We’ve independently picked our favourite non-fiction titles – from biography to science, there’s something here for everyone. Use the dropdown menu above to refine by non-fiction subject or click the category links under any product to narrow down your choices! And remember – we offer Free Postage in ROI on orders over €30 – just choose the Free Postage option at checkout.
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This terrific book is a guide to the occult world, featuring 10 itineraries and maps of magical tours across the globe. Spanning countries and continents in pursuit of occult themes, it is meant to be pursued by the astral or armchair traveller rather than on the ground, although we expect readers to be inspired to plan epic trips of their own. It takes a fantastically fresh approach to the occult, with a nod to the retro Shell Guides in the use of collage artwork and humorous, on-point suggestions of places to stay and eat. Expand your occult horizons by trying these tours - and many more! Necromancy through the Ages Tour: Travel from Ancient Nineveh to northern England, tracing sites of necromantic practice. Crowley & Choronzon Desert Tour: Hike across the Algerian desert in the footsteps of the magicians Aleister Crowley and Victor Neuburg, invoking angels and meeting the terrifying demon Choronzon. The Descent & Rise of Witchcraft Tour: Visit the temples of Hekate and Circe in Turkey and Italy, the Spanish sites of the Inquisition's Witch-hunts, and the haunts of the Norse sorceresses. Curse, Protect and Divine Tour: Travel across Europe to the United States and Kenya unearthing buried curses and counter-magic, from tiny frog coffins in Finnish churches to sinister village hexes. After completing the journeys, the book offers the unique Geonomicon - a simple divinatory and meditational tool that invites the reader to develop their own creative approach to magical practice. Published 10th October 2023 - Order Now. -
One of the few indisputable geniuses of pop music, Sly Stone is a trailblazer who created a new kind of music, mixing Black and white, male and female, funk and rock; penned some of the most iconic anthems of the 1960s and 70s, from "Everyday People" to "Family Affair"; and electrified audiences with a persona and stage presence that set a lasting standard for pop culture performance. Yet he has also been a cautionary tale, known as much for how he dropped out of sight as for what put him in the spotlight in the first place. As much as people know the music, the man remains a mystery. In Thank You, his much-anticipated memoir, he's finally ready to share his story - a story that many thought he'd never have the chance to tell. Written with Ben Greenman, who has written memoirs with George Clinton and Brian Wilson among others, Thank You will include a foreword by Questlove. The book was created in collaboration with Sly Stone's manager Arlene Hirschkowitz. "For as long as I can remember folks have been asking me to tell my story," says Stone. "I wasn't ready. I had to be in a new frame of mind to become Sylvester Stewart again to tell the true story of Sly Stone. It's been a wild ride and hopefully my fans enjoy it too." Published 17th October 2023 - Order Now. -
628 people in human history have left the Earth. In 'Space: The Human Story' astronaut Tim Peake traces the lives of these remarkable men and women who have forged the way, from Yuri Gagarin to Neil Armstrong, from Valentina Tereshkova to Peggy Whitson. Full of exclusive new stories, and astonishing detail only an astronaut would know, the book conveys what space exploration is really like: the wondrous view of Earth, the surreal weightlessness, the extraordinary danger, the surprising humdrum, the unexpected humour, the newfound perspective, the years of training, the psychological pressures, the gruelling physical toll, the thrill of launch and the trepidation of re-entry. The book also examines the surprising, shocking and often poignant stories of astronauts back on Earth, whose lives are forever changed as they readjust to terra firma. Publication of the book comes on the eve of NASA's plans to return to the moon, fifty years after an astronaut last walked on the lunar surface. In 2024 the Artemis II mission will send four astronauts to orbit the moon. In 2025 Artemis III will send the first woman and the first person of colour to step on the lunar surface. What will separate these upcoming moonwalkers from the legendary Apollo crews? Does it still take a daring-do attitude, super-human fitness, intelligence, plus the 'Right-stuff' - a fabled grace under pressure? And how will astronauts travel even further - to Mars and beyond? Space: The Human Story reveals all. Published 26th October 2023 - Order Now. -
Five years in the making, this book tells the extraordinary story of how Micheline and five other female lecturers took on National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway), now University of Galway, proving discrimination against women and bringing about a sea change in Ireland in higher-education attitudes and policies concerning gender equality. “It’s a cracker of a book!” — Vincent Woods, writer and broadcaster “A brilliant and unputdownable book about a brilliant and unputdownable woman.” — Susan McKay, author and journalist “Brimming with integrity and interlaced with laugh-out-loud humour.” — Catherine Connolly, TD and activist Published 12th October 2023 - Order Now. -
Andy Borowitz has been called a "Swiftian satirist". Millions of fans and New Yorker readers enjoy his satirical news column "The Borowitz Report." Now, in Profiles in Ignorance, he delivers "a wittily alarming polemic that tracks the evolution of American politics from grounds for gravitas to festival of idiocy" (The New York Times). Borowitz argues that over the past fifty years, American politicians have grown increasingly allergic to knowledge, and mass media have encouraged the election of ignoramuses by elevating candidates who are better at performing than thinking. Starting with Ronald Reagan's first campaign for governor of California in 1966 and culminating with the election of Donald J. Trump to the White House, Borowitz shows how, during the age of twenty-four-hour news and social media, the US has elected politicians to positions of great power whose lack of the most basic information is terrifying. In addition to Reagan, Quayle, Bush, Palin, and Trump, Borowitz covers a host of congresspersons, senators, and governors who have helped lower the bar over the past five decades. Profiles in Ignorance aims to make us both laugh and cry: laugh at the idiotic antics of these public figures, and cry at the cataclysms these icons of ignorance have caused. But most importantly, the book delivers a call to action and a cause for optimism: History doesn't move in a straight line, and we can change course if we act now. Published 12th October 2023 - Order Now. -
One of the last criminal trials using the 1735 Witchcraft Act was, improbably, in London in 1944. The accused was Helen Duncan, a middle-aged Scotswoman. This is her extraordinary story. Helen Duncan - known since childhood as 'Hellish Nell', for her uncontainable nature - was one of the most popular mediums of the twentieth century, holding seances around the country where she was believed to manifest the spirits of the dead. What happens when we die? It was the question of the age for a generation which had endured one world war and now was living through another. Mrs Duncan's seances offered an answer. But when she started foretelling naval disasters, she also attracted the unwelcome attention of the secret service. And so just weeks before the Normandy landings, absurdly, anachronistically, she was prosecuted for witchcraft and jailed. Was Nell a conjurer, a martyr or a security risk? Hellish Nell was first published in 2001 to widespread acclaim. It remains in this revised edition a fascinating window into the unsettled spiritual and psychological mood of the times: a sensational tale of spectacle, credulity and cruelty, and of Britain's last witch. -
Before the novel, the world of books was dominated by scientific tomes, religious tracts and histories of the victorious in war. There had been stories and epic poems from ancient times - Homer's Iliad and Odyssey recounted ancient Greece, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was a chivalric romance in Middle English, but it was not until the seventeenth century, when the European middle classes had money and leisure, that anything so frivolous as a novel could be sold for entertainment. Colin Salter traces the evolution of the novel from the earliest examples through to the postmodernist best-sellers of the 21st century. Rather than dwelling too long on the technical nuances of innovative writing style he has amassed 100 of the greatest novel writers and chosen their most significant work. For writers such as Herman Melville, James Joyce or Harper Lee the decision is not a difficult one. For Charles Dickens, Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood, the choice is perhaps more difficult. Following the style set with previous books in the 100 series, most notably 100 Children's Books and 100 Science Discoveries, each author is given a concise biography and their major novel analysed and then set in context with their other published work. Readers can become ridiculously well-read in 224 pages. Authors included: Alexandre Dumas, Daniel Defoe, Victor Hugo, Mary Shelly, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Hilary Mantel, Jane Austen, Robert Louis Stevenson, Walter Scott, Lewis Carroll, JRR Tolkien, Gustave Flaubert, Marcel Proust, Henry James, Harper Lee, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Margaret Atwood, Alice Walker, Jules Verne, HG Wells, Virginia Woolf, Leo Tolstoy, Louisa M. Alcott, Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, John Steinbeck, CS Lewis, Chinua Achebe, Jack Kerouac, John Le Carre, Arundhati Roy, Mila Kundera, Joseph Heller, JD Salinger, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Miguel Cervantes, Graham Greene, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Orwell, John Steinbeck, Evelyn Waugh, Robert Graves, Daphne du Maurier, Agatha Christie, PG Wodehouse, Raymond Chandler, Hunter S. Thompson, Khaled Hosseini. Published 26th October 2023 - Order Now. -
This book is inspired by true events but is not a biography. The truth is My Truth is not The Truth, and that's as honest as I can be. It's partially true, rather than painfully true, and I have possibly been economical with the truth, Your Honour. Basically, I made this sh*t up... While James Blunt's crimes against music are well-documented, he also has some stories that are not. In Loosely Based On A Made-Up Story, James reveals his most riotous anecdotes to date for your amusement - and his parents' horror - in this highly anticipated non-memoir. From his questionable Norfolk roots, eccentric family, boarding school antics, misjudged military service, rise to music stardom and tour escapades, James delves into his (surprisingly) fascinating life to date. What do you do when your mother writes irate emails to the future prime minister defending your honour? What does it take to run a male escort agency? And why exactly should you refrain from crowd-surfing? Find out here, folks... Were the stories in this book grossly exaggerated in an attempt to impress? Maybe. But one thing is for certain: you won't want to miss it. Published 26th October 2023 - Order Now. -
In this exceptional biography, Pulitzer Prize finalist Mary Gabriel chronicles the meteoric rise and enduring influence of the greatest female pop icon of the modern era: Madonna. With her arrival on the music scene in the early 1980s, Madonna generated nothing short of an explosion - as great as that of Elvis or the Beatles - taking the nation by storm with her liberated politics and breathtaking talent. But Madonna was more than just a pop star. Everywhere, fans gravitated to her as an emblem of a new age, one in which feminism could shed the buttoned-down demeanour of the 1970s and feel relevant to a new generation. Amid the scourge of AIDS, she brought queer identities into the mainstream, fiercely defending a person's right to love whomever - and be whoever - they wanted. Despite fierce criticism, she never separated her music from her political activism. And as an artist, she never stopped experimenting. Madonna existed to push past boundaries by creating provocative, visionary music, videos, films and live performances that changed culture globally. Deftly tracing Madonna's story from her Michigan roots to her rise to super-stardom, master biographer Mary Gabriel captures the dramatic life and achievements of one of the greatest artists of our time. 'Daring to write a biography of a woman with whom the entire world is on a first-name basis, Mary Gabriel has created (astonishingly) a book neither gossip-driven nor highly snarky... she reveals instead a Madonna both more true and more unbelievably believable; a rock-and-roll suffragette...' Brad Gooch, author of City Poet Published 10th October 2023 - Order Now. -
To be a journalist is to tell the truth. I Love Russia is Elena Kostyuchenko's fearless and unrelenting attempt to document Putin's Russia as experienced by those whom it systematically and brutally erases: sex workers in Moscow, queer people in the outer provinces, patients and doctors at a Ukrainian maternity ward, and reporters like herself. The result is a singular portrait of a nation and a young woman who refuses to be silenced. In March 2022, as a reporter for Russia's last free press, Novaya Gazeta, Kostyuchenko crossed the border into Ukraine to cover the war. It was her mission to ensure that Russians witnessed the horrors Putin was committing in their name. She filed her pieces knowing that should she return home, she would likely be prosecuted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Yet, driven by the conviction that the greatest form of love and patriotism is criticism, she continues to write, undaunted and with eyes wide open. I Love Russia stitches together reportage from the past 15 years with personal essays, assembling a kaleidoscopic narrative that Kostyuchenko understands may be the last thing she'll publish for a long time-perhaps ever. She writes because the threat of Putin's Russia extends beyond herself, beyond Crimea, and beyond Ukraine. We fail to understand it at our own peril. Published 19th October 2023 - Order Now. -
Obvious questions do not always have obvious answers. John Gribbin is known for giving us simple explanations of big concepts in science. But there is another way to probe the mysteries of the Universe and our place in it. Faced with persistent enquiries from his grandchildren, Gribbin realised that simple questions, such as 'Why is the sky blue?', sometimes require big answers, understandable in straightforward language. In answering those simple questions, he discovered that he was telling the story of our place in the Universe, from the Big Bang to the evolutionary reasons why men are, on average, bigger than women. The questions may be obvious, but the answers are sometimes surprising and highlight one of the main joys of science - discovering the unexpected. In this book, Gribbin invites the reader to join him on this voyage of discovery, where you may think you already know the answers but should be prepared to be surprised - or at least, tantalised by the truth. Published 26th October 2023 - Order Now. -
Previously published as The Hard Sell. Now a major film streaming on NETFLIX. John Kapoor had already made a small fortune in pharmaceuticals when he developed a highly potent fentanyl-based painkiller that was as addictive as it was effective. Desperate to make the most of his new drug, he brought together an ambitious, persuasive and relentless group of young recruits who were willing to do anything to profit from this seemingly life-chanigng medicine. This is the inside story of hustlers turned millionaires and a shocking expose of how opioids entered the national bloodstream. 'A fast-paced and maddening account' - The New York Times Book Review 'I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. A tour de force.' - Patrick Radden Keefe, award-winning author of Empire of Pain 'Everyone should read this book' - Sheelagh Kolhatkar, author of Black Edge Published 12th October 2023 - Order Now. -
From one of the nation's best-loved food writers and inspired by the award-winning podcast, Comfort Eating is a wonderfully scrumptious, life-affirming journey through the foods that really mean the most to us. Have you ever wondered why eating cheese can sometimes feel like a cuddle? Or how a big bowl of pasta can be just what we need after a tough day? Oh, and what is it about butter that seems to make everything just that little bit better...? The foods we turn to behind closed doors are deeply personal, steeped in nostalgia and topped with a healthy dollop of guilty pleasure. In Comfort Eating, Grace Dent throws open her kitchen cupboards to reveal why we hold these secret snacks and naughty nibbles so dear to our hearts. Exploring her go-to comfort foods through a series of joyous encounters, Grace reflects on the memories they uncover and pays tribute to her parents, the people who taught her what comfort eating truly means. Along the way, she catches up with some famous friends to chat about their own favourites - from Jo Brand's fried bread sandwich and Russell T.Davies' 'butterpepperrice' to Scarlett Moffat's crushed-Wotsits-topped beans on toast and many, many more... So grab a plate and pull up a chair: unfussy, honest and filled to the brim with heartwarming stories and comfort food tales, Comfort Eating is the perfect treat for food lovers everywhere. Published 5th October 2023 - Order Now. -
Hop, skip and jump into this wonderfully curious grand tour of the world of sports, brought to you by QI Elves James Harkin and Anna Ptaszynski. From sport's weirdest rules to its most unlikely heroes, via comically large cricket bats, pole-vaulting priests, creative football chants and exploding billiard balls, each chapter of Everything to Play For is brimming with surprising facts and intriguing stories. Even if you've never asked yourself what David Attenborough has to do with yellow tennis balls, why Victorian doctors feared the outbreak of 'bicycle face' or what led ancient Egyptian athletes to have their spleens removed, this book will give you the astonishing answers - and plenty more besides. Published 19th October 2023 - Order Now. -
There is something beautiful and wild in the impossible architecture of lighthouses. They have been the homes and workplaces of men and women whose romantic guardianship has saved countless lives from cruel seas. Yet while that way of life fades away, as the lights go out and the buildings crumble, we still have their stories. From a blind lighthouse keeper tending a light in the Arctic Circle, to an intrepid young girl saving ships from wreck at the foot of her father's lighthouse, and the plight of the lighthouse crew cut off from society for forty days, this is a glorious book full of illuminating stories that will transport the reader to the world's most isolated and inspiring lighthouses. With over thirty tales that explore the depths to which we can sink and the heights to which we can soar as human beings, and accompanied by beautiful illustrations, nautical charts, maps, architectural plans and curious facts, A Brief Atlas of the Lighthouses at the End of the World is as full of wonder as the far flung lighthouses themselves. Translated from Spanish by Daniel Hahn Published 19th October 2023 - Order Now. -
In her late-twenties, feeling utterly overwhelmed by the pace of modern city life, Rosie Steer found solace in the traditions she had been brought up with, influenced by her Scottish roots, that celebrated nature and observed the small steady shifts in the seasons. The Celtic Wheel of the year is an ancient seasonal cycle that aligns with solar events - the solstices, equinoxes and their midpoints. For each mini-season, Rosie shares nature notes for what we can look out for as the days get warmer or cooler, the nights longer or shorter, alongside activities, things to make, flowers or fruit to forage, seasonal recipes to enjoy and a modern take on the traditional celebrations. As the Wheel turns towards Mabon on 23rd September, we can look forward to making Autumn Wreaths as the leaves start to turn golden, and celebrate the abundance of the hedgerows with Elderberry tonic and Apple and star anise cake. By slowing down and paying attention to the ebbs and flows of nature, we can find moments of calm whenever we need them. Published 12th October 2023 - Order Now. -
'I'm not here to change your mind about Dusty Springfield or Shostakovich or Tupac Shakur or synthpop. I'm here to change your mind about your mind.' There are countless books on music with much analysis given to musicians, bands, eras and/or genres. But rarely does a book delve into what's going on inside us when we listen. Michel Faber explores two big questions: how we listen to music and why we listen to music. To answer these he considers biology, age, illness, the notion of 'cool', commerce, the dichotomy between 'good' and 'bad' taste and, through extensive interviews with musicians, unlocks some surprising answers. From the award-winning author of The Crimson Petal and the White and Under the Skin, this curious and celebratory book reflects Michel Faber's lifelong obsession with music of all kinds. Listen will change your relationship with the heard world. Published 19th October 2023 - Order Now. -
The greatest popular songs, whether it's Aretha Franklin singing 'Respect' or Bob Dylan performing 'Blind Willie McTell', have a way of embedding themselves in our memories. You remember a time and a place and a feeling when you hear that song again. In Holding the Note, David Remnick, the Pulitzer Prize-winnning journalist and editor of The New Yorker, writes about the lives and work of some of the greatest musicians, songwriters, and performers of the past fifty years. He portrays a series of musical lives - Leonard Cohen, Buddy Guy, Mavis Staples, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, and more - and their unique encounters with the passing of that essential element of music: time. These are intimate portraits of some of the greatest creative minds of our time written with a lifetime's passionate attachment to music that has shaped us all. Published 12th October 2023 - Order Now. -
It's now cheaper to save the world than destroy it. Our age will be defined by the climate emergency. But contrary to the doomist narrative that's taken hold, the world has already begun deploying the solutions needed to deal with it. On a journey across five continents, Climate Capitalism tracks the unlikely heroes driving the fight against climate change. From the Chinese bureaucrat who did more to make electric cars a reality than Elon Musk, to the Danish students who helped to build the world's longest-operating wind turbine, or the American oil executive building the technology that can reverse climate damages, we meet the people working to scale technologies that are finally able to bend the emissions curve. Through stories that bring people, policy and technology together, Akshat Rathi reveals how the green economy is not only possible, but profitable. This inspiring blend of business, science, and history provides the framework for ensuring that future generations can live in prosperity and that the wheels of progress don't falter. 'Dazzling and deeply reported' David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth. -
Platform capitalism is coming for the money in your pocket. Wherever you look, money is being replaced by tokens. Digital platforms are issuing new kinds of money-like things: phone credit, shares, gift vouchers, game tokens, customer data - the list goes on. But what does it mean when online platforms become the new banks? What new types of control and discrimination emerge when money is tied to specific apps or actions, politics or identities? Tokens opens up this new and expanding world. Exploring the history of extra-monetary economies, Rachel O'Dwyer shows that private and grassroots tokens have always haunted the real economy. But as the large tech platforms issue new money-like instruments, tokens are suddenly everywhere. Amazon's Turk workers are getting paid in gift cards. Online streamers trade in wishlists. Foreign remittances are sent via phone credit. Bitcoin, gift cards, NFTs, customer data, and game tokens are the new money in an evolving economy. It is a development challenging the balance of power between online empires and the state. Tokens may offer a flexible even subversive route to compensation. But for the platforms themselves they can be a means of amassing frightening new powers. An essential read for anyone concerned with digital money, inequality, and the future of the economy. Published 3rd October 2023 - Order Now. -
From Jordan Belfort, author of The Way of the Wolf and subject of the hit movie The Wolf of Wall Street, comes his long-anticipated guide for mastering the stock market. The Wolf of Investing teaches you when to buy, sell, hold, and cash out; how to make smarter (and safer) investments; and how to build significant wealth over both the short- and long-term. Unlike traditional investment books, each page of Jordan's lessons, colorful stories, and principles entertains you with the charismatic swagger portrayed so famously on the silver screen by Leonardo DiCaprio. When Belfort's brother-in-law, Fernando, lost nearly $100,000 dollars in investments in under sixty days, Jordan sat him down for some tough love. Using the financial acumen and insider's knowledge he learned during his time working on Wall Street, Jordan taught Fernando how to turn his portfolio around. Along the way, he explained which decisions were bad and why, as well as how to pivot from failure to success. Belfort teaches you everything you need to know about savvy investing-even if, like Fernando, whatever stock you've touched has turned to yesterday's trash. As you read this guide, you will not only learn life's most profitable lessons, but you'll also laugh out loud at Belfort's brazen honesty and salty wit. After being enraged by watching big banks steal money from individual investors, and determined to right the wrongs of his own infamous past, Belfort now shows regular investors how we can use Wall Street to our advantage. Whether you're new to investing or want to take your portfolio to the next level, you will learn everything Belfort knows about the stock market from The Wolf of Investing. Published 31st October 2023 - Order Now. -
How did wet nurses drive civilization? Are women always the weaker sex? Is sexism useful for evolution? And are our bodies at war with our babies? In Eve, Cat Bohannon answers questions scientists should have been addressing for decades. With boundless curiosity and sharp wit, she covers the past 200 million years to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex. Eve is not only a sweeping revision of human history, it's an urgent and necessary corrective for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. Bohannon's findings, including everything from the way C-sections in the industrialized world are rearranging women's pelvic shape to the surprising similarities between pus and breast milk, will completely change what you think you know about evolution and why Homo sapiens have become such a successful and dominant species, from tool use to city building to the development of language. Published 12th October 2023 - Order Now. -
In 1814, the Richmond Lunatic Asylum at Grangegorman in Dublin started an extraordinary programme of asylum building across Ireland, aimed at alleviating the suffering of people with mental illness who were homeless, in prison, or confined in appalling circumstances. By the mid-twentieth century, Ireland had proportionately more people in 'mental hospitals' than any other country in the world. On a given night, the number of people in Ireland's psychiatric hospitals was more than double those in all our other institutions put together: prisons, laundries, mother and baby homes, industrial schools, orphanages. What was the life of a patient in an asylum really like? Published 4th October 2023 - Order Now. -
Following the success of the three-volume series, Birth, Marriage and Death and the Irish (2016-2021), this collection examines the celebration of Christmas among the Irish, from the seventh century to the present day. Published 13th October 2023 - Order Now. -
“Tales from the Tower” is a personal history of the Joyce Tower Museum as recalled by its two leading curators, Vivien Veale Igoe and Robert Nicholson. Both worked in the Sandycove Tower at a time when it was still possible to meet many of the people who knew people who knew Joyce and his contemporaries. Published 5th October 2023 - Order Now. -
From the renowned naturalist Stephen Moss, bestselling author of The Robin, The Wren and The Swan comes a new instalment in his beloved bird biography series. Uncover the secret life of owls through this beautiful guide to these secretive and charismatic birds. Owls are among the most mysterious birds in the world. Their hauntingly beautiful calls and mostly nocturnal habits have long captured our collective imagination, inspiring more superstitions, folktales and myths than any other group of birds. Seven species of owl - the tawny, little, barn, long-eared, short-eared, snowy and eagle owl - can be found in the British Isles (out of sixteen different kinds across Europe). They have lived alongside people for thousands of years, yet we still know so little about their day-to-day lives. Discover their fascinating lives, from the moment they first hatch, to the way they hunt their prey and how they raise the next generation. Explore the rich folklore they've inspired around the world and learn how, with a bit of luck, you can catch a glimpse of them yourself. With beautiful illustrations throughout, and expert birdwatching tips, this eye-opening biography reveals the hidden secrets of one of the world's most famous and beloved birds. Published 5th October 2023 - Order Now. -
From the Sunday Times and international bestselling author of Surrounded by Idiots. Do you often feel exhausted by conversations? Are there people in your life with belittle you through words or actions? Or, do you have colleagues who take up your time and don't actually do much? You could be surrounded by vampires! International bestselling author and behavioural expert Thomas Erikson will help you recognise and deal with the four most common vampires. Be it time, energy, attention or habit vampires, these ubiquitous social villains can leave you feeling drained and depleted. Whether they're lurking in your office, hiding amongst friends and family, or invading your thoughts, vampires can be found all around you. Fortunately, no human or habit Vampire can survive when the sun shines on them. With the help of the behavioural model made famous in Surrounded by Idiots, Thomas Erikson will help you spot the vampires around you and find your light to vanish their influence for good. Published 5th October 2023 - Order Now. -
Join the nation's favourite married couple and chart-topping podcast hosts, Abbey Clancy and Peter Crouch, as they discuss the realities of modern relationships in this hilarious and relatable guide. From the moment you swipe right or lock eyes across a crowded bar, you step onto a rollercoaster ride of dating, first kisses and romantic weekends away. Then before you know it, you're meeting the in-laws, moving in together and walking down the aisle. It's not all highs, there are lows too: you've got your other half's annoying habits to discover and you need to learn how to win every argument in pursuit of always being right. When kids come along, sexy text messages make way for school whatsapp groups and suddenly you have no time for one another. Life is a blur of nappies, sleepless nights and chauffeuring as your offspring embark on a more colourful social life than you could dream of. That first date might just be the start of a relationship that lasts for the rest of your life, so choose wisely. From hooking up to breaking up and getting together to staying together, join us as we navigate our way through the trials and tribulations of dating and relationships. Celebrating all that's good and bad about being in pursuit of love, we ask can you ever find you happy ever after? Published 12th October 2023 - Order Now. -
A Brief History of Intelligence bridges the gap between AI and neuroscience by telling the evolutionary story of how the brain came to be. The entirety of the human brain's 4-billion-year story can be summarised as the culmination of five evolutionary breakthroughs, starting from the very first brains, all the way to the modern human brains. Each breakthrough emerged from new sets of brain modifications, and equipped animals with a new suite of intellectual faculties. These five breakthroughs are the organising map to this book, and they make up our itinerary for our adventure back in time. Each breakthrough also has fascinating corollaries to breakthroughs in AI. Indeed, there will be plenty of such surprises along the way. For instance: the innovation that enabled AI to beat humans in the game of Go - temporal difference reinforcement learning - was an innovation discovered by our fish ancestors over 500 million years ago. The solutions to many of the current mysteries in AI - such as 'common sense' - can be found in the tiny brain of a mouse. Where do emotions come from? Research suggests that they may have arisen simply as a solution to navigation in ancient worm brains. Unravelling this evolutionary story will reveal the hidden features of human intelligence and with them, just how your mind came to be. Published 24th October 2023 - Order Now. -
Si King and Dave Myers, AKA the Hairy Bikers, are known and loved for their hearty dishes, big flavours, and simple food. Now the nation's favourite cooking duo are back to bring you the ultimate collection of comforting recipes - perfect for those cosy times spent with friends and family. Inspired by the dishes that Si and Dave loved to eat growing up and that they cook with their families now, this is comfort food at its best. Recipes that are guaranteed to deliver on flavour, even when you're short on time, all made with readily available and affordable ingredients. Real, everyday food to enjoy and share. From easy suppers such as risotto carbonara and sausage & cabbage casserole that can be rustled up with minimal fuss, to slow-cooked weekend feasts such as duck confit shepherd's pie and aubergine parmigiana, plus tempting snacks, soups, stews and puddings, you'll find versatile, delicious and comforting food for every day and every occasion. Chapters include:- Soups & stews: Beef & barley stew, Clam chowder- Snacks & light comforts: Tomato monkey bread, Teriyaki chicken salad- Easy comforts: Chicken stroganoff, Beef & baked bean hotpot- Spicy comforts: Curried beef pasties, Chipotle prawn tacos- Weekend comforts: Rigatoni pie, Spinach & four-cheese lasagne- Teatime: Stem ginger & lemon drizzle cake, Chicken & spinach empanadas- Puddings: Pear & banana crumble, Knickerbocker glory. Published 26th October 2023 - Order Now. -
Paused in Cosmic Reflection is the definitive story of The Chemical Brothers. Told in the voices of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, with contributions from friends and collaborators, it is fully illustrated with 30 years of mind-bending visuals. Published 26th October 2023 - Order Now. -
The essential guide to mental health from the bestselling author of The School of Life A Therapeutic Journey follows the arc from mental crisis and collapse to convalescence and recovery. Written with kindness, knowledge and sympathy, it is both a practical guide and a source of consolation and companionship in what might be some of our loneliest, most anguished moments. Alain de Botton explores how we can cope with a variety of forms of mental pain and illness, from the mild to the severe. It considers how and why we might become ill; how we can explain things to friends, family and colleagues; how we can find our ways towards recovery; and how we can build resilience, so as to live wisely alongside our difficulties. At heart this is a book about redemption - about regaining the thread of our lives, rediscovering meaning, and finding our way back to connection, warmth and joy. 'Alain de Botton is a brave and highly intelligent writer' Observer 'One of our most consistently illuminating writers on contemporary culture' John Gray, New Statesman -
The late Michael Viney was an Irish Times contributor, broadcaster, film-maker and natural-history author. In 1977 he abandoned a busy and successful media career in Dublin for 'Another Life' with his wife, Ethna, in Thallabawn, Co Mayo. His chronicles of that life became classics of Irish journalism. Foreword by Michael Longley. Published 10th October 2023 - Order Now. -
The official tie-in to the third instalment in the legendary Planet Earth franchise. Few places on Earth remain untouched by humans, creating challenges for the wildlife we share it with. We have entered a new age, and we must look at the splendour of the natural world through a different lens. From the depths of our oceans, to scorching deserts and the darkest jungles, Planet Earth III features spectacular places and surprising animal behaviours from all corners of our world. And for the first time, a human element is introduced to each landscape, highlighting how, in the age of the Anthropocene, today's planet has been forever changed by humanity and that wildlife now faces new challenges in our crowded, modern world. Featuring over 250 beautiful full-colour photographs, Planet Earth III reveals the wonders and trials of life on an increasingly fragile planet, bringing you closer than ever before to our world's most intriguing species, unseen landscapes and natural phenomena. Published 19th October 2023 - Order Now. -
Today there are 20 million species on our planet. Yet what we see is just a snapshot in time. 99% of Earth's inhabitants are lost to our deep past. The story of what happened to these lineages - their rise and their fall - is truly remarkable. Accompanying the ground-breaking series, Life on Our Planet tells the story of life's epic battle to conquer and survive on planet Earth, showing in a new light what's been lost to us, and how life's future is now being written by us. From ancient ocean worlds and plant life's first forays onto land, to the rise and fall of the dinosaurs and the devastation of the last Ice Age, this is a sweeping view of evolution, through five extinctions and, with the arrival of humans on earth, the beginning of the sixth... With over 200 photos and images from the groundbreaking Netflix series, Life on Our Planet is an unforgettable journey to our ancient past, containing powerful lessons to learn about our future. Published 19th October 2023 - Order Now. -
One of the world's greatest scientists of human behaviour shows that free will does not exist - and challenges us to rethink the very notion of choice, identity, responsibility, justice, morality and how we live together. Behind every thought, action and experience there lies a chain of biological and environmental causes, stretching back from the moment a neuron fires to the dawn of our species and beyond. Nowhere in this infinite sequence is there a place where free will could play a role. Without free will, it makes no more sense to punish people for antisocial behaviour than it does to scold a car for breaking down. It is no one's fault they are poor or overweight or unsuccessful, nor do people deserve praise for their talent or hard work; 'grit' is a myth. This mechanistic view of human behaviour challenges our most powerful instincts, but history suggests that we have already made great strides toward it: where once we saw demonic possession or cowardice, for example, now we diagnose illness or trauma and offer help. Determined confronts us with our true nature: who and what we are is biology and nothing more. Disturbing and liberating in equal measure, it explores the far-reaching implications for society of accepting this reality. Monumentally difficult as it may be, the reward will be a far more just and humane world. Published 19th October 2023 - Order Now.