Biography

Rob Beckett never seems to fit in. At work, in the middle-class world of television and comedy, he's the laddie, cockney geezer, (read more)

Rob Beckett never seems to fit in. At work, in the middle-class world of television and comedy, he's the laddie, cockney geezer, but to his mates down the pub in south-east London, he's the theatrical one, a media luvvie. Even at home, his wife and kids are posher than him.

In this hilarious exploration of class, Rob compares his life growing up as a working-class kid to the life he lives now, trying to understand where he truly belongs. Will he always be that fat kid who was told he'd never be a high-flyer? (hide)

A Cook's Book is the story of Nigel Slater's life in the kitchen. From the first jam tart Nigel made with his mum standing on a chair (read more)

A Cook's Book is the story of Nigel Slater's life in the kitchen. From the first jam tart Nigel made with his mum standing on a chair trying to reach the Aga, through to what he is cooking now, this is the ultimate Nigel Slater collection brimming with over 200 recipes. He writes about how his cooking has changed from discovering the best way to roast a chicken to the trick to smoky, smooth aubergine mash.
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For more than three decades, millions of Britons have woken to the sound of John Humphrys' voice. As presenter of Radio 4's Today, (read more)

For more than three decades, millions of Britons have woken to the sound of John Humphrys' voice. As presenter of Radio 4's Today, the nation's most popular news programme, he is famed for his tough interviewing, his deep misgivings about authority in its many forms and his passionate commitment to a variety of causes. A Day Like Today charts John's journey from the poverty of his post-war childhood in Cardiff, leaving school at fifteen, to the summits of broadcasting.
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As one of the best biographers of her generation, Claire Tomalin has written about great novelists and poets to huge success: now, (read more)

As one of the best biographers of her generation, Claire Tomalin has written about great novelists and poets to huge success: now, she turns to look at her own life.This enthralling memoir follows her through triumph and tragedy in about equal measure, from the disastrous marriage of her parents and the often difficult wartime childhood that followed, to her own marriage to the brilliant young journalist Nicholas Tomalin. When he was killed on assignment as a war correspondent she was left to bring up their four children - and at the same time make her own career.She writes of the intense joys of a fascinating progression as she became one of the most successful literary editors in London before discovering her true vocation as a biographer, alongside overwhelming grief at the loss of a child.Writing with the elan and insight which characterize her biographies, Claire Tomalin sets her own life in a wider cultural and political context, vividly and frankly portraying the social pressures on a woman in the Fifties and Sixties, and showing 'how it was for a European girl growing up in mid-twentieth-century England ... carried along by conflicting desires to have children and a worthwhile working life.'
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See the world. Then make it better. 'I am 94. I've had an extraordinary life. It's only now that I appreciate how extraordinary. As (read more)

See the world. Then make it better.

'I am 94. I've had an extraordinary life. It's only now that I appreciate how extraordinary.

As a young man, I felt I was out there in the wild, experiencing the untouched natural world - but it was an illusion. The tragedy of our time has been happening all around us, barely noticeable from day to day - the loss of our planet's wild places, its biodiversity. I have been witness to this decline. (hide)

In the last half of 1945, news of the war's end and aftermath shared space with reports of a battle on the home front, led by a woman. (read more)

In the last half of 1945, news of the war's end and aftermath shared space with reports of a battle on the home front, led by a woman. She was Elizabeth O. Hayes, MD, doctor for a mining concern that owned the town of Force, PA, where sewage was contaminating the drinking water, ambulances were being stuck in muddy unpaved roads, and corrupt management was refusing to improve sanitation from their Manhattan high rises.

When Hayes resigned to protest intolerable living conditions, 350 miners followed her in strike, shaking the foundation of the town and attracting a national media storm. Press - including women reporters, temporarily assigned to national news desks in wartime - flocked to the small mining town to champion Dr. Hayes' cause. (hide)

***Stock update 4/12/2021 - we're waiting for new stock to arrive. We are keeping in touch with the publisher to try and get a delivery (read more)

***Stock update 4/12/2021 - we're waiting for new stock to arrive. We are keeping in touch with the publisher to try and get a delivery date. We hope this will be before Christmas, but can't guarantee it***

A man and his chicken sail 45,000 nautical miles in this powerful story of following your dreams-a unique gift for the travelers and sailors in your life! When Guirec Soudee was 21 years old, he bought a 30-foot sailboat and set out across the Atlantic, despite having only sailed a dinghy before. His only companion? His plucky pet hen, Monique. Guirec never intended to sail the world with a chicken, but after reaching the Caribbean, he and Monique made for Greenland--and emerged from the pack ice 100 days later.

Their next goal? San Francisco. Then, Antarctica. But first, could they navigate the treacherous Northwest Passage? One thing was for sure: Monique would help her trusty skipper by laying an egg! Heart-stopping adventure story: navigating treacherous icebergs with a chicken on the mast is just one of many nail-biting maneuvers from this action-packed book.
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Josie George lives in a tiny terraced house in the urban West Midlands with her son. Since her early childhood, she has lived with (read more)

Josie George lives in a tiny terraced house in the urban West Midlands with her son. Since her early childhood, she has lived with the fluctuating and confusing challenge of disabling chronic illness. But Josie's world is surprising, intricate, dynamic.

She has learned what to look for: the routines of her friends at the community centre; the neighbourhood birds in flight; the slow changes in the morning light, in her small garden, in her growing son, in herself. In January 2018, Josie sets out to tell the story of her still life, over the course of a year. As the seasons shift, and the tides of her body draw in and out, Josie begins to unfurl her history. (hide)

If there is one thing that most of us aspire to, it is, simply, to be happy. And yet attaining happiness has become, it appears, (read more)

If there is one thing that most of us aspire to, it is, simply, to be happy. And yet attaining happiness has become, it appears, anything but simple. Having stuff - The Latest, The Newest, The Best Yet - is all too often peddled as the sure-fire route to happiness.

So why then, in our consumer-driven society, is depression, stress and anxiety ever more common, affecting every strata of society and every age, even, worryingly, the very young? Why is it, when we have so much, that many of us still feel we are missing something and the rush of pleasure when we buy something new turns so quickly into a feeling of emptiness, or purposelessness, or guilt? (hide)

Matt Baker is at his happiest on the farm. Away from the bright lights of hosting our favourite television programmes, Countryfile, (read more)

Matt Baker is at his happiest on the farm. Away from the bright lights of hosting our favourite television programmes, Countryfile, The One Show, Blue Peter and many more, he is often in the company of his family, dogs, array of sheep, Mediterranean miniature donkeys and a whole host of wildlife in the farm's ancient woodland. Now, following the ever-changing seasons, Matt takes us on a journey with his family on the farm.
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