we were all thinking) to declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave; from Tales of the Unexpected to Graham Norton’s sofa, she is the UK’s most loved and most outspoken national treasure. Oh Miriam! takes you inside both her head and her heart.

    Buckle up for the most irrepressible, hilarious and moving read of 2023

  • Wolf-Men and Water Hounds

    Wolf-Men and Water Hounds

    19.95

    Uncover the secrets of our island in this engrossing look at magical landmarks across the country.

    Travelling province by province through Ireland, Manchan outlines the stories most closely associated with each site, focussing on a specific beast or creature from legend and highlighting a magical word or phrase in Irish alongside.

    Discover the dobharchu or water hound of Achill Island; the enchanted sow Cailcheir of Sligo’s Keash Caves; the Burren’s ollpheist or great serpent; the Caoranach or hairy worm of Lough Derg; the one-eyed salmon of Ballyshannon; and the man wolves of Ossory, County Kilkenny, amongst many others.

    This stunning gift book is a feast for the eyes for Manchan fans of all ages.

  • The Wolves of Eternity

    The Wolves of Eternity

    19.95

    It is 1986 and Syvert Loyning has returned from military service to his mother’s home in southern Norway. One night, he dreams of his late father, and the next morning can’t shake him from his mind. Searching through his father’s belongings for clues and connections, Syvert finds a cache of letters that leads to the Soviet Union, and to a half-sister, Alevtina, he didn’t know he had.

    Several decades later, in present-day Russia, he will meet her – just as a mysterious new star appears in the sky…

    From internationally bestselling author Karl Ove Knausgaard, The Wolves of Eternity is the new book in a visionary series that begins with The Morning Star.

    Expansive, searching and deeply human, it questions the responsibilities we have toward one another and ourselves – and the limits of what we can understand about life itself.

  • The Book You Want Everyone You Love to Read

    The Book You Want Everyone You Love to Read

    19.95

    Life is all about relationships and the quality of those connections, whether that’s with family, partners, friends, colleagues or most importantly yourself. If you can get those relationships on a functional and even keel, then the other tricky stuff that life throws your way becomes easier to manage.

    In this warm, practical and witty book, No.1 Sunday Times bestselling psychotherapist Philippa Perry shows you how to approach life’s big problems.

    How do you find and keep love? What can you do to manage conflict better? How can you get unstuck and cope with change and loss? What does it mean to you to be content? Are other people just annoying or are you the problem?

    With a healthy dose of sanity, Philippa Perry’s compassionate advice could help you become a happier, wiser person.

  • Limitless

    Limitless

    19.95

    The sea has always been a part of Nuala Moore’s life: her earliest memory is of jumping off her father’s fishing boat in Dingle Harbour and swimming back to shore. Since then, she’s swum in some of the coldest, most remote and dangerous waters in the world, from the Bering Strait to the Drake Passage. After years of marathon swimming, Nuala struggled to balance sacrifice and achievement.

    Her work-life balance, coupled with caring for her father, forced a change in her pathway. She turned to ice swimming. For Nuala, these extreme situations offered freedom and a chance to find her true north.

    Nuala believes that everyone is capable of greatness, whatever shape that might take. Limitless is her breathtaking memoir, detailing what goes through her mind when she’s in the water and how, when she returns home, she processes the fallout of pushing herself to the brink.

  • 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.

  • Great Moments in Gaelic Football

    Great Moments in Gaelic Football

    19.95

    New, updated edition. Gaelic football is Ireland’s native sport. Fast, physical, athletic and driven by local and national rivalries, it is a unique part of our heritage.

    Ray McManus and his team at Sportsfile are as passionate as all true sports fans, and have been taking photographs for over forty years. They have been at All Ireland finals, of course, but also at club matches throughout the land. With reminiscences from photographers and players alike, this book is a look back over the decades at the legendary players, matches and moments that have contributed to the narrative of one of the world’s most exciting sports.

    A must for Gaelic Football fans wherever they are. First published in 2016, this edition includes the return to crowds at matches after the pandemic, Mayo ending Dublin’s historic run, and Tyrone’s ascent to the top step of the podium.

  • Born to be a Footballer

    Born to be a Footballer

    19.95

    “Being a footballer was my destiny.” After being expelled from school for playing football for his country, fifteen-year-old Liam Brady travelled to London to join Arsenal, and soon became an indispensable part of their glorious 1970s team. Rightly considered one of the Republic of Ireland’s best-ever footballers, he went on to enjoy successes with Juventus, Sampdoria and West Ham, as well as managing Celtic and Brighton and Hove, and becoming assistant manager of his national team. Today he is best known for his much-respected TV punditry and searingly intelligent insights into the game he adores.

    Full of honest insights, amusing anecdotes and recollections of extraordinary times, with Born to be a Footballer Brady delivers a compelling story of a fifty-year career that is unparalleled in Irish sport.

  • Madhouse

    Madhouse

    19.95

    I grew up in a psychiatric experiment crossed with an alcoholic experiment . . . a place run by two people who were extraordinarily drunk and guarded by a potentially vicious dog with a brain tumour.

    PJ Gallagher spent much of his childhood knocking back Lucozade with the local alcoholics in his parents’ northside pub. But the chaos that reigned for his first ten years was nothing compared to what happened when – having lost the pub – his mum took in six psychiatric patients from the local hospital to give them ‘care in the community’.

    Worst. Idea. Ever.

    Madhouse is PJ’s riotous life story. Covering everything from dogs, motorbikes and the art of small talk, to the lessons of mental breakdown and finally figuring out love, this is PJ unbound. Most surprising – to PJ more than anyone – is the prospect of becoming a dad in his late forties, when he always thought of ‘family’ as a trap.

    Madhouse is the funny, insightful and moving story of someone just trying to keep his head above water – and how he is making sense of it all at last!

  • 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.

  • Wonders of the Wild

    Wonders of the Wild

    19.95

    Wildlife expert Eanna Ni Lamhna and artist Brian Fitzgerald explore the WONDERS OF THE WILDNature has lots of hidden treasures. From rabbits eating their own poo to what feeds on humans and how caterpillars burst! Discover animal-eating plants, what rises from the dead, sealife that glows in the dark, and many more weird and wonderful surprises from nature.

  • The Book of Elsewhere

    The Book of Elsewhere

    19.95

    She said, We needed a tool. So I asked the gods.

    There have always been whispers.

    Legends. The warrior who cannot be killed. Who’s seen a thousand civilizations rise and fall.

    He has had many names: Unute, Child of Lightning, Death himself. These days, he’s known simply as “B.”

    And he wants to be able to die.

    In the present day, a U.S. black-ops group has promised him they can help with that.

    And all he needs to do is help them in return. But when an all-too-mortal soldier comes back to life, the impossible event ultimately points toward a force even more mysterious than B himself. One at least as strong.

    And one with a plan all its own.

    In a collaboration that combines Mieville’s singular style and creativity with Reeves’s haunting and soul-stirring narrative, these two inimitable artists have created something utterly unique, sure to delight existing fans and to create scores of new ones.

  • Gaeilge i mo Chroi

    Gaeilge i mo Chroi

    19.95
    Description
    How do you feel about embracing Ireland’s native tongue? At odds after a tricky relationship at school? Maybeyou’ve given up, or don’t know where to start?Well, is fada an bóthar nach mbíonn casadh ann – long is the road that has no turn and, in this book, the road is about to turn. Molly Nic Céile – creator of social media sensation for Irish-language learners and lovers Gaeilge i Mo Chroí – invites us to connect with Irish in our hearts, as we set out on a journey of renewed pride sa Ghaeilge. Using seanfhocail agus scéalta, proverbs and stories, and with plenty of craic along the way – including the hilarious ‘if Irish were English’ approach to better understanding sentence structure – the book offers guidance on bringing Irish into our everyday lives, supported by useful word and phrase glossaries throughout.