Biography

During the week Kenneth Grahame sat behind a mahogany desk as Secretary of the Bank of England; at the weekend he retired to the (read more)

During the week Kenneth Grahame sat behind a mahogany desk as Secretary of the Bank of England; at the weekend he retired to the house in the country he shared with his fanciful wife Elspeth and fragile son Alistair and took lengthy walks along the Thames in Berkshire, 'tempted [by] the treasures of hedge and ditch; the rapt surprise of the first lords-and-ladies, the rustle of a field-mouse, the splash of a frog'. (hide)

Naoki Higashida met international success with THE REASON I JUMP, a revelatory account of life as a thirteen-year-old with non-verbal (read more)

Naoki Higashida met international success with THE REASON I JUMP, a revelatory account of life as a thirteen-year-old with non-verbal autism. Now he offers an equally illuminating insight into autism from his perspective as a young adult. In concise, engaging pieces, he shares his thoughts and feelings on a broad menu of topics ranging from school experiences to family relationships, the exhilaration of travel to the difficulties of speech.

Aware of how mystifying his behaviour can appear to others, Higashida describes the effect on him of such commonplace things as a sudden change of plan, or the mental steps he has to take simply to register that it's raining. Throughout, his aim is to foster a better understanding of autism and to encourage those with disabilities to be seen as people, not as problems.With an introduction by David Mitchell, Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight includes a dreamlike short story Higashida wrote for this edition. Both moving and of practical use, the book opens a window into the mind of an inspiring young man who meets the challenges of autism with tenacity and good humour. (hide)

Michelle was a young single mother when she was kidnapped by a local school bus driver named Ariel Castro. For more than a decade (read more)

Michelle was a young single mother when she was kidnapped by a local school bus driver named Ariel Castro. For more than a decade afterward, she endured unimaginable torture at the hand of her abductor. In 2003 Amanda Berry joined her in captivity, followed by Gina DeJesus in 2004.

Their escape on May 6, 2013, made headlines around the world. Barely out of her own tumultuous childhood, Michelle was estranged from her family and fighting for custody of her young son when she disappeared. Local police believed she had run away, so they removed her from the missing persons lists fifteen months after she vanished. (hide)

No one is born a leader. But through sheer determination and by confronting life's challenges, Ant Middleton has come to know the (read more)

No one is born a leader. But through sheer determination and by confronting life's challenges, Ant Middleton has come to know the meaning of true leadership. In First Man In, he shares the core lessons he's learned over the course of his fascinating, exhilarating life.

Special forces training is no walk in the park. The rules are strict and they make sure you learn the hard way, pushing you beyond the limits of what is physically possible. There is no mercy.

Even when you are bleeding and broken, to admit defeat is failure. To survive the gruelling selection process to become a member of the elite you need toughness, aggression, meticulous attention to detail and unrelenting self-discipline, all traits that make for the best leaders. After 13 years service in the military, with 4 years as a Special Boat Service (SBS) sniper, Ant Middleton is the epitome of what it takes to excel. (hide)

This book is pretty much our official story so far. It really does only seem like last week we played our first gig in at the Annandale (read more)

This book is pretty much our official story so far. It really does only seem like last week we played our first gig in at the Annandale hotel in Sydney. Since then we've been given the opportunity to turn into the people and musicians we wanted to be.

The people who gave us the opportunity were the fans. So this book is like a thank you. We want everyone to know the story of how four western Sydney teenagers picked up their instruments and dreamt of being one of the biggest bands in the world.

There's also some embarrassing photos of us dicking around and some facts that some of us didn't even know. So we hope you enjoy it! Love cal, luke, ash and mike x (hide)

'Probably the most complete and absolute lack of talent ever publicly displayed in Manhattan.'Life magazine. Madame Jenkins couldn't (read more)

'Probably the most complete and absolute lack of talent ever publicly displayed in Manhattan.'Life magazine. Madame Jenkins couldn't carry a tune in a bucket: despite that, in 1944 at the age of 76, she played Carnegie Hall to a capacity audience and had celebrity fans by the score. Her infamous 1940s recordings are still highly-prized today.

In his well-researched and thoroughly entertaining biography, Darryl W. Bullock tells of Florence Foster Jenkins meteoric rise to success and the man who stood beside her, through every sharp note. Florence was ridiculed for her poor control of timing, pitch, and tone, and terrible pronunciation of foreign lyrics, but the sheer entertainment value of her caterwauling packed out theatres around the United States, with the 'singer' firmly convinced of her own talent, partly thanks to the devoted attention from her husband and manager St Clair Bayfield. (hide)

'This is the story of my journey into parenthood, from being a 24 year old man-child with no idea of what being a dad involved, to (read more)

'This is the story of my journey into parenthood, from being a 24 year old man-child with no idea of what being a dad involved, to where I find myself today: the single male representative in a household of five women, or in other words, outnumbered. Our house is now known as "the place where silence came to die". It's also where you'll find carpets that are made up of 50% glitter and where there are more pink stuffed animals than at a colour-blind taxidermy specialists.

But I wouldn't change a thing. These people are my life.'From uninitiated parents-to-be to those who know the ropes in families large or small, everyone will find something to relate to in Simon's hilarious and chaotic tales of his own home life. His observations of being a father have delighted his hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram: before now dads are often the forgotten ones who carry the luggage, open stiff jars, take photos on holiday, fix broken bikes, go back to work, do the night feeds and make a mean beans on toast with melted cheese without so much as a pat on the back. (hide)

In Forty Autumns, Nina Willner recounts the history of three generations of her family - mothers, sisters, daughters and cousins (read more)

In Forty Autumns, Nina Willner recounts the history of three generations of her family - mothers, sisters, daughters and cousins - separated by forty years of Soviet rule, and reunited after the fall of the Berlin Wall.Shortly after the end of the Second World War, as the Soviets took control of the eastern part of Germany, Hanna, a schoolteacher's daughter, escaped with nothing more than a small suitcase and the clothes on her back. As Hanna built a new life in the West, her relatives (her mother, father and eight siblings) remained in the East. The construction of the Berlin Wall severed all hope of any future reunion.

Hanna fell in love and moved to America. She made many attempts to establish contact with her family, but most were unsuccessful. Her father was under close observation; her mother, younger sister Heidi and the others struggled to adjust to life under a bizarre and brutal regime that kept its citizens cut off from the outside world. (hide)

An incredible memoir from one of the world's most eminent heart surgeons and some of the most remarkable and poignant cases he's (read more)

An incredible memoir from one of the world's most eminent heart surgeons and some of the most remarkable and poignant cases he's worked on. Grim Reaper sits on the heart surgeon's shoulder. A slip of the hand and life ebbs away.

The balance between life and death is so delicate, and the heart surgeon walks that rope between the two. In the operating room there is no time for doubt. It is flesh, blood, rib-retractors and pumping the vital organ with your bare hand to squeeze the life back into it. (hide)

Pub Date:13/01/2015 - This is the autobiography of Reginald Levy, a British pilot who reached a total of 25,090 flying hours in over (read more)

Pub Date:13/01/2015 - This is the autobiography of Reginald Levy, a British pilot who reached a total of 25,090 flying hours in over forty years of civil, military and commercial aviation. He recounts his training and military operations as an RAF Bomber Command pilot during the Second World War. Enthralled and immersed within the ever growing world of aviation, he flies sixty-four types of aircraft between 1941 and 1981 and takes part in the Berlin Airlift.

He joins the Belgian airline Sabena in 1952. In 1972, he is hijacked by Black September terrorists and plays a heroic part in the liberation of the hostages thanks to his professionalism and training. Not only does the book offer an insight into the hardships and camaraderie of the Second World War and of the Cold War, it also gives a first-hand account of a Palestinian terrorist attempt. (hide)