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

A. J. Liebling, born in Manhattan in 1904, joined the staff of the New Yorker in 1935 and contributed innumerable articles to the magazine throughout his lifetime, on subjects ranging from food to boxing and France to horse racing. As a war correspondent during the Second World War, he reported from France, England and Algeria, and participated in the Normandy landings. In later life he married the writer Jean Stafford, his third wife. He died in 1963.

A. J. Liebling

A. J. Rosen is an author of YA fantasy novels and is an ambassador for Wattpad, known as @agatharoza. Entwined is her first novel.

A. J. Rosen

A. K. Davidson

A. O. Scott has been a film critic at the New York Times since 2000. His writing has appeared in many other publications, including the New York Review of Books, Slate, the New Yorker and the Nation. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism in 2010, Scott is currently Distinguished Professor of Film Criticism at Wesleyan University. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York. 
 
@aoscott

A. O. Scott

A.S. Byatt (1936-2023) was a novelist, short-story writer and critic of international renown. Her novels include Possession (winner of the Booker Prize 1990), the Frederica Quartet and The Children’s Book, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. She was appointed CBE in 1990 and DBE in 1999, and was awarded the Erasmus Prize 2016 for her ‘inspiring contribution to life writing’ and the Pak Kyongni Prize 2017. In 2018 she received the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award.

A. S. Byatt

A. T. Williams won the George Orwell Prize for Political Writing in 2013 for his book A Very British Killing: The Death of Baha Mousa. He lives in Warwickshire.

A. T. Williams

A. W. Chase

Dubbed ‘The new queen of spy fiction’ by the Guardian newspaper, and ‘the real thing’ by the Washington Post, A.C. 'Ava' Glass is the CWA Dagger-shortlisted author of Alias Emma (The Chase), The Traitor and The Trap. The Traitor was a 2023 Richard and Judy Bookclub pick. Alias Emma was a Barnes and Noble book of the month. A former crime reporter and communications consultant, for five years Ava worked closely with spies. Her time in that world fascinated her, and the people she met back then inspire every book she writes.

A.C. Glass

A.E. Housman

Arthur Edward Waite was the designer and co-creator of the now famous Rider Waite Tarot deck. 
 
An American-born British poet and scholarly mystic, his strong interest in all esoteric matters - divination, magic, Kabbalism, alchemy and Freemasony - led to him penning a number of books. These include the Key to the Tarot, The Book of Ceremonial Magic and A New Encyclopedia of Freemasony.

A.E. Waite

A.E. Warren is the author of the Tomorrow's Ancestors series, which consists of Subject Twenty-One, The Hidden Base, The Fourth Species and The Final Rising. 
 
After spending eight years working as a lawyer, she began to write in the evenings and early mornings as a form of escapism from life in a very small cubicle with lots of files. She self-published her first novels in her spare time, which were picked up by Del Rey UK which is the science fiction/fantasy imprint of Penguin Random House. 
 
 She is an avid reader, occasional gamer and fair-weather runner. She lives in the UK with her husband, daughter and hopefully, one day, a wise border terrier named Austen.

A.E. Warren

A.G.D. Maran

A.J. Ayer

A.J. Cronin

A K Benedict writes crime and speculative fiction in a room filled with clowns, mannequins and Doctor Who figures. Her first novel, The Beauty of Murder, was nominated for an eDunnit award and is in development for a major 8-part TV series by Company Pictures. Her second, Jonathan Dark or The Evidence of Ghosts, came out in February 2016. She's written Torchwood audio dramas for Big Finish and her short stories have featured in anthologies including Great British Horror and Best British Short Stories. She lives in St Leonards-on-Sea with her dog, Dame Margaret Rutherford.

A.K.Benedict

A. L. Kennedy has twice been selected as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists and has won a host of other awards – including the Costa Book of the Year for her novel Day. She lives in Essex.

A.L. Kennedy

A.M. Ellis is a speculative fiction author and lover of everything steeped in myth and mystery. Her stories often lean into diverse voices, not only in her identity as a Black woman, but in exploring neurodivergence and mental health. A proud introvert and nostalgic gamer, she lives in Maryland, USA, with her husband and three children.

A.M. Ellis

A.N. Wilson was born in 1950 and educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. He is an award-winning biographer and a celebrated novelist, winning prizes for much of his work. He lives in North London.

A.N. Wilson

A. T. Emerald lives with her husband and baby daughter in Nottinghamshire. She discovered her love of writing in 2020 and has not shut up about enemies to lovers ever since. She loves iced matcha, torrid love confessions with knives pressed to throats (fictional, of course) and does not accept bills for any therapy her books might incur.

A.T. Emerald

A.W. Priest

A.B.C. Merriman-Labor was a barrister, writer and munitions worker born in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1877. His published works include A Series of Lectures on the Negro Race and The Story of the African Slave in a Nutshell. He also edited two editions of the Handbook of Sierra Leone. He arrived in the UK in 1904 to study law. In 1907, he organised a centenary commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade in Westminster Abbey. He later embarked on an 'entertainment-lecture' tour called Life and Scenes in Britain, travelling across thousands of miles of West, South West and Central Africa, which he expanded on to create Britons Through Negro Spectacles.

ABC Merriman-Labor

AJ Cronin

AJ Molloy

Aabria Iyengar is an American actress and author.

Aabria Iyengar

Aaliya Jaleel is a freelance illustrator, designer, and visual development artist, currently majoring in Animation at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is also the illustrator of Under My Hijab and Muslim Girls Rise. You can visit her online at www.aaliyamj.com.

Aaliya Jaleel

Aaron Allston

After more than fifteen years of experience as a clinical psychotherapist, Dr Aaron Balick has taken the amazing insights from psychology and psychotherapy out of the consultation room and made them accessible to the wider world. 
 
He has been an ‘agony uncle’ for many years for both CBBC and BBC Radio 1, as well as on television, including BBC Worldwide, BBC 3 and BBC Learning.

Aaron Balick

Aaron Carroll

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Tom Palmer

When the Gelderd End sings 'If you're proud to be a Leeds fan clap your hands' you clap your hands . . . but should you? 
 
Leeds United Football Club have one of the worst reputations in the country. For years the fans and players - fairly or unfairly - have been associated with thuggery. In If You're Proud to be a Leeds Fan Tom Palmer tries to work out just why he claps and why, when he has to miss a home game for work, he feels so bad. 
 
Set in the 2001-02 Premiership season, the author follows Leeds United at stadiums home and away, in bars watching satellite, listening to Radio Leeds and Radio Five Live and watching the pages of Ceefax. He focuses as much on the fans as on the action on the pitch and tries to establish whether Leeds fans and players are really so bad. 
 
The book examines the highs and lows of the club's recent history and their impact on the supporters - from the Paris riot in 1975 to relegation in 1982 and the glory of the 1992 League win. Palmer discusses the Bowyer-Woodgate trial, the board's plans to take Leeds United away from Elland Road, the controversial replacement of manager David O'Leary with Terry Venables, and the club's persistent hooliganism problems, especially the fans' unceasing hatred of Manchester United. 
 
If You're Proud to be a Leeds Fan tries to explain why, in the face of so many reasons why you shouldn't, you still find yourself clapping. 
 
The book includes Leeds poet Tony Harrison's poem 'v.'.

If You're Proud To Be A Leeds Fan

Ken Ferris

Manchester United's quest to win the European Cup was forged amidst the charred remains of an Elizabethan airliner that crashed on take-off at Munich's Riem Airport on 6 February 1958. Twenty-three people died in the tragedy, including eight of the famous Busby Babes. From that moment manager Matt Busby's goal of winning the European Cup became an obsession that permeated the whole club.Ten years after the Munich disaster, Busby achieved his dream when United - inspired by Bobby Charlton and George Best - beat Benfica 4-1 in extra time to lift the European Cup at Wembley. Some felt the ghosts of Munich were there to witness the club's joy. It seemed to be United's destiny finally to honour those who had lost their lives in pursuit of the gleaming silver trophy. But that triumph was to hang over the club for the next 31 years as United failed to regain those heights. Alex Ferguson's arrival spawned a flood of trophies, but the European Cup - by then known as the Champions League - remained elusively outside their grasp. Then came the last final of the twentieth century, against Bayern Munich in the towering splendour of Barcelona's Nou Camp, when United snatched a 2-1 victory from the jaws of defeat to complete the impossible Treble. Manchester United in Europe: Tragedy, Destiny, History recounts the course of those three European campaigns. Using first-hand accounts of the dramatic events, the book describes the sadness and the joy that have run through United's pursuit of European glory and considers the club's chances of ever repeating the European triumphs of the past.

Manchester United in Europe

Tragedy, History, Destiny

Pat Woods

Peter Burns

Celtic's astonishing 7-1 victory over arch-rivals Rangers in the 1957 Scottish League Cup final brought the club its last major trophy prior to the appointment of Jock Stein as manager in 1965 and the glory years which followed. The triumph was the final major success achieved by such famous Celtic stars of the '50s as Charlie Tully, Neil Mochan, Willie Fernie, Bobby Evans, Bertie Peacock, Sean Fallon and Bobby Collins. Oh, Hampden in the Sun . . . not only tells the story of that remarkable game - which still stands as the most emphatic victory in a national cup final in Britain - but also commemorates Celtic, their players and supporters, viewed in the social context of life in the West of Scotland 40 years ago. This book explores both the romance and the reality of Celtic and the club's supporters in that era through extensive interviews with players and fans, supplemented by much original research. The mystery of the missing television film of the 7-1 match in finally solved, and Celtic fans will be able to revel in a mass of anecdotes and reminiscences surrounding one of the greatest moments in their history and in indelible part of the club's folklore.

Oh, Hampden in the Sun . . .

'Tottenham Hotspur's reputation around the world was forged by the great double-winning team fashioned by Bill Nicholson, and every Spurs manager since then has lived in the shadow of the great man's achievements over the 
 course of that amazing 1960-61 season' - from the foreword by Martin Jol 
 
 When the legendary Danny Blanchflower climbed the steps to the Royal box at Wembley to collect the FA Cup in 1961, he made football history - Tottenham Hotspur had become the first team to win 'The Double' of FA Cup and League Championship in the twentieth century. This compelling book tells the inside story of the double-winning campaign through extensive interviews with players, directors, managers and fans. Like Hunter Davies's ground-breaking The Glory Game, this is more than just a book about one club. It describes the golden age of the game at the dawn of the 1960s and will therefore appeal to all football fans.

The Double

The Inside Story of Spurs' Triumphant 1960-61 Season

Carole McKenzie

'A woman is like a teabag - only when in hot water do you realise how strong she is' - Nancy Reagan 
 
Women are never at a loss to express themselves, and smart women will have something to say for every occasion. 
 
Wise Women is a hilarious, ribald and revealing collection of observations and inspirational quotations reflecting the wit and intelligence of women across the ages. Those quoted range from Dorothy Parker to Joan Rivers, Mae West to Joan Collins, Queen Victoria to Princess Diana, Joanna Lumley to Pamela Stephenson, Beyoncé to Adele, and Cheryl Cole to Lady Gaga. 
 
The famous and infamous of theatre, film, politics, philosophy and literature are featured, waxing lyrical on numerous topics from affairs, ageing, men and motherhood to sex, work and what women want!

Wise Women

Wit and Wisdom from Some of the World’s Most Extraordinary Women

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

On the morning of 3 April 1933, two single-engine biplanes set off on a flight into history. From their base near the Indian border with the mystery country of Nepal, the two young pilots, one a British Marquis and a Scottish Member of Parliament, the other a dynamic flight commander, flew towards as great a challenge as world aviation had faced to date - Mount Everest, 'Roof of the World'. 
 
The first flight over Everest was the climax of years of thought and months of intensive planning, an epoch-making event which caught the imagination of millions. News of its success reverberated throughout the British Empire to the world at large. Among the deluge of telegrams of congratulations received were those from the King and the Prime Minister. The Times of London, which had given exclusive coverage of the Expedition since its early days, carried one of its longest features ever and was excited enough to comment that the achievement was 'almost like exploring the rainbow'. Some half-a-century later that Houston-Mount Everest Expedition takes its place as one of the last great pioneering flights before the era of space travel. 
 
Roof of the World tells the remarkable story of that flight and its repercussions, among which were the growth of the British aviation industry and the creation of the country's second international airport. Using rare and unique photographs, many taken from the flight itself and giving an idea of the qualities required of the crews, Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has recreated the scene facing the pilots, one of whom was his father. He has had access to relevant diaries and personal papers presents in Roof of the World a valuable contribution to our understanding of a unique achievement in an eventful decade.

Roof of the World

Man's First Flight Over Everest

Jake Wood

Among You is the gripping real-life story of a soldier serving on the front line in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an unforgettable, unflinching account of the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. 
 
Jake Wood lives parallel lives: encased in the glass tower of an international investment bank by day, he is also a dedicated TA soldier who serves on the front line during the invasion of Iraq, later returning to the war zone to conduct surveillance on insurgents. Disillusioned with the dullness and amorality of the banking world, he escapes back to the army for a third tour of duty. But in Afghanistan he discovers the savage, dehumanising effects that war has on both the body and the mind. Diagnosed with chronic PTSD on his return, he must now fight the last enemy – himself – in order to exorcise the ghosts of his past. 
 
Brutally honest and beautifully written, Among You brings home the harsh reality of front-line combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the courage of the troops who risk their lives for their country, as well as revealing the devastating after-effects of service.

Among You

The Extraordinary True Story of a Soldier Broken by War

George Wilkie

Jim Wilkie

Dundee. To football fans, it has been the subject of great curiosity for as long as the game has been played professionally. How does a relatively small and economically challenged city manage to sustain two senior clubs which, perversely, play across the road from one another? And why has this rivalry not suffered the scourge of sectarianism which has blighted football elsewhere in Scotland? 
 
When Dundee United reached the semi-final of the 1983-84 European Cup it meant that, with the exception of Glasgow, Dundee was the only British city to have provided two semi-finalists in that great competition. Since then Dundee United have gone on to reach a UEFA Cup final and to win the Scottish Cup. 
 
For Dundee FC, things have been slightly different. There are many fans with long enough memories to recall their glory days, and the silence of their suffering has been punctuated only by boardroom upheaval and the threat of closure. It is only recently that the club's fortunes have taken an upturn, with an influx of exciting, tenacious foreigners. 
 
Things are changing. The economic, cultural and academic life of the City of Dundee has flourished in recent years. Meanwhile, as revolution sweeps the international footballing world, the scales of success - which determine the balance of soccer power on Tayside - are showing faltering signs of movement. The Jim McLean era has ended, but will Dundee's Italian risorgimento succeed? Should there be only one team? First published in 1984, Across the Great Divide has been revised to update the historical perspective on professional football in the City of Discovery.

Across The Great Divide

A History of Professional Football in Dundee

James Mackay

Andrew Carnegie (1835–1922) was a mass of contradictions: a radical Chartist who became a rabid capitalist, an idealist who was also a profound cynic, a committed pacifist who also played a crucial role in the opening part of the American Civil War, and a ladies’ man who had to wait until his fifties (after his domineering mother died) before forming a meaningful relationship with a woman. 
 
 From bobbin boy in a Pittsburgh factory he progressed to messenger boy, telegraphist and railway superintendent. His meteoric rise owed much to his boss, Thomas Scott, who also cut the young Carnegie in on his first lucrative share deal. The youth who earned thirty-five dollars a month was on the road to his first million within a year or two, and he never looked back. Speculation in rolling-stock and railways, the nascent oil industry, iron and, above all, steel made Carnegie the richest man in the world. Along the way he created fortunes for many others, but trampled on friend and foe alike in his relentless pursuit of money. 
 
 Then, the man who amassed the largest fortune in the world proceeded to give most of it away. From free libraries to world peace, the Carnegie millions were pumped into a host of worthy causes. The Peace Palace at the Hague is the lasting legacy of this global philanthropy; but Carnegie’s faith in the Kaiser to achieve world peace was shattered by the outbreak of the First World War, and it was a setback from which he never recovered. 
 
 This candid and penetrating biography follows Carnegie from his humble birthplace in Dunfermline to the squalor of Allegheny City and Pittsburgh in the 1840s, and charts his dramatic rise to fame and fortune. Set against the contrasting backdrops of radical Scotland and America during the most turbulent phase of its development, Little Boss is the definitive story of one of the world’s greatest captains of industry.

Andrew Carnegie

Little Boss

Jackie Turpin

Now in his 80th year, 'Battling' Jack Turpin is the last surviving member of his generation of Britain's best-known and best-loved boxing family. 
 
Jack's father, Lionel Turpin, came from British Guiana to volunteer for the British Army during the Great War. He was wounded on the battlefields of France and invalided to Warwick, the first black man to settle in the area. Lionel married a local girl but his early death left her struggling to raise their three sons and two daughters in pre-Welfare State England. 
 
As young men, the excitement and gladiatorial glamour of the ring lured Jack and his brothers into professional boxing. From a home-made backstreet gymnasium, they punched their way into the record books and into the hearts of the British people. 
 
Battling Jack is a wonderfully narrated account of the life and times of a remarkable man who was once Britain's busiest featherweight. It is also the history of the beginnings of a black presence in British boxing. Turpin offers us a ringside seat at heroic battles and comic encounters. He takes us behind the scenes of a scandal that rocked the sporting world and into his confidence about the mystery that surrounds his younger brother's death. 
 
Jack Turpin has out-stared ignorance and prejudice, tasted triumph and celebrity, and endured hardship and tragedy. Heart-rending, raw, honest and funny, his is a story that had to be told.

Battling Jack Turpin

You Gotta Fight Back

The star Argentiniean striker Claudio Caniggia has described Dundee as 'a football town' and, as the favoured partner of arguably the world's greatest-ever player Diego Maradona, he should know. But why should he care? What was this man doing, plying his trade in Dundee? 
 
Dundee Football Club - the Dark Blues - do have a tradition; they have produced a number of outstanding players, won all the major Scottish trophies and, in 1963, reached the semi-final of the European Cup. For the next three decades, however, their story was one of gradual decline - and you can lose a lot of supporters in 30 years. 
 
When brothers Peter and Jimmy Marr, local businessmen, took over at Dens Park in 1997, the fans didn't know what to expect. They were a different proposition from their predecessors in that they had experience of running successful amateur and junior football clubs - but while the team performed creditably under Jocky Scott, there were still a number of very average players getting a game and the wider fan base was only inclined to attend a handful of matches during the season. 
 
Having battled to get promotion to the Scottish Premier League and build new stands, however, Peter Marr proceeded to make a leap of cultural faith. He knew that quality football was the key to any form of success and that, generally speaking, it could be found on the European continent. 
 
Marr originally expressed interest in Ivano Bonetti as a player, but when he discovered that the Italian was also interested in management, decided to embark on a footballing adventure with him. What followed has been one of the most remarkable episodes in recent Scottish football history. In the face of great cynicism and limited resources, Bonetti has assembled a squad of outstanding international talent, with his friend Claudio Caniggia the jewel in the crown. Results have been both good and bad - and sometimes downright weird - but the football has always been consistently entertaining and frequently breathtaking. No Dundee fan will ever forget season 2000-01. In this book Jim Wilkie reviews the tradition of the club and, using key profiles and reports, charts their amazing transformation to Bonetti's Blues.

Bonetti's Blues

Dundee FC and its Cultural Experiment

Kirk Blows

Little did anybody anticipate that West Ham's play-off final victory against Preston in 2005 would provide the launch pad for one of their most successful seasons ever, with the club securing a top-half Premiership finish and qualifying for Europe thanks to its first FA Cup final appearance in 26 years. Indeed, the thrilling 3-3 draw with Liverpool will be remembered as one of the most dramatic finals of all time. 
 
With a keenly anticipated UEFA Cup campaign and the shock arrival of Argentina World Cup stars Carlos Tévez and Javier Mascherano, the future could hardly have seemed brighter. But storm clouds were gathering on the horizon as the Hammers embarked on what would prove to be the most turbulent and traumatic period in the club's entire history. 
 
A protracted takeover saga, the sacking of manager Alan Pardew, a Premier League inquiry that would result in a record £5.5 million fine and a season-long battle against relegation were the main issues that dominated the headlines, while an unseen presence - fuelled by ego and avarice - threatened to erode the fabric of the club from within. Yet salvation would eventually be achieved in the most sensational and controversial of fashions. 
 
Full of exclusive interview material, anecdotes and analytical comment, Hammers Heaven and Hell investigates the true reasons for two campaigns of contrast and conflict as West Ham experienced both ecstasy and agony in equal measures.

Hammers Heaven and Hell

From Take-Off to Tévez - Two Seasons of Triumph and Trauma at West Ham United

Nigel Goldman

Nigel Goldman wrote the autobiographical High Stakes while in prison paying the price for two decades of risk-taking on the financial markets. Through his dealings in the tempestuous silver futures market and a sideline in rare coin investments, Goldman developed a taste for the champagne lifestyle. Desperate to maintain the high life, his deals became riskier and were increasingly financed by his clients' money. Taking advantage of trading loopholes and insider tip-offs, Goldman peaked with an account balance of £14 million but troughed with two spells in prison. 
 
The story begins with Goldman placing a £50 bet on the roulette table and walking away with £10,000. And so his adventures continue. There are personal trades, investment businesses, gold bullion deals, racehorses and an American gentleman who allows Goldman to play with his fortune on the New York Stock Exchange. But there are also Customs and Excise investigations and lifelong enemies waiting to exact their revenge. 
 
High Stakes provides a detailed insight into the little-known twilight world of insider-dealing and shows how the search for the ultimate win can lead to a life on the run.

High Stakes

How I Blew £14 Million

Mary Quin

When Mary Quin ripped an AK-47 from the hands of a wounded kidnapper and made her escape in the Yemeni desert, she knew her life could never be the same. An exotic vacation had turned into a nightmare as she and 15 fellow tourists were used as human shields in a terrifying gun battle between the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army and Yemeni troops that left four hostages and three kidnappers dead. 
 
Lucky to be among those who survived, Quin returned to the United States but found herself preoccupied with trying to understand why the kidnapping occurred. 
 
Her absorbing journey through murky militant Islam and shadowy terrorist groups led her back to Yemen to try to piece together the puzzle - talking to the Yemeni Prime Minister, British embassy staff, the FBI and prisoners accused of terrorism. Her enquiries also took her to London to meet Abu Hamza al-Masri, the notorious disfigured cleric with ties to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army. 
 
 Kidnapped in Yemen is the unforgettable first-hand account of this remarkable woman's unusual story of curiosity, survival and healing.

Kidnapped in Yemen

One Woman's Amazing Escape from Terrorist Captivity

In My End Is My Beginning is the story of Mary Queen of Scots (1542–87), the tragic heroine par excellence. Queen of an unfamiliar and troubled nation when she was a week old, it was her misfortune to be a pawn in the game of international politics throughout her life. Even in the brief period from 1561 to 1567 when she was ruler of Scotland in fact as well as in name, she was beset with problems that would have defeated a much stronger, more experienced monarch. A talented poet and a charismatic leader, she contended with a treacherous, self-serving nobility, the religious ferment of the Reformation, and the political ambitions of larger and more powerful neighbours. 
 
With little real authority and few resources, Mary’s reign was successful, until her disastrous marriage to the dissolute Darnley set in motion the events that brought about her downfall. For the last 20 years of her life she was a prisoner in the hands of her cousin, Elizabeth I of England, and the subject of treacherous plots and conspiracies. A hostage to fortune, she represented a threat and a rallying-point for English Catholics. Her tragic end was inevitable. Yet her life, with all its adventurous, failures and disasters, produced the son – James – who ultimately brought about the union of Scotland and England. 
 
In the End Is My Beginning uncovers the true facts of Mary’s life in the context of Anglo-Scottish relations and shows why, after more than 400 years, she remains arguably the greatest character in popular Scottish history.

Mary Queen of Scots

In My End is My Beginning

The most charismatic figure to emerge during the struggles for the independence of Ireland was undoubtedly Michael Collins. This remarkable biography, which draws on much hitherto unpublished material, charts the dramatic rise of the country boy who became head of the Free State and the commander-in-chief of the army.

Michael Collins

A Life

Michael Balfour

Mysterious Scotland presents an extraordinary array of the weird and wonderful heritage of the country. Michael Balfour examines strange stories from the moors, forests, rivers, holy wells and lochs, where - as well as the old legends and dark secrets which he prises out of palaces, castles and cathedrals - he finds monsters, ghoulies, unsolved murders and ancient cures. 
 
Investigating a land where the past is reflected in the present, the author has roamed all around Scotland, exploring standing stones, mermaid beaches and magic springs. He seeks out new theories about the prehistoric, Celtic and Pictish stones, carvings, tombs and brochs which are scattered across the country. Among his many wonderful discoveries, he unearths long-forgotten prophecies, puzzling tales from the bothies, consuming traditions and distillers' tricks, and finds evidence of the legendary Highland second sight. Not forgotten are the great historical figures who throng the pages, each making a unique contribution to Mysterious Scotland. 
 
This book is the perfect introduction to the amazing hidden history which permeates Scottish lives and landscape.

Mysterious Scotland

Enigmas, Secrets and Legends

Philip Hills

This is a book in which Scots tell the truth about their national drink. Ignoring the mythology which surrounds Scotland and her favourite tipple, it is written by people who are passionate about their subject, who know what they write about and who love what they know. It is about whisky and about Scotland - the real Scotland behind the invented one of the advertisers and the gift shops. 
 
Over the last 40 years Scots have reasserted their spiritual and cultural independence, and as part of this process they have redicovered the unique quality of their national drink. This renaissance not is a cause for celebrations not only by Scots but also by the rest of the world. Malt whiskies have risen from a minority taste in a small nation to become internationally recognised as the connoisseur's spirit par excellence. 
 
Contributors include acclaimed writers Ruth Wishart, George Rosie, Trevor Royle, Colin McArthur, Alan Bold and Derek Cooper; Russell Sharp, formerly chief chemist at Chivas and now president of the Caledonian Brewing Company; and poets Hamish Henderson, Hugh MacDiarmid and Norman McCaig.

Scots On Scotch

The Book of Whisky

Thomas Lipton burst onto the national scene in 1897, the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. The Princess of Wales had launched a £30,000 fund to provide a Jublilee dinner for the poor, but, with only weeks to go, no more than £5,000 had been subscribed. Lipton saved the day by writing a cheque for £25,000. The annonymous gift created massive press speculation and even greater publicity when the identity of the donor leaked out two days later. Lipton's generosity earned him a knighthood and propelled him into society at the highest level, a personal friend of the future King and Queen. 
 
Many of the myths that surrounded Lipton in the latter part of his life were created at this time and would be fixed for ever in his autobiography, published shortly after his death in 1931. Until now, what we know of Sir Thomas Lipton, grocery millionaire and yachtsman, is what he chose to tell the world about himself. Now literally detective James Mackay has uncovered the true story of one of the turn of the century's most extrordinary, larger-than-life characters, a story which is indefinitely more dramatic than the accepted version. 
 
Virtually everything Lipton tells us about himself is now shown to be untrue - even the origins of his family, his name, his date of birth and the place where he was born. The man who was hailed as the world's most eligible bachelor (his name was linked romantically with Rose Fitzgerald, the future mother of John F. Kennedy) had at least two skeletons in the closet - a youthful indescretion which led to a forced marriage, and a homosexual affair which lasted for thirty years. 
 
As a self-publicist he was a genius, and this was the key to his remarkable success. Beginning with a small shop in Glasgoe in 1871 he created a nationwide grocery chain second to none. In the process, he revolutionised the grocery retail trade, dealing direct with producers and eventually controlling production himself, with tea estates in Ceylon and meat-packing plants in Chicago. He combined a flair for organisation with superb showmanship, with stunts such as five-ton cheeses stuffed with gold sovereigns. In 1898 his company went public in one of the most successful share issues in stockmarket history. 
 
Lipton developed an interest in yachting which he pursued with the same single-mindedness as his business ventures. Between 1898 and 1930 he challenged for the America's Cup with a succession of yachts called Shamrock, but the rules of the race were heavily weighted in favour of the American defenders. The saga of his challenges, his near triumphs and the disappointments that would have destroyed a less heroic figure has become the most stirring in the annals of sport, and provides a fitting conclusion to the life of a maverick and outsider who was also one of the most colourful and flamboyant tycoons of all time.

Sir Thomas Lipton

The Man Who Invented Himself

Robert Potter

Izzy Hammond

'It is my dearest hope that this book will allow me to reach out to others in pain and give them hope, for they too can choose to be a survivor.' 
 
Izzy Hammond's deaf and partially blind parents attracted sympathy from the outside world, but no one knew of the horrific abuse their daughter was subjected to inside the family home. 
 
In Someone To Watch Over Me, Izzy is now able to reveal how the vicious childhood abuse she suffered, first at the hands of her father and then by subsequent predators, cast a shadow over three generations of her family and led to a violent assault upon Izzy by her eldest daughter. Finally able to break the cycle, she has at last reclaimed a life free from the demons that have haunted her for so long.

Someone To Watch Over Me

The True Tale of a Survivor Haunted by the Demons of Abuse

Bernard Azulay

The 2003-04 football season was a landmark in the Gunners' already illustrious history. Consolation for the Arsenal's costly Cup exits could come in the form of an achievement the like of which might never again be repeated. as they remained undefeated in the Premiership right to the end of a triumphant red-and-white roller-coaster ride. 
 
Once again, Arsène Wenger's side have raised the bar to a point beyond anything that has ever been seen before in British football. Sport lovers everywhere have been regularly left absolutely agog in admiration of the sublime skills and athletic grace that have brought some much-needed beauty back into our not-so-beautiful game. 
 
Aresenal All 4-1 is a week-by-breathtaking-week account of the Gunners undefeated exploits. A blow-by-blow description of the season's legion of snakes and ladders; sending offs and resultant suspensions; mad refereeing decisions (both misjudged and misappropriated!); gobsmacking game-changing goals; and heart-stopping howlers. It is a tale of ten tantalising months of trains, planes and automobiles, over land and sea (and Leicester), from one of the privileged few Gooners who witnessed every game in this wonderful odyssey from the terraces. 
 
Relive this scintillating season of total football as revealed in the sort of charismatic reports that could have only come from a Gooner who cut his teeth on the tedious triumphs of the Arsenal's infamous flat back four.

Arsenal All 4-1

A Guidebook to an Historic Season Straight from Highbury's Gooner Grapevine

These are heady times at Highbury. Gobsmacked Gooners have been 'giving it large' over their glorious Double victory after three long years of playing bridesmaid to their northern nemesis. 
 
Arsenal on the Double is an intimate account of the most exciting season since the inception of the Premier League, seen through the experienced journalistic eyes of a lifelong Arsenal fan - one of the legions of loyal, hail-or-shine fanatics who follow their club over land and sea (and Leicester!). 
 
Any lifelong addict of the beautiful game will be able to relate to this roller-coaster ride of tribulation and ultimate triumph. The author takes us from the shock of discovering the debilitating cost cost of season-ticket renewals on the day of last year's FA Cup final disaster to the usual evangelical early-season euphoria. He traces the Arsenal's almost annual November inconsistency, which was transformed by a New Year's resolution to win - a resolution resulting from their Christmas-season encounters with card-happy referees. 
 
Go with the Gunners on an emotionally exhausting, but joyful journey, as they romp all the way back to another FA Cup final in Cardiff. Delight in the dramatic denouement of the Arsenal's third Double when Old Trafford becomes a Gooner's Theatre of Dreams and their record-breaking season reaches its ultimate climax on the enemy's turf.

Arsenal on the Double

Overdrawn, Under The Weather, Overslept, Underpants, Over The Moon, Under The Table - A Terrace Take On The Season

Ben Sharratt

From the World Cup-winning days of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters to highly acclaimed modern-day heroes such as Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe, West Ham United supporters have always had the greatest affection for homegrown Hammers. Since the 1960s, talents such as Trevor Brooking, Tony Cottee, Paul Ince and Rio Ferdinand (who has twice hit the headlines as the world's most expensive defender following his move to Leeds and Manchester United) have been nurtured and brought through the club's ranks, ensuring the Hammers can rightly lay claim to having one of the country's most fruitful youth policies. 
 
In this revised and fully updated paperback edition, Claret and Blue Blood brings together all these characters and others for the very first time, including new chapters on Anton Ferdinand, Stephen Bywater and Kevin Horlock. Using exclusive new interviews, the authors present biographical pieces that collectively tell the story of West Ham United's evolution over the last half-century. Focusing on each player's roots, development and personal achievements, Claret and Blue Blood is a unique book that features key characters, candid conversations, successes, failures and controversies as it explores the very essence of West Ham United.

Claret and Blue Blood

Pumping Life into West Ham United

Peter Jackson

England has contributed some of the greatest players and most colourful characters to the rich history of the Lions, and never more so than in recent years. During the course of little more than a decade, a golden era for the Red Rose yielded four Grand Slams en route to the thrilling climax of the World Cup victory in Sydney, a triumph which has catapulted some of the side's stars to a higher plane in the nation's affections. It is not surprising, therefore, that English players have dominated the last four Lions tours in a way which none of the home countries has done before. 
 
Lions of England presents the country's most famous players in a series of revealing portraits, each telling a fascinating story woven around monumental Test matches. Rich in previously untold anecdote and humour, these accounts illustrate the lives and times of the greats spanning three-quarters of a century - from one pre-war knight of the realm, Carl Aarvold, to a more recent one, Clive Woodward. All the evocative names of English rugby are featured here, from Dickie Jeeps to Martin Johnson, Jeff Butterfield to Jason Robinson, Dean Richards to Lawrence Dallaglio. Other chapters are devoted to Peter Jackson (a rather better player than the author), John Pullin, Roger Uttley, Fran Cotton, David Duckham, Bill Beaumont, Peter Wheeler, Jeremy Guscott, Rob Andrew, Jason Leonard and, of course, Jonny Wilkinson. 
 
Peter Jackson, the Daily Mail's award-winning rugby writer, has drawn on all his experience and eye for the unusual to give the reader an insight into what makes these talented players tick as people, the early influences which shaped their careers and the momentous events which made them household names. 
 
Bang up to date with the inclusion of the summer 2005 series against the All Blacks and a comprehensive records appendix, Lions of England is sure to inform and entertain rugby lovers of every generation in equal measure.

Lions of England

James Davidson

With over six thousand miles of rugged coastline, nowhere in Scotland is more than forty-five miles from tidal waters, and seven of the biggest towns and cities are seaports. No wonder then that the sea has shaped Scotland, and in turn the Scots have helped to shape maritime history, trade and communications. 
 
Scots and the Sea is a unique and compelling account of a small, sparsely populated country's relationship with the most powerful force on earth. It is a celebration of the courage and endurance of fishermen and their families, the selfless bravery of lifeboat volunteers and the individual brilliance of leaders like Admiral Cochrane, who helped establish free nations across the globe. The illicit activities of scoundrels like Captain Kidd also provide a taste of the darker side of the story. 
 
Scotland's proud maritime tradition is traced through this volume, which examines the development of trade, the founding of a Scottish merchant navy and the pressures towards Union with England. It explores ports, harbours and shipyards, and outlines the vital role Scotland has played in shipbuilding and marine engineering - from the galleys and longships of early history to clippers, steamships, ocean liners, hovercraft and oil rigs. Also recounted are the exploits and achievements of Scots in all these fields, including those of James Watt, William Symington, Henry Bell and Robert Stevenson. Finally, it takes a look into the future, where Scottish research into wave and tidal power could become vital in providing a source of sustainable energy. 
 
Over the years, many Scots have made their living and their fortune from the sea, others have lost their lives to it – Scots and the Sea is a tribute to all of them.

Scots And The Sea

A Nation's Lifeblood

Alan Barker

In the early hours of 30 April 2003, twelve armed and uniformed officers accompanied by four plain-clothes detectives burst into Alan Barker's house. They stayed for hours, turning over rooms, seizing documents, impounding computers, files and anything else that interested them. The family were treated as terrorist suspects, the operation resembling so many others in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. But Alan Barker was and is no terrorist. In fact, he has spent his adult life fighting terrorism on the streets of his native province. 
 
 Barker belonged to the Special Branch, the RUC's elite unit dedicated to fighting the IRA, the INLA and loyalist terrorists. He gives a gripping insider's account of life on the frontline and demonstrates how the RUC used sophisticated listening devices and informants, including the notorious supergrass Raymond Gilmour, in their fight to gain the upper hand. 
 
 After nearly 30 years of loyal service, Barker retired angry and disillusioned about what he views as the government's capitulation to the terrorists. This is the book that Downing Street and the Northern Ireland Office don't want you to read. It is a story of courage under fire, guile, Le Carré-esque plots and treachery.

Shadows

Inside Northern Ireland's Special Branch

John Budden

The sudden death of Gordon W. Richards in late September 1998 brought a premature end to a legendary training career which had seen him rise from obscurity to national fame as master of his profession. 
 
Consigned to racing's scrap-heap with a broken back at the age of 29, he scraped a living as a livery stable proprietor and horse-dealer in a remote part of Northumberland until, five years later, he `discovered' Playlord and a new dawn broke. 
 
Rugged, demanding, often outspoken, sometimes ruthless but never lacking in humour, Gordon made relentless progress through the training ranks. `The Boss', as he was widely known, liked to run his stable his own way. Horses, not humans, headed the pecking order, as many famous riders and owners discovered to their cost. Few escaped unscathed, but in over 30 years he employed only six stable jockeys, and two of these, Ron Barry and Jonjo O'Neill, gained championship honours. 
 
The Boss charts the successes of the man who twice saddled more than a hundred winners in a single season and who scooped the pool in the Aintree Grand National on two occasions. This enthralling biography, written with full co-operation of Richards himself, provides a compelling insight into the forces that drove him to become one of the most respected trainers in the world.

The Boss

The Life and Times of Horseracing Legend Gordon W. Richards

Len Murray

Len Murray, described by a High Court judge as the most respected pleader of his generation, practised as a solicitor in Glasgow for over 40 years. As part of a triumvirate of top lawyers based in the city during its period of renaissance, he built up one of the most respected law practices in the country. 
 
Among the benchmark cases with which Murray was involved was that of Tony Miller, one of the last people to be hanged in Scotland. Despite a desperate appeal by Murray, the 19-year-old was sent to his death on 22 December 1960. In his candid account Murray describes both the legal arguments and the personal effect the case had on him. 
 
Murray was also involved in bringing the Nazi war criminal Antanas Gecas to justice after his discovery in Edinburgh, he was the only solicitor ever to be retained by both Rangers and Celtic footballers who were accused of assaulting each other during a match at Ibrox, and he made a cheeky defence of famous Beatle Paul McCartney who was arrested on drugs charges. The Pleader recounts these and many more tales of the courts and the characters who inhabited them, whether they sat on the bench or stood in the dock. 
 
Reluctant to go public until now, Murray has always upheld the simple tenet that client confidentiality is paramount. His decision to publish his memoirs at this time reflects a feeling that he has a responsibility to new students of law and to old friends to put the record straight on many of the fascinating stories to come before the Scottish courts. From the simplest of violations to the most serious of capital crimes, he opens his amazing and hitherto secret files to the world.

The Pleader

An Autobiography

Stephen Walsh

This revised and updated edition of Voices of the Old Firm tells the story of Rangers and Celtic in the words of those who can say 'I was there'. By interviewing players, managers but above all supporters of the two great clubs, Stephen Walsh has built up a unique portrait of sixty years of football in the city. 
Full of evocative social and historical detail, the book surveys all the great moments since the war - the ups and downs, the triumphs and disasters. What was it like to be in Lisbon for Celtic's epic 1967 European Cup victory, or in Barcelona for Rangers' European triumph of 1972? The different 'voices' which describe these and many other key events include some of the greatest players ever to pull on a green or a blue jersey and they have vivid tales to tell of encounters on the field. 
 
But the book also hears the voices of those who have spent their time standing on the terraces or sitting in the stands cheering on their heroes. Ordinary supporters tell of their adventures at home and abroad while following their clubs with sometimes ridiculous levels of devotion. In their own words, they tell of great games of football, but they also describe the fabric of the fan's life - the buses, the songs, the drink, the clothes, the bigotry and the passionate emotion which marks Glasgow out from almost all other footballing cities. 
 
This classic oral history has been brought fully up to date with the addition of new material reflecting the way the teams have come to dominate the Scottish football scene in the last ten years. Highlights include Celtic's pilgrimage to Seville for the UEFA Cup final and Rangers' unforgettable championship win of 2005.

Voices Of The Old Firm

Paul Ferris

Reg McKay

Glasgow, 1989. James Addison, aka Addie, has been a very busy man. Wanted for every type of crime for over a decade, there is only one hitch - he has never been seen, let alone caught. So, who or what is Addie? Does he even exist? 
 
When a small-time moneylender pimp is shot down on a Glasgow street, it seems to be just another gangland murder. But not for Andy Grimes, overseer of much of the city's prostitution, drug dealing and protection rackets - and the dead man's brother. When word leaks out that Addie is the killer, Grimes calls in his police allies and musters his troops. On the case is DCI Alex Birse, and old-time cop, as crooked as he is vicious. He has been after Addie for years and never got close. 
 
As the streets of Glasgow heave with police and gangsters, over in Berlin the Wall is coming down. At this time of great change, opportunity and uncertainty, the two cities are linked by loot – Bearer Bonds to be precise. Back in Glasgow, while pulling a scam on an old Jewish couple, one of Grimes' men, Angie the Gopher, finds a biscuit tin full of Bearer Bonds issued in Germany before the Second World War. Angie smells money – the bonds could be worth millions – and he scuttles back to tell his boss. Now the chase is on. 
 
Who gets the bonds? How much are they worth? Who perishes along the way? For the answers you'll have to rely on Addie. But can they catch him? The last line will reveal all . . . maybe.

Deadly Divisions

The Spectre Chronicles

A Private Thriller

A series of children's modern classic novels by renowned 20th century children's writers. All the titles in this series have the A Puffin Book logo, contemporary-style covers, and child-friendly endnotes.

A Puffin Book

A Ripley Novel

A Slice of the Moon

A Victorian Mystery

A Walk in...

A Women’s Murder Club Thriller

A chef Paul Delamare Mystery

Aberrations

Across the Universe

Actiphons

Adelia Aguilar

Adrian Mole

Adventures in Time

Aftermath

Against War

Age of X

Agent 21

Agent Z

Detective Aidan Waits is a troubled junior detective haunted by his past. Facing an uncertain future, and disconnected from his history, DC Waits and his partner, Detective Inspector Peter 'Sutty' Sutcliffe work on Manchester's streets to uncover the city's worst criminals among the grime of the underworld.

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