In July 1961, just before David Aaronovitch's seventh birthday, Yuri Gagarin came to London. The Russian cosmonaut was everything the Aaronovitch family wished for - a popular and handsome embodiment
"There is something reassuring yet deliciously unexpected about a Tessa Hadley novel." (Helen Brown, Daily Telegraph). Over five novels and two collections of stories Tessa Hadley has earned a reputat
For nearly twenty years David Dawson was Lucian Freud's assistant, companion and model. Freud was famously private. He carefully avoided distraction. With few exceptions, he only wanted those he knew
Trudy has betrayed her husband, John. She's still in the marital home - a dilapidated, priceless London townhouse - but not with John. Instead, she's with his brother, the profoundly banal Claude, and
2015 Man Booker Prize longlist Meet U. – a talented and uneasy figure currently pimping his skills to an elite consultancy in contemporary London. His employers advise everyone from big businesses to
Fiona Maye is a leading High Court judge, presiding over cases in the family court. She is renowned for her fierce intelligence, exactitude and sensitivity. But her professional success belies private
An anthology of stories, poems, fiction and non-fiction extracts of children's literature that is specially chosen around the theme of birthdays. It includes such authors as Lewis Carroll, Anthony Hor
Julien's parents talk about Father Christmas endlessly, but he doesn't believe in him any more. Nevertheless he humours his parents and writes Father Christmas a letter asking for a video games consol
"Alison Weir is one of our best popular historians and one, moreover, with an impressive scholarly pedigree in Tudor history." --Frank McLynn,IndependentRoyal Tudor blood ran in her
Britain has lost the Falklands war, Margaret Thatcher battles Tony Benn for power and Alan Turing achieves a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. In a world not quite like this one, two lovers wil
Britain has lost the Falklands war, Margaret Thatcher battles Tony Benn for power and Alan Turing achieves a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. In a world not quite like this one, two lovers wil
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. As Rachel Cusk wrote in
David Litvinoff (1928–75) was ‘one of the great mythic characters of ‘60s London’ – outrageous, possessed of a lightning wit and intellect, dangerous to know, always lurking in the shadows as the spot
A stunning 'Victorian' graphic novel based on a little-known novel by Anthony Trollope.England, 1873. John Caldigate, a young gentleman, gets into debt gambling and decides to try his luck in the gold
Newly arrived in the Zone of Interest - the name given to the outer perimeter of the camp at Auschwitz - Golo Thomsen, an official with important connections in Berlin, promptly and ill-advisedly fall
Posy Simmonds' extraordinary reworking of Madame Bovary as a graphic novelGemma is the bored, pretty second wife of Charlie Bovery, the reluctant stepmother of his children and the bete-noire of his e
People pass the word only to those they trust most: Adjustment Day is coming. They’ve been reading a mysterious blue-black book and memorising its directives. They are ready for the reckoning. In thi
Plum has lots of favourite things: catching sticks, her bear, her bed - but really LOVE is her absolute favourite thing. She loves her family, and they love her. But trouble loves Plum too; sometimes
The conclusion to Simon Callow's masterful three-volume biography of Orson Welles.In One-Man Band, the third volume in his epic survey of Orson Welles' life and work, Simon Callow again probes in comp
Flaubert believed that it was impossible to explain one art form in terms of another, and that great paintings required no words of explanation. Braque thought the ideal state would be reached when we
The four Walker children are dismayed when they discover that the friend's yacht they have been staying on is drifting out to sea in a thick fog, and their friend is still on shore
The Swallows, Amazons and Ds are united again for Arthur Ransome's final story in the series. Flat on his front, binoculars to his eyes, alone at dusk, Dick makes a remarkable discovery: two rare
From the day she is discovered unconscious in a New England cemetery at the beginning of the twentieth century – nothing but a bowling ball, a candlepin and fifteen pounds of gold on her person – Bert
She thought, brightly, This is the worst life decision I have ever made! And she marvelled at herself for a while, at the mystery of this person who’d just done this bizarre, inexplicable thing. Margo
It is summer, 2012. Charlie, a wealthy banker with an uneasy conscience, invites his troubled cousin Matthew to visit him and his wife in their idyllic mountain-top house. As the days grow hotter, the
In the wake of family collapse, a writer and her two young sons move to London. The process of upheaval is the catalyst for a number of transitions - personal, moral, artistic, practical - as she ende
The Christmas season offers little cheer for Eileen Dunlop, an unassuming yet disturbed young woman trapped between her role as her alcoholic father's carer in his squalid home and her day job as a se
Wonder Woman! Hunks! Great men and women of history! Step aside - Kate Beaton is coming for you. The author of the smash hit Hark! A Vagrant returns with all-new sidesplitting comics that showcase her
It's another busy day at Stanley's Cafe. He's baking a very special cake - but whose birthday can it be? Join Stanley and friends for a tasty adventure in this colourful new series from William Bee...
In the tenth instalment of the Swallows and Amazons series, the young crew come face-to-face with the fiercest pirate of the South China Seas.'So long,' called the harbourmaster. 'Don't run into Misse
**FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER SAPIENS** Yuval Noah Harari returns in August 2018 with a new book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. In bringing his focus to the here and now, Harari
And why is the singing of others so essential to human life? In ten discrete but cohering essays Coleman tackles the arc of that history as if it were an emotional experience with real psychological c
From the author who brought you The Encyclopedia of Early Earth comes another Epic Tale of Derring-Do. Prepare to be dazzled once more by the overwhelming power of stories and see Love prevail in the
Any trial is an act of theatre. After the horror of the Second World War, the Nuremberg Tribunal became a symbol of the 'free world's' choice of justice in the face of tyranny, aggression and atrocity
'The best book we've done on the Book Club this year' - Simon Mayo Radio 2 Book Club 'A novel of head-snapping ambition and heart-stopping power' - Michiko Kakutani, New York Times 'Love The Wire? Th
Billie is forced to leave the only home she's ever known when her mother decides they should move to a new house in a small town. Musty furniture and odd belongings fill the old, dilapidated building,
Dog loves books! Dog loves books about dinosaurs and Dog loves books about aliens: in fact Dog loves all books! Dog has his very own bookshop, although he doesn't have many customers. But that's all r
Joan Aiken tells the story of Window and her sailor brother, Handle, who live in a small house in a wooded hollow. Each autumn, Handle must sweepthe huge piles of leaves away. But one day,
Plunge into the Norfolk Broads as the Ds join up with the Coot Club once again, this time to solve a very baffling crime. 'Why shouldn't we be detectives too?' When Dick and Dorothea arrive i
