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In 1962 the young Patrick Marnham set off by car for a small village in central France. There he was taught French by an imperious countess, who he later discovered had fought in the Resistance until,

A BBC History Magazine Book of the YearA writer, soldier, politician, courtier, spy and explorer, Sir Walter Ralegh lived more lives than most in his own time, in any time. The fifth son of a Devonshi

A.J. Jacobs has received some strange emails over the years, but this note was perhaps the strangest: "You don't know me, but I'm your eighth cousin. And we have over 80,000 relatives of yours in our

Never before have we had so much information available to us about food and health. There's GAPS, paleo, detox, gluten-free, alkaline, the sugar conspiracy, clean eating... Unfortunately, a lot of it

Dementia is now the primary cause of death in many developed nations. While the search for an effective treatment continues, the question is: can anything be done to protect ourselves from Alzheimer's

In a world without aircraft, to believe flight might be possible required a certain kind of character. You had to be starry-eyed, a possessor of practical ingenuity, nerves of steel and a level of san

AN INDEPENDENT BEST BOOKS ON RELIGION 2014 PICKFew things provoke controversy in the modern world like the religion brought by Prophet Muhammad. Modern media are replete with alarm over jihad, underag

The Cancer Survivors Club brings together first-hand accounts of ordinary people who have beaten cancer. They are old and young, their diagnoses common and rare, their courses of treatment long and sh

This book takes a fresh look at the foundations of modern Islam. Scholars often locate the origins of the modern Islamic world in European colonialism or Islamic reactions to European modernity. Howev

Are you looking for The One? Well, according to Dr Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist and relationship expert, you don't have to look any further for the way to find that special someone than you

Homosexuality is anathema to Islam - or so the majority of both believers and non-believers suppose. Throughout the Muslim world, it is met with hostility, where state punishments range from hefty fin

Most of what we do on land ends up impacting the ocean, but never is that clearer than when we look at salmon. Centuries of our greatest assaults on nature, from overfishing to dams, from hatcheries t

'The first and perhaps only book on the relative merits of American and British English that is dominated by facts and analysis rather than nationalistic prejudice. For all its scholarship, this is al

A New Statesman Book of the YearThe wolf stands at the forefront of the debate about our impact on the natural world. In one of the most celebrated successes of modern conservation, it has been reintr

Reese Witherspoon's Book Club Pick 2018An Amazon Best Memoir of the Month One of Elle Magazine's Best Books of 2017Goodreads Best of the MonthDaily Beast, "Books I Can't Live Without"Good Housekeeping

'The first and perhaps only book on the relative merits of American and British English that is dominated by facts and analysis rather than nationalistic prejudice. For all its scholarship, this is al

Here's an accusation - Sherlock Holmes never deduced anything. When it comes to language, it all depends on what your definition of 'is' is. And one for the existentialists - you haven't lived unt

The accepted narrative of the global financial crisis of 2007-09 is that the central banks saved us from an inferno caused by Wall Street greed. While there is no doubt they did save us, did the firef

If a 'robot' could do your job quicker than you and better than you for no pay, would you still be employed? Today it's travel agents, data-analyst and paralegals whose jobs are under threat. Soon it

In Professor Povey's Perplexing Problems, Thomas Povey shares 109 of his favourite problems in physics and maths. A tour de force of imagination and exposition, he takes us by the hand and guides us t

Artificial intelligence is already well on its way to making ‘good jobs’ obsolete: many paralegals, doctors, and ironically even computer programmers are poised to be replaced by robots. As technology

The Third Chimpanzee was first published in 1991 and has been in print ever since. This new, illustrated edition is aimed at a young readership. In it, Jared Diamond explores what makes us human and p

With a cast of characters ranging from Malcolm X to 50 Cent, Knight's compelling work is the first detailed account of the movement inextricably linked with black empowerment, Islam, New York, and hip

Denmark is set to achieve 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030. Iceland has topped the gender equality rankings for a decade and counting. South Korea’s average life expectancy will soon reach ninety

The battle is for a city. The war is for history. In autumn 2016, Iraqi forces began operations to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State. Millennia-old, Mosul was a birthplace of Western culture bu

Looking at the night sky, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's all quiet up there in space. But you'd be wrong. Extreme events are forever unfolding: galaxies explode, cosmic debris hurtles through the

What does your dog really think about you?To find out, Gregory Berns became the first neuroscientist to persuade dogs to lie in an MRI machine wide awake. Now we know more about our best friends than

What does your dog really think about you?To find out, Gregory Berns became the first neuroscientist to persuade dogs to lie in an MRI machine wide awake. Now we know more about our best friends than

NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2018 BY Buzzfeed * Esquire * Bustle * The Millions * The Wall Street Journal * Entertainment Weekly * Nylon * Elle * Dazed * The Irish Times'Cassara has written a hear

In the space of a few years, Bitcoin has gone from an idea ignored or maligned by almost everyone to an asset with a market cap of more than $12 billion. Venture capital firms, Goldman Sachs, the New

'Fascinating' - Brian Cox, Mail on Sunday Books of the YearWhere are we? Who are we? Do our beliefs, hopes and dreams hold any significance out there in the void? Can human purpose and meaning ever fi

In One Step Ahead, Timothy Spangler - author of the award-winning Forbes.com blog "Law of the Market" - provides a compelling account of how flexible and entrepreneurial investment firms can prosper i

When Queen Victoria died, two gentlemen embarked on a monumental task: sorting through and making sense of her vast written legacy. For the first time, a British monarch's letters - carefully edited o

The Coalition Government passed into law an unprecedented assault on the NHS. Doctors, unions, the media, even politicians who claimed to be stalwart defenders failed to protect it. Now the effect of

Drawn from the works of poets, writers, philosophers and sacred literature, from John Donne to Victor Hugo, Charlotte Bronte to Emily Dickinson, this inspirational anthology celebrates lives that have

First published in 1692, a year after Brother Lawrence's death, this beautifully written and intensely personal little book has been cherished for generations as a rich source of inspiration and guida

A ground-breaking YA thriller about a Native American teen who must root out the corruption in her communityA ground-breaking, heart-racing thriller perfect for fans of Angie Thomas and Tommy OrangeAn instant no. 1 New York Times Bestseller, April 4 2021Winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards for YA Fiction, 2021Winner of CrimeFest Best YA Crime Fiction Prize, 2022Shortlisted for Waterstones Children's Book Prize, 2022A Time magazine pick for Best YA of All Time, 2021KEEP THE SECRET. LIVE THE LIE. EARN YOUR TRUTH.Eighteen-year-old Daunis has always felt like an outsider with her mixed heritage, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation.After she witnesses a shocking murder, Daunis reluctantly agrees to go undercover for the FBI, who are convinced a drug trafficking ring are behind it. But secretly she pursues her own investigation, tracking down the culprits with her knowledge of traditional medicine.As the bodies pile up, Daunis finds herself caught in a web of deceit th

'Immensely learned and ambitious...seam-bursting eclecticism and polymathic brio... This is by any standards a significant book and its author deserves high praise.' Literary Review To imagine - to se

'Immensely learned and ambitious...seam-bursting eclecticism and polymathic brio... This is by any standards a significant book and its author deserves high praise.' Literary Review To imagine - to se