82ASK

A A Gill

Andrew Swanston read law at Cambridge, but was inspired to write by his lifelong interest in early modern history. His Thomas Hill novels – The King’s Spy, The King’s Exile and The King’s Return – are set against the backdrops of the English Civil War, Cromwell’s Commonwealth and the early Restoration respectively. He is also the author of Waterloo: The Bravest Man and Beautiful Star and Other Stories. His first historical thriller set during the reign of Elizabeth I – Incendium (published in paperback as The Incendium Plot) – introduced readers to the academic, lawyer and intelligencer Dr Christopher Radcliff, whose adventures continue in Chaos. Andrew Swanston lives in Surrey.

A D Swanston

A E Langsford

A G Hopkins

A. J. BAIME is the New York Times best-selling author of The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War and Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans. Both books are in development for major motion pictures. Baime is a longtime regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Popular Science, and Men’s Journal. He lives in Granite Bay, California. Visit him at facebook.com/ajbaime and trumanbook.com.

A J Baime

A J Jacobs

A J P Taylor

Anthony James Pollard is a British medieval historian, specialising in the fifteenth century and in particular the Wars of the Roses. A leading authority in the field, he is profesor emeritus of Teesside University. His books include North-Eastern England during the Wars of the Roses, Richard III and the Princes in theTower, Imagining Robin Hood: the Late Medieval Stories in Historical Context and Warwick the kingmaker: Politics, Power and Fame.

A J Pollard

A J Rochester

A K Benjamin is a clinical neuropsychologist and the author of Let Me Not Be Mad: A Story of Unravelling Minds.

A K Benjamin

A. L. Berridge read English at Oxford, and taught for ten years before moving into television, where her production credits range from period drama and thrillers to long-running soaps. She has written two previous novels, Top Ten besteller Honour and the Sword and In the Name of the King. Into the Valley of Death is her third novel.

A L Berridge

Alison Gaylin's first job was as a reporter for a celebrity tabloid, which sparked a lifelong interest in writing about people committing despicable acts. More than a decade later, she wrote and published her Edgar-nominated first novel, HIDE YOUR EYES. 
 
She's since published nine more books, including the USA Today and international bestselling Brenna Spector suspense series, which has been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony and Thriller awards and won the Shamus award. 
 
She lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, cat and dog.

A L Gaylin

A Maxwell-Hyslop

A McArthur

A P Wavell

A.S. Webb is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Daughter of Chaos, the first instalment of The Dark Pantheon Trilogy. She is inspired by stories rooted in history and mythology, that push the boundaries of imagination and urge us to reflect on what it means to be human.

A S Webb

A. A. Dhand is the author of six previous novels, and has been shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger Award. His DI Harry Virdee novels are currently being adapted for TV by the BBC. He was raised in Bradford and spent his youth observing the city from behind the counter of a small convenience store. After qualifying as a pharmacist, he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to Bradford to start his own business and begin writing. The history, diversity and darkness of the city have inspired all his novels. For more information about A. A. Dhand and his books, follow him on X @aadhand, and on Instagram @aa_dhand.

A. A. Dhand

A. A. Gill

A. A. Milne

A. Anatoli

A. B. Poranek grew up sharing her time between Ontario, Canada and rural Poland, and eventually completed a veterinary degree at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. A lover of mythology and history, she enjoys exploring both in her writing. Her debut novel, Where the Dark Stands Still, an instant New York Times bestseller, is an ode to Poland's folktales, while A Treachery of Swans transports readers to a world inspired by 17th century France.

A. B. Poranek

A. Bradley

Professor A. C. Grayling is Principal of the New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University, London, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He has written and edited over thirty books on philosophy, history, science and current affairs. For several years he wrote columns for the Guardian newspaper and The Times and was the chairman of the 2014 Man Booker Prize.

A. C. Grayling

A.D. Miller is the author of Snowdrops, The Earl of Petticoat Lane and The Faithful Couple. Snowdrops was a bestseller and was shortlisted for many prizes including the Man Booker and the CWA Gold Dagger. It was translated into 25 languages. As Moscow Correspondent of The Economist A.D. Miller has travelled across the former Soviet Union and covered the Orange Revolution in Ukraine; he is now the magazine’s Culture Editor based in London. 
 
admillerbooks.com

A. D. Miller

A. E. Ellis

A. E. W. Mason

A. Humphreys

A. Igoni Barrett was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in 1979 and lives in Lagos. He is a winner of the 2005 BBC World Service short story competition, the recipient of a Chinua Achebe Center Fellowship, a Norman Mailer Center Fellowship, and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency. His short story collection, Love is Power, or Something Like That, was published in 2013. In 2014 he was named on the Africa39 list of sub-Saharan African writers under 40. Blackass is his first novel.

A. Igoni Barrett

The short life of A.J.A. Symons (1900-41) was described by his biographer as an intricate and largely harmless confidence trick. His many interests included the collection of musical boxes and rare books as well as the study and practice of forgery; they left him time to edit an anthology of Edwardian verse and compose studies of H.M. Stanley and other notable figures. He is remembered for The Quest for Corvo, one of the most remarkable biographies ever written, and for co-founding the Wine and Food Society.

A. J. A. Symons

PublicationStatus

Brand

Format

AgeRange

Series

Imprint

CategoryLabel

Ruthie Rogers

Table 4 at The River Cafe

Lucas Jones

A collection of powerful contemporary poetry exploring themes of masculinity, love, grief and connection, from British poet and viral phenomenon Lucas Jones. 
 
'You're here to make 
All the wonder make sense 
You're not the life - 
You're the living itself' 
 
How do you respond to fear, grief, heartbreak, war, loss, injustice and a world that seems more divided and lost than ever? Poet Lucas Jones explores how we search for meaning in difficult times in this remarkable homage to the beautiful humanity of choosing to love despite it all. 
 
Powerful, uplifting and authentic, these are poems to remind you that there is profound and unwavering hope.

I Still Believe in Miracles

Poems to Find Meaning in Difficult Times

Isabella Dorta

'breathtaking poetry' - Donna Ashworth 
 
'this book made me gayer' - Michaela Angemeer 
 
'a powerful reminder that we're not alone' - Courtney Peppernell 
 
 
'To every woman I have ever loved, and to those I was afraid to.' 
 
A poetic exploration of sapphic love and self-discovery from Isabella Dorta. 
 
This collection will guide you on an empowering journey to explore sexuality with courage and understanding. 
 
A coming-of-age, coming-out story that will leave you feeling seen, heard, and comforted, no matter which side of the closet you’re on.

I don't Think I'm Straight

Queer poems to celebrate you

Jordan Bolton

See the poetry in every day... 
 
Jordan Bolton’s Blue Sky Through The Window of A Moving Car is a poignant collection of comics that explore universal experiences and emotions through art and poetry. Small yet powerful, and equal parts heart-breaking and heart-warming, these poetic comics are intensely relatable and go straight to the heart of what it means to be human. 
 
'The kind of book you want to pass around to all of your friends to make sure they’ve read it’ - Jack Edwards' 
 
‘Tremendous… Cinematic and poetic, it captures the heartbreak of everyday life’ - Malaka Gharib 
 
'Truthful observations of things and thoughts unsaid’ - Matthew Johnstone 
 
This first comic collection from artist Jordan Bolton explores the fleeting details that unite us. Jordan brings together the visual language of comics with the heartfelt language of poetry, to express moments of love and heartbreak, embarrassment and shame, hope and disappointment, grief and happiness. Split into sections that reflect where we spend the majority of our time — In Public, In Transit, and At Home — Bolton shines spotlights on the lives and stories unfolding around us every day that we might otherwise ignore. 
 
With the addition of new and unseen comics, Blue Sky Through The Window of A Moving Car is a gentle reminder that everything is ordinary, everything is extraordinary, and everything is connected.

Blue Sky Through the Window of a Moving Car

Comics for beautiful, awful and ordinary days

Joseph Fasano

Discover the joy of expressing what&rsquo;s inside you, with fill-in-the-blank poems that are sparking a creative movement. 
 
We all have stories inside us, whether or not we consider ourselves &lsquo;creative&rsquo;. And with these 50 simple fill-in-the-blank poems, anyone can write poetry, whatever age or ability. By adding just a few words of your own, you create something beautiful and wholly new that comes from within. 
 
Discover the magic of putting your feelings into words and be inspired by sample poems submitted by people of all ages and walks of life. Exploring themes like friendship, love, grief, gratitude, and hope, these inclusive, accessible, and deceptively simple poems express powerful emotional truths, written by you. 
 
Discover the joy of expressing what&rsquo;s inside you, with fill-in-the-blank poems that are sparking a creative movement

The Magic Words

'these letters thus far have remained unsent, i want you to change that for me.' 
 
Embrace honesty and heal beautifully. 
 
In the letters i will never send, TikTok poet Isabella Dorta urges you to leave nothing unsaid and take comfort in moving poems on love, heartbreak, mental health and self-discovery. 
 
With beautiful line illustrations and over 100 poems written in the form of confessional letters addressed to the most influential figures in your life: 
 
Your younger self 
Your future self 
Your lover 
Your body 
Your family 
and more 
 
Take the ultimate step. Read, rip out, burn or send the letters out into the world. Write your own and share them with the people in your life. Just don't hold back!

The Letters I Will Never Send

poems to read, to write and to share

Michael Rosen

The instant Sunday Times top ten bestseller 
 
A Guardian Book of the Year 
An Evening Standard Book of the Year 
An Independent Book of the Year 
Netgalley's non-fiction Book of the Year 
 
A national treasure's journey to the brink and back. 
 
'Will I wake up?' 
'There's a 50:50 chance.' 
 
Michael Rosen wasn't feeling well. Soon he was struggling to breathe, and then he was admitted to hospital, suffering from coronavirus as the nation teetered on the edge of a global pandemic. 
 
What followed was months on the wards: six weeks in an induced coma, and many more weeks of rehab and recovery as the NHS saved Michael's life, and then got him back on his feet. Throughout Michael's stay in intensive care, a notebook lay at the end of his bed, where the nurses who cared for him wrote letters of hope and support. Embarking on the long road to recovery, Michael was soon ready to start writing about his near-death experience. 
 
Combining stunning new prose poems by one of Britain's best loved poets and the moving coronavirus diaries of his nurses, doctors and wife Emma-Louise Williams, this is a beautiful book about love, life and the NHS. Featuring original illustrations by Chris Riddell, each page celebrates the power of community, the importance of kind gestures in dark times, and the indomitable spirits of the people who keep us well.

Many Different Kinds of Love

A story of life, death and the NHS

Pam Ayres

Ellie Snowdon

A beautiful collection from much-loved poet Pam Ayres, compiling her best verse dedicated to animals, illustrated by Ellie Snowdon. Now a Sunday Times bestseller. 
 
'Oh WHY must you bark at the postman? 
 Why must you batter my ears? 
 I know it seems rum 
 But the postman has come 
 Every morning for SEVENTEEN YEARS.' 
 
 From her very first encounter with a friendly golden Labrador at just three years old, Pam Ayres has been enchanted by animals. Now, for the first time, in this beautiful new illustrated work, she has gathered together her life's work of poems, new and old, dedicated to her love of them. 
 
This definitive collection brings to life the charming characters and voices of all creatures great and small through Pam's poetry over the last five decades. From delightful tales of our British wildlife in 'I'm a Starling Me Darling' and the difficulties of keeping farm animals in 'Fleeced', to her hilarious observations of our pets in 'Ode to a Jack Russell' and poignant reflections on the end of their lives in 'Tippy Tappy Feet', Pam Ayres on Animals is a celebration of animals everywhere.

Pam Ayres on Animals

DisRespect

Too much power. Wow. Too much energy. Wow. Too much anticipation. WOW. It's the new memoir from the biggest star in gaming: Dr Disrespect. 
 
Dr Disrespect is a 6-foot-8 freak of nature with a 37-inch vertical, the two-time, back-to-back 1993-94 Blockbuster Video Game Champion, and in his factual opinion, the most dominant international gaming superstar in the history of the world. 
 
It was just a matter of time before Western civilization came begging Doc to save literature by writing a memoir that reads like a vicious, muscular lion clawing his way through the rocks, roaring in anger and dominance. Here you will find his deepest, most intimate secrets. The untold history of his mysterious, legendary origins and his rise to unparalleled dominance. And most of all, you will find out what, exactly, Doc's a doctor of. 
 
Are you ready for a book with the rhythm of a sleazy '70s muscleman and the ruthlessness of a '90s serial killer? A journey that stares down the long, dark alley of your fears and never looks back? Does your warrior's heart yearn to reach the tippity top of the mountain just to realize you're still only halfway up? 
 
 If so, firm handshakes, Champion: Welcome to the salvation of literature.

Violence. Speed. Momentum

The Incredibly (Un)true and Undeniably Dominant Story

Nikita Gill

*BRITISH BOOK OF THE YEAR* EasternEye 
 
Picked as as one of STYLIST'S *BEST AUTUMN READS OF 2020* 
'A much-needed escape into a lyrical world' 
 
Let her be a little less human, a little more divine 
Give her heart armour so it doesn't break as easily as mine 
 
One girl's wild journey of strength, beauty and growth as she discovers who she really is. 
 
Lyrical wonder, spiritual revelation and revolution meet with epic mythical landscapes in this deeply intimate coming-of-age story, one that teaches us all, no matter how small we feel, to become the masters of our own destiny. 
 
Meet Paro. A girl with a strong will, a full heart and much to learn. Born into a family reeling from the ruptures of Partition, follow her as she crosses the precarious lines between childhood, teenage discovery and realising her adult self. 
 
Nikita Gill's masterful poetry and beautiful illustrations conjure up jasmine-scented voices and smiles inhabited by ancestor's souls, rain dancing in a new city and the painful caverns in our hearts. We are taken on a journey of deity wisdom, fragmented family, and love lost and gained. We see power in belief, healing from trauma and hope after conflict. Undercurrents of the Trimurti - the Creator, the Preserver and the Destroyer - run deep, as Paro must confront fear, desire and the darkest parts of herself in the search for meaning and, ultimately, empowerment. 
 
Navigating different cultures, religions and identities, The Girl and the Goddess is a mesmerising poetic tale of where we come from, how we grow and how we become who we are. 
 
'A moving, layered story' The Irish Times 
 
'One of the best books of the year ... a spiritually enriching experience' EasternEye

The Girl and the Goddess

Marga Minco

‘The evening the men came I fled through the garden gate…’ 
 
The Netherlands, World War II 
 
When the Nazis invade the Netherlands in May 1940 it's clear that life is changing for the girl and her family. Step by step, the Nazis close in on the Dutch Jews. But when the authorities finally come to the family home a split decision will have devastating consequences. 
 
Marga Minco’s autobiographical novel Bitter Herbs is a Dutch classic that has been translated into more than fifteen languages. This deceptively simple and profoundly moving tale is now reissued with a new translation by Jeannette K Ringold.

Bitter Herbs

Based on a true story of a Jewish girl in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands

Sunday Times Bestseller 
 
The brand new collection of verse from the nation’s favourite poet, Pam Ayres. 
 
With the same magic that has enchanted her fans for more than four decades, Pam’s new collection is by turns hilarious, reflective and profound. From the dubious joy of being an exhausted, panic-stricken hostess in ‘The Dinner Party’ or feelings of unease about pub tableware in ‘Don’t Put My Dinner on the Slate!’, to a poignant reflection of war in 'Down the Line'and the bittersweet nostalgia of ‘Up in the Attic’, this new collection will tickle and move readers in equal measure.

Up in the Attic

Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins

Justin Jordan

Felipe Magaña

THE PERFECT GIFT FOR GAMERS 
 
The first in a series of original graphic novels, starring Ninja (Tyler Blevins) - the most influential public figure in gaming today - as he embarks on exciting gaming adventures, with the fate of the world at stake. 
 
Tyler Blevins (aka "Ninja") - the undisputed champion of the world's most popular online battle royale - enjoys a captivated audience of millions as he does what he loves: decimating the competition. At the end of one fateful stream, however, Ninja receives a strange email with a link to an impossibly realistic, challenging, and addictive game that simultaneously explodes in popularity. As the best player in the world, Ninja's unable to resist a challenge and soon discovers that there's more to this game than meets the eye. Teleported into the battle royale's universe, a digitized Ninja must start from scratch, finding a way to win the game--and save the world. Along the way, he meets valuable friends and ultimately fulfills a destiny larger than he ever could have imagined. Set in a fictional world created by notable comics writer Justin Jordan and comics artist Felipe Magaña, this is the first in a graphic novel series that offers a new way for Ninja fans of all ages to experience the gaming streamer's unmatched wits and skill.

Ninja: The Most Dangerous Game

A Graphic Novel

Empowering life lessons from myths and monsters. 
 
Wonder at Medusa's potent venom, Circe's fierce sorcery and Athena rising up over Olympus, as Nikita Gill majestically explores the untold stories of the life bringers, warriors, creators, survivors and destroyers that shook the world - the great Greek Goddesses. 
 
Vividly re-imagined and beautifully illustrated, step into an ancient world transformed by modern feminist magic. 
 
'I watch Girl become Goddess 
and the metamorphosis is more 
magnificent than anything 
I have ever known.'

Great Goddesses

Life lessons from myths and monsters

Daisy Goodwin

When times are tough - whether because of illness, bereavement or receiving bad news - it can be hard to find the right words. Help comes in the form of this beautifully packaged gift book, comprising 100 life-affirming poems handpicked by an expert on poetry. Grouping the poems by theme - from 'Hearing Bad News' to 'How To Carry On' - this gem of a book features contributions from classical poets such as John Keats, Emily Brontë, W.H. Auden and Christina Rossetti alongside lines from more contemporary poets such as Philip Larkin, Elizabeth Jennings, Raymond Carver, Carol Ann Duffy and Wendy Cope. It adds up to a wonderful pick-me-up - a self-administered drug guaranteed to make a dark day brighter and act as a great lyrical crutch.

100 Poems To See You Through

John Jeffcock

In 2010, with the full support of the MOD, John Jeffcock, poet and a former soldier in the Coldstream Guards, invited contributions for a book of modern war poems. He was overwhelmed by the response: contributions came from serving soldiers, veterans and their families -  wives, sisters, daughters (one just 11 years old). The writers have one thing in common: these are people whose lives have been changed by war, and the poems speak to readers with direct, emotional appeal. While over half of the contributions relate to Afghanistan, there are also poems inspired by World War II, The Falklands and Northern Ireland. This is also the first time that poems have been gathered from all ranks and all organizations - from the Parachute Regiment to the Special Air Service,  from the Gordon Highlanders to the Royal Marines. As the poetry of Brooke, Owen and Sassoon spoke to those who endured World War I, here are poems that speak of war in our time -  the theatres of war might change but the emotional resonance remains the same.

Heroes

100 Poems from the New Generation of War Poets

Lucien Young

Leavis Carroll

Lying on a riverbank on a lazy summer’s afternoon – 23rd June 2016, to be precise – Alice spots a flustered-looking white rabbit called Dave calling for a referendum. Following him down a rabbit-hole, she emerges into a strange new land, where up is down, black is white, experts are fools and fools are experts... 
 
She meets such characters as the Corbynpillar, who sits on a toadstool smoking his hookah and being no help to anyone; Humpty Trumpty, perched on a wall he wants the Mexicans to pay for; the Cheshire Twat, who likes to disappear leaving only his grin, a pint, and the smell of scotch eggs remaining; and the terrifying Queen of Heartlessness, who’ll take off your head if you dare question her plan for Brexit. Will Alice ever be able to find anyone who speaks sense?

Alice in Brexitland

Caitlin Moran

‘I’ve lived through ten iOS upgrades on my Mac – and that’s just something I use to muck about on Twitter. Surely capitalism is due an upgrade or two?’ 
 
When Caitlin Moran sat down to choose her favourite pieces for her new book she realised that they all seemed to join up. Turns out, it’s the same old problems and the same old ass-hats. 
 
Then she thought of the word ‘Moranifesto’, and she knew what she had to do… 
 
This is Caitlin’s engaging and amusing rallying call for our times. Combining the best of her recent columns with lots of new writing unique to this book, Caitlin deals with topics as pressing and diverse as 1980s swearing, benefits, boarding schools, and why the internet is like a drunken toddler. 
 
And whilst never afraid to address the big issues of the day – such as Benedict Cumberbatch and duffel coats – Caitlin also makes a passionate effort to understand our 21st century society and presents us with her ‘Moranifesto’ for making the world a better place. 
 
The polite revolution starts here! Please.

Moranifesto

Ann Summers

Jenna leads a double life: by day she's a government researcher; by night she's one of the hottest dominatrixes on the London fetish scene. But her sex life spills over into her professional life when she starts working for Alexander Louth, a young, arrogant MP. Neither is used to taking orders, and Jenna and Alex discover a shared passion, one that makes overtime at the office a unique experience... 
 
Provocative and erotic, Lust and Longing ensures that nothing remains a secret any more.

Lust and Longing

Ronnie Barker

With a fondness for spoonerisms and double entendres, Ronnie Barker is one of the nation’s greatest comics. Gathered together in this second ‘best of’ volume is a cocktail of his sketches and monologues from every strand of his long and brilliant career.

A Few Well-Frozen Worms

Richard Littler

Welcome to the weird and warped world of Scarfolk, a town forever trapped in the 1970s... Based on the cult blog, the massive online hit which has over a million page views in a year, this is an illustrated guide to the Lancashire town which brings nightmarish childhood memories relentlessly back to life. Fans of Charlie Brooker, The League of Gentlemen and Brass Eye will love this... 
 
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING 
'Delicious and hilarious' -- ***** Reader review 
'Witty and savage' -- ***** Reader review 
'Brutally funny and scarily accurate' -- ***** Reader review 
'Marvellously dark and dangerous' -- ***** Reader review 
 
*********************************************************************************************** 
"Scarfolk is a town in north-west England that did not progress beyond 1979. The entire decade of the 1970s loops ad infinitum. In Scarfolk children must not be seen OR heard, and everyone has to be in bed by 8 p.m. because they are perpetually running a slight fever..." 
 
 Part-comedy, part-horror, part-satire, Discovering Scarfolk is the surreal account of a family trapped in the town. Through public information posters, news reports, books, tourist brochures and other ephermera, we learn about the darker side of childhood, school and society in Scarfolk. 
 
 A massive cult hit online, Scarfolk re-creates with shiver-inducing accuracy and humour our most nightmarish childhood memories. 
 
 The perfect gift or self-purchase for any forty or fifty-something with a dark sense of humour!

Discovering Scarfolk

a wonderfully witty and subversively dark parody of life growing up in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s

Terry Pratchett

Ian Stewart

Jack Cohen

The fourth book in the Science of Discworld series, and this time around dealing with THE REALLY BIG QUESTIONS, Terry Pratchett’s brilliant new Discworld story Judgement Day is annotated with very big footnotes (the interleaving chapters) by mathematician Ian Stewart and biologist Jack Cohen, to bring you a mind-mangling combination of fiction, cutting-edge science and philosophy. 
 
Marjorie Daw is a librarian, and takes her job – and indeed the truth of words – very seriously. She doesn’t know it, but her world and ours – Roundworld – is in big trouble. On Discworld, a colossal row is brewing… 
 
The Wizards of Unseen University feel responsible for Roundworld (as one would for a pet gerbil). After all, they brought it into existence by bungling an experiment in Quantum ThaumoDynamics. But legal action is being brought against them by Omnians, who say that the Wizards’ god-like actions make a mockery of their noble religion. 
 
As the finest legal brains in Discworld (a zombie and a priest) gird their loins to do battle – and when the Great Big Thing in the High Energy Magic Laboratory is switched on – Marjorie Daw finds herself thrown across the multiverse and right in the middle of the whole explosive affair. 
 
As God, the Universe and, frankly, Everything Else is investigated by the trio, you can expect world-bearing elephants, quantum gravity in the Escher-verse, evolutionary design, eternal inflation, dark matter, disbelief systems – and an in-depth study of how to invent a better mousetrap.

The Science of Discworld IV

Judgement Day

Moranthology

Roundworld is in trouble again, and this time it looks fatal. Having created it in the first place, the wizards of Unseen University feel vaguely responsible for its safety. They know the creatures who lived there escaped the impending Big Freeze by inventing the space elevator - they even intervened to rid the planet of a plague of elves, who attempted to divert humanity onto a different time track. But now it's all gone wrong - Victorian England has stagnated and the pace of progress would embarrass a limping snail. Unless something drastic is done, there won't be time for anyone to invent spaceflight and the human race will be turned into ice-pops. 
 
Why, though, did history come adrift? Was it Sir Arthur Nightingale's dismal book about natural selection? Or was it the devastating response by an obscure country vicar called Charles Darwin, whose bestselling Theology of Species made it impossible to refute the divine design of living creatures? Either way, it's no easy task to change history, as the wizards discover to their cost. Can the God of Evolution come to humanity's aid and ensure Darwin writes a very different book? And who stopped him writing it in the first place?

Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch

The fantastic first book in the Sunday Times bestselling Science of Discworld series 
 
When a wizardly experiment goes adrift, the wizards of Unseen University find themselves with a pocket universe on their hands: Roundworld, where neither magic nor common sense seems to stand a chance against logic. 
 
The Universe, of course, is our own. And Roundworld is Earth. As the wizards watch their accidental creation grow, we follow the story of our universe from the primal singularity of the Big Bang to the internet and beyond. 
 
Through this original Terry Pratchett story (with intervening chapters from Cohen and Stewart) we discover how puny and insignificant individual lives are against a cosmic backdrop of creation and disaster. Yet, paradoxically, we see how the richness of a universe based on rules, has led to a complex world and at least one species that tried to get a grip of what was going on. 
 
 Terry Pratchett is the acclaimed creator of the global bestselling Discworld series, the first of which, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. Raising Steam is his fortieth Discworld novel. His books have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he is the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, as well as being awarded a knighthood for services to literature. After falling out with his keyboard he now talks to his computer. Occasionally, these days, it answers back. 
 
www.terrypratchett.co.uk 
@terryandrob 
 
 Professor Ian Stewart is the author of many popular science books. He is the mathematics consultant for New Scientist and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick. He was awarded the Michael Faraday Prize for furthering the public understanding of science, and in 2001 became a Fellow of the Royal Society. 
 
 Dr Jack Cohen is an internationally-known reproductive biologist, and lives in Newent, Gloucestershire. Jack has a laboratory in his kitchen, helps couples get pregnant by referring them to colleagues, invents biologically realistic aliens for science fiction writers and, in his spare time, throws boomerangs. Jack, who has more letters to his name than can be repeated here, writes, lectures, talks and campaigns to promote public awareness of science, particularly biology. He is mostly retired.

The Science Of Discworld

Acclaimed The Science of Discworld centred around an original Pratchett story about the wizards of Discworld. In it they accidentally witnessed the creation and evolution of our universe, a plot which was interleaved with a Cohen &amp; Stewart non-fiction narrative about Big Science. 
 
In The Science of Discworld II: The Globe our authors join forces again to see just what happens when the wizards meddle with history in a battle against the elves for the future of humanity on Earth. London is replaced by a dozy Neanderthal village. The Renaissance is given a push. The role of fat women in art is developed. And one very famous playwright gets born and writes The Play. 
 
Weaving together a fast-paced Discworld novelette with cutting-edge scientific commentary on the evolution and development of the human mind, culture, language, art, and science, The Globe presents a fascinating and brilliantly original view of the world we live in. The scene of the final epic battle is the first production of A Midsummer's Night Dream at the Globe Theatre.

The Science Of Discworld II

The Globe

Matthew Costello

From Bethesda, designers of the multi-million selling classics Doom, Quake and Fallout comes the game of 2011. Unmissable, it will be this year's Call of Duty, Assassins Creed or Halo. Eagerly awaited by the gaming community, RAGE is already being touted as one of the industry's most innovative first-person shooters, winning numerous awards at E3 2010, including 'Best Overall Game of Show' from IGN and three 'Best of E3' Game Critics Awards including 'Best Console Game'. 
 
Set in the not-too-distant future, an asteroid has hit Earth leaving behind a ravaged wasteland. The world was doomed and only so much of the population could be saved. That was what the scientists were saying, at least. So the best and brightest were gathered up and put into stasis deep beneath the surface of the Earth. When they emerge they find the human race has not been wiped out. And people, as resilient as they are, are scraping together a new world from the rubble of the old. This was not what anyone in the Arks expected; a new society where might is right and bandits, gangs and mutants plague the Earth. 
 
This novel delves even deeper into this world and its characters through the pen of Matt Costello - the same person who helped write the story for the game.

Rage

Malcolm Hardee

John Fleming

To satisfy the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people who pay good money to see stand-up every year, Malcolm Hardee ('the comedian's comedian' WHSmith Online; 'a national monument' The Guardian) presents a comedy club on the page with a bill featuring the glitterati of British stand-up comedy. We let the famous names and new talents alike try out their written humour and their only brief is to make us laugh. We plan to make the book an annual event, and are sure it will soon become the world's largest virtual comedy club. Contributors include: Keith Allen, Jo Brand, Simon Day, Jenny -clair, Boothby Graffoe, Ricky Grover, Jeremy Hardy, Hattie Hayridge, John Hegley, Jeff Innocent, Mark Lamarr, Chris Lynam, Simon Munnery, Rob Newman, Mark Steel, Arthur Smith, Jim Tavare, Mark Thomas

Sit-Down Comedy

Stand-ups swap the stage for the page

Rhona Cameron

'It was dark when I came to. What woke me was the cold and the water on my legs. I was doing spoons with Scotty, me behind him. We were on a beach. We didn't speak for the first minute, we were so disorientated. I had to genuinely think very hard about where I was. Then I remembered I was in Australia.' 
 
It's the late eighties and 24-year-old Kerry has been drifting aimlessly through life in Edinburgh. Rarely having plans of any kind, she gets drunk and things happen: sex, drugs, parties, relationships, and, when she's really pushed, work. 
 
Setting off on a hastily arranged visit to Australia, Kerry packs only three items of clothing, a pair of flip-flops, two hundred pounds and her young persons' work visa. Soon broke, hungry and homeless, she joins ART, a likeable but mismatched band of travellers who sell dodgy oil paintings door-to-door in the suburbs. Young, beautiful and free, they drink wildly and live for the moment. 
 
Embarking on a riotous road trip together, their lives become deeply entangled, and the drinking spirals out of control. Eventually, Kerry is forced to admit that her journey to Australia isn't quite what it seems ...

The Naked Drinking Club

Julian Clary

Hello, I'm Johnny Debonair and this is my book - Murder Most Fab. Buy it. You won't regret it. Everything that has happened so publicly is explained. Of course, I'd prefer it if you remember me as I was at my height, before the past caught up with me so spectacularly - TV's Mr Friday Night with an enviable lifestyle and the nation at my feet. My fame might have looked easy to you at the time, but getting to the top of the celebrity ladder is hard work. It took talent, beauty, commitment and, uniquely in my case, a number of unfortunate deaths. If we were being picky you might describe me as a serial killer, but I really don't see myself that way. It sounds trite to say 'one thing led to another' but it's true. 
 
As you'll discover I owe something of my rise and my fall to three individuals: my mother, an eccentric country girl who taught me exhibitionism by hanging naked from the clocktower of Hythe town hall; Catherine, my best friend, then partner in business &shy;- a devil in red heels, who, in her clear Essex accent, taught me how to 'look after number one'; and Timothy, who broke my heart and caused me to seek refuge in sex, money and celebrity. 
 
But in the end you have to take responsibility for your own actions. No one was forcing me, were they? I hope you, the public, can forgive me and enjoy this sordid tale for what it is &shy;- my final entertainment for you.

Murder Most Fab

The year is 1Q84. This is the real world, there is no doubt about that. But in this world, there are two moons in the sky. Discover the 1Q84 Trilogy by Haruki Murakami.

1Q84

365 Days of Art

A BBC Christmas

A Black Book Thriller

A Box Full of Murders

A Cal Leandros Novel

A Christmas Mystery

The intelligent and capable police commissioner Guido Brunetti confronts crime in and around his home town of Venice.

A Commissario Brunetti Mystery

A DC Smith / Kings Lake Investigation Series

A Daisy Story

Chronicling the lives of over three hundred characters, unrivalled for its scope and humour, this is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England.

Filters

Category

Age

Publication Date

Format

Imprint

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter