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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George Klein

Chuck Crisafulli

When George Klein was thirteen, he couldn't have known how important the new kid in class - the one with the guitar, the boy named Elvis - would become in his life. But from the first time GK (as he was nicknamed by Elvis) heard this kid sing, he knew that Elvis Presley was someone extraordinary. In this heartfelt, entertaining and affectionate memoir, George Klein writes candidly about their close friendship, which began at school and continued through Elvis's rise to fame and the wild swirl of his tumultuous life, right up to the singer's tragic death. 
 
Writing with the authority of someone who was in the midst of it all, from the good times at Graceland and hanging out with Hollywood stars to butting heads with Elvis's iron-handed manager, Colonel Tom Parker, GK reveals who the King really was and how he acted when the stage lights were off. Full of anecdotes and first-hand accounts of some of the most defining moments in the legend's life, Elvis: My Best Man captures the true essence of the man behind the music.

Elvis: My Best Man

DJ Hooch

New York, 1979: a dance crew in the Bronx called the Rock Steady Crew introduces the world to the original and most popular dance of the hip hop world - BBoy dancing - where DJs create breaks in the music tracks for dancers to showcase their moves. 
 
London, 1996: a small event known as the BBoy Championships is launched at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire to reignite the fire of the B-Boy movement, which then takes up home in the Brixton O2 Academy. 
 
Over 15 years later, BBoy has set the world alight, with crews from the US to Scandinavia, the UK to the Far East competing in the UK BBoy Championships every year. In BBoy Championships: From Bronx to Brixton, the founder of the Championships, DJ Hooch, has brought together over 100 stunning full-colour images from 15 years of the ultimate BBoy competition; and explains the moves, styles, battles and crews that have taken the world by storm, showcasing the top BBoys and girls as they face off in the battle to end all battles.

B-Boy Championships: From Bronx to Brixton

Daniel Wolff

S.R Crain

Cliff White

G. David Tenenbaum

When Sam Cooke was shot dead in a cheap motel in Hollywood, he was one of America's most successful pop stars. He left a world in which he had been born poor and had become very rich from the success of such records as "You Send Me" and "A Wonderful World", yet his body lay unrecognised in a morgue for two days. This biography follows Cooke's life in a racist America where his voice was one of the first to reach beyond the segregated audiences and command a white following, Cooke himself becoming a player in the fledgling civil rights movement. This award-winning biography is a full and sometimes shocking story of a man whose songbook is revered by great performers such as Otis Redding, Rod Stewart and Aretha Franklin.

You Send Me

The Life and Times of Sam Cooke

John Warburton

The Mondays were the band who had it all. Credited with a range of achievements, from creating Madchester and introducing indie kids to dance music to bringing ecstasy to Britain, they were the rock 'n' roll story that beggared belief. In Shaun they had an inspired gutter poet; in his sidekick Bez they had a cultural icon. 
 
Hallelujah is the story of how this hapless group of ruffians, thieves, thugs and dealers, prompted by boredom, drugs and a visit from the taxman, got their act back together after six long years and played a sell-out world tour. Along the way a man was set on fire, an orgy was staged, someone nearly drowned and every single band member got lost in Europe. There were guns, writs, jellyfish, fights, copious amounts of class As - and a skull on a stick. 
 
Former Daily Sport journalist John Warburton, Shaun's friend and confident, went along for the ride. He includes contributions from others who've witnessed the madness first hand, including Jo Whiley, Chris Moyles, Steve Lamacq and Fatboy Slim.

Hallelujah!

The extraordinary story of Shaun Ryder and Happy Mondays

Charles Higham

Howard Hughes was America's most famous playboy and rogue operator, an outlaw eccentric millionaire and hellraiser, 'I can buy any man' he once bragged, 'and have any woman.' And it was almost true. 
He stormed from bedroom to boardroom, from corporate bribary to Capitol Hill; his affairs with Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Bette Davis and many others were as brief as they were stormy. he was a deeply involved in Watergate and in the Cuban missile crisis. He burgled his own office records when tax authorities were after him. And, despite a mystrious illness, he wheeled and dealed to the last days of his life.

Howard Hughes

Joe Layden

Sean Astin

When Sean Astin, veteran Hollywood actor of over 30 movies including The Goonies, and Rudy, landed the part of Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings, he knew it was going to be different to anything he'd ever worked on before. Here he shares his heartfelt opinions on his early movies, how he got the part of Sam at that point in his career, and what it was like to be on set for nearly two years of his life. How did he and the other cast members get along? What were the excitements and the dangers they faced during filming? What happened the evening that Elijah Wood lost the keys to his room? How did Sir Ian McKellen cope when he didn't like the music the hobbits listened to during make-up and what happened when the crew considered striking? 
Revealing and immensely readable, There and Back Again is the behind-the-scenes look at what it was like to be involved in the making of one of the biggest movie franchises of all time.

There And Back Again: An Actor's Tale

The second in this new series, The Virgin Book of Hit Singles is the most-up-to-date and comprehensive record of the music charts available today and a perfect, collectable complement to The Virgin Book of Hit Albums and The Virgin Book of Top 75 Charts. 
Now improved and fine-tuned, and drawn from the Official Charts Company Data since 1952, The Virgin Book of Hit Singles features the most comprehensive, easy to read and accessible music chart data and information. It's all here -- expanded artist biographies, side notes of interest, label and catalogue numbers, peak positions, number of weeks on chart and weeks at number one. Also includes EP charts. 
The Virgin Book of Hit Singles is essential reading, and reference, for any music lover.

The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles: Volume 2

Kelly Osbourne

This no-holds-barred account of Kelly Obsourne's upbringing is as shocking as it is disarmingly funny. From stories about her father's alcoholism to pushing over portaloos on tour, Kelly unflinchingly deals with the extraordinary experiences that have made up her life so far: 
 
'Kelly Osbourne has written Fierce, a handbook for teenage girls/memoir of adolescence lived under very bright lights. After reading it, and her anecdotes about her mum's early experiments with home waxing, and her dad snipping off her thong, and Amy Winehouse complimenting her on her tits, and the confidence that comes with Vicodin, as well as the fact boxes with advice about bullying and hair straighteners, I like her very much.' Eva Wiseman, Observer

Fierce

Paul Du Noyer

'A dense and colourful account of one of the most vibrant musical centres in the world, In the City almost puts you on that train to London' Guardian 
 
In this fascinating history of London's music, which was the 2009 Sunday Times 'Music Book of the Year', Paul Du Noyer, critically-acclaimed music writer and founding editor of MOJO, celebrates the people and places that have made London the most exciting and diverse musical city on earth. The West End musicals, Ronnie Scott's jazz club, Abbey Road, mod culture, the Kinks, the Who and the Rolling Stones are just as much a part of London as the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and the Routemaster. Du Noyer's captivating book charts the city's music history and landmarks and will appeal to residents, visitors and exiles alike.

In the City

A Celebration of London Music

The charts are the evening news of the music industry. Collected here, they show the rapid rise or demise of each single as it enters the charts, either winning over a large audience or just making music for its own smaller group of fans. Top 40 Charts is required reading for every music buff, and for anyone else who'd like to know what song was number one on their birthday or any other memorable day. 
 
With every Top 40 singles chart from 1960 to the present day, this is the definitive music chart book. Includes the song title, act, record label and total number of weeks on chart for every single, as well as a detailed history of the pre-1960s charts. 
 
Published using data from the Official Charts Company.

The Virgin Book of Top 40 Charts

Tony Curtis

Some Like it Hot is one of the most famous films of all time and is also the most profitable comedy in the history of film, not to mention one of the most beloved. It was voted number one funniest movie ever by the American Film Institute and as well as starring Hollywood legend Tony Curtis, it brought together the comedy talents of Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Billy Wilder. It has contributed numerous quotes, styles and stories to Hollywood film lore and has remained the film that Curtis is still most asked about by its legions of fans. 
 
For the first time, Curtis will share the untold story behind the making of this legendary film. Told in his frank and inimitable voice, the book will reveal much about his working relationship with Jack Lemmon and the director Billy Wilder. It will explain why the film was changed from colour production to black and white and tell the story of its initially lukewarm reception. The book will also reveal much about Marilyn Monroe, including Curtis' romance with her, her alleged abortion and her conflict with Wilder. Finally, it will describe the film's ongoing impact on Curtis' life and will feature many exclusive never-before-seen photographs from his own collection.

Some Like It Hot

Me, Marilyn and the Movie

Barry Cryer

A collection of hilarious stories and eye-popping anecdotes from the nation's best-loved comedian 
 
Barry Cryer is one of the most respected and admired writers and performers of his time. In a career spanning forty years, Barry has worked alongside the greatest producers and performers in show business: Tommy Cooper, Humphrey Lyttelton, Morecambe and Wise, Willie Rushton, Peter Cook, Kenny Everett, Rory Bremner to name but a few - this book is a veritable Who's Who of comedy. 
 
From humble beginnings at the Windmill Theatre and Expresso Bongo, to The Frost Report, Call My Bluff and I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue, Barry recalls the good, the bad, and the downright ugly in his own inimitable style. 
 
'Barry Cryer ...an anecdote jukebox whose whole life is basically one big chatshow.' 
Guardian

The Chronicles of Hernia

Martin Roach

From Abracadabra by the Steve Miller Band to Zoom by ELO, this indispensable, innovatively designed book celebrates fifty years of British album charts, telling you everything you could possibly want to know about every album to reach the Top 100. With new feature material covering a huge range of areas, bands and history, it's an essential part of any serious music fan's collection. 
 
The Virgin Book of British Hit Albums covers everything, from the classics (Sgt Pepper, Nevermind, The Dark Side of the Moon) to the dodgy (Spiceworld, Seriously Orchestra) and the downright bizarre (Smurfs Go Pop!, Seventies Dinner Party). 
 
Where else are you going to find out that: 
 
Bridge over Troubled Water spent 307 weeks in the charts 
Pavarotti has topped the album charts - twice 
Lily Allen went triple-platinum in 2006 with Alright, Still 
Oasis sold 356,000 copies of Be Here Now in one day alone 
Both Gary Glitter and Mariah Carey released an album called Glitter 
Donny Osmond has never made it to No. 1 in the album charts

The Virgin Book of British Hit Albums

Peter Golenbock

He has appeared in over a hundred films. Elvis copied his looks. The Beatles put him on the cover of Sgt. Pepper. Tony Curtis is without question a Hollywood legend and part of its Golden Age. In American Prince he tells the whole story, from his hard-knock childhood growing up in the Bronx to his wild days as a Hollywood playboy, his destructive drug addiction and his life now as an artist in his eighties. He talks frankly about the people he has known during his long and illustrious career, from the studio owners and directors to his famous friends, such as Jack Lemmon, Cary Grant and James Dean, and the women in his life, including Janet Leigh and Natalie Wood. 
 
Forthright and enthralling, and sparing no detail and no ego, American Prince is the true record of a life lived to the full.

American Prince

My Autobiography

Groucho Marx

'The temptation to write about yourself is irresistible, especially when you are prodded into it by a crafty publisher who has slyly baited you into doing it with a miserly advance of fifty dollars and a box of cheap cigars' - Groucho Marx 
 
Groucho Marx's autobiography is a rags-to-riches story with a difference. The most outrageous and voluble of the legendary Marx Brothers had a career that stretched from Vaudeville to gameshow, conquering Hollywood on the way. From the triumphs and disasters of a life spent in show business to his unconsummated loves, Groucho's story is told with humour and wit and in Groucho's own unique style. 
 
As TS Eliot said of him: 'The mind boggles'.

Groucho and Me

The Autobiography

Mick Middles

Factory Records' fame and fortune were based on two bands - Joy Division and New Order - and one personality - that of its director, Tony Wilson. At the height of the label's success in the late 1980s, it ran its own club, the legendary Haçienda, had a string of international hit records, and was admired and emulated around the world. But by the 1990s the story had changed. The back catalogue was sold off, top bands New Order and Happy Mondays were in disarray, and the Haçienda was shut down by the police. 
 
Critically acclaimed on its original publication in 1996, this book tells the complete story of Factory Records' spectacular history, from the label's birth in 1970s Manchester, through its '80s heyday and '90s demise. Now updated to include new material on the re-emergence of Joy Division, the death of Tony Wilson and the legacy of Factory Records, it draws on exclusive interviews with the major players to give a fascinating insight into the unique personalities and chaotic reality behind one of the UK's most influential and successful independent record labels.

Factory

The Story of the Record Label

James Caan

After dropping out of school at just sixteen, James Caan started his business life in a broom cupboard with no qualifications and two pieces of fatherly wisdom: 'observe the masses and do the opposite' and 'always look for opportunities where both parties benefit'. Armed with this advice, natural charm and the Yellow Pages, he built a market-leading business with a turnover of £130 million and swiftly became one of Britain's most successful entrepreneurs. 
 
From Caan's childhood as a Pakistani immigrant to the phenomenal success of his first company and beyond, The Real Deal traces both his financial and personal achievements. It offers a frank account of what success at thirty really signifies and brings us right up to the present, including his impact on Dragons' Den and what his charity work, from saving a hospital in London to building a school in Lahore, means to him. Ultimately, it is a story of learning what money is really worth, told by one the country's most insightful businessmen.

The Real Deal

My Story from Brick Lane to Dragons' Den

From Spandau Ballet and Kajagoogoo to Half Man Half Biscuit and Guns and Roses, the 1980s music scene is here in all its glory. The Official Ultimate 80s Pop Quiz will spark arguments at dinner tables and pub quizzes up and down the country. Questions include: 
 
 
1) Who had a top five hit in October 1982 with 'Starmaker'? 
a) Bananarama 
b) The Kids from Fame 
c) Modern Romance 
 
 
2) What was U2's debut number one single, a 1988 chart-topper? 
a) The Fly 
b) With or Without You 
c) Desire 
 
 
3) Who had a No. 1 hit in 1980 with 'Working My Way Back to You - Forgive Me Girl'? 
a) The Four Tops 
b) The Temptations 
c) The Detroit Spinners

The Official Ultimate 80s Pop Quiz

Josh Frank

Caryn Ganz

Pixies' career spanned just seven years before the pressures of the road and personality clashes tore the band apart. But in that time they became one of the pioneers of alternative rock and left a musical legacy that would inspire generations of musicians, from Kurt Cobain and David Bowie to U2, Radiohead and Blur. 
 
This is the story of a band called Pixies and how they turned their distinctive, warped breed of dynamic surf-punk into music legend. Told in the words of the band themselves, the studio owners, producers and engineers who worked with them, and admirers of their music, including Bono, Courtney Love and Beck, Fool The World is a complete journey through the life, death and rebirth of one of the most influential bands of all time.

Fool The World

The Oral History of A Band Called Pixies

Rena Fruchter

Chevy Chase is a much-loved Hollywood star. His success as a writer and actor on Saturday Night Live in the 70s made him a household name. 
 
It had been a long, hard route to the top for Chevy. Behind the fame lay a childhood riddled with abuse. But his remarkable strength and determination helped him rise above it and find his talent as an actor, writer, comedian, and musician. 
 
Best known for his role in the National Lampoon Vacation series Chevy has starred in some of the greatest comedies of our time. His latest film, Funny Money, received critical acclaim at the Sarasota Film Festival. 
 
Now, for the first time, Chevy speaks openly and candidly about his career, his personal struggle with drugs, his friendship with three American Presidents, and his family life. 
 
Honest, funny and informative, this is the complex and fascinating world of Chevy Chase.

I'm Chevy Chase ... and You're Not

J P Bean

Joe Cocker is a rock legend. A gas fitter who went from playing Sheffield pubs to the stadiums of the world, he was the man who no one - not even himself - expected to survive the age of 30. Now, approaching his 60s and having recovered his life and career, he has co-operated with the full and frank biography to tell of all the highs and lows of his remarkable journey. Even by the crazy standards of rock'n'roll it is an amazing story. Since his mind-blowing interpretation of the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends" topped the British charts in 1968, Joe Cocker has had hits in every decade and in more countries than he can remember. His appearance in the movie of Woodstock in 1969 catapulted him to worldwide fame and his Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour of America almost killed him. Here he talks to biographer J.P. Bean about his heroin addiction, alcoholism, the arrests that got him thrown in jail, and the demons that haunted him for years. But most of all it is an uplifting story of an ordinary man who lit up America like a beacon in the night, was written off as a shambolic wreck and then - against all the odds - climbed back to become an even bigger star than he was first time around.

Joe Cocker

The Authorised Biography

Jon Gaunt

Millions know him as a loudmouth radio shock-jock and Sun columnist. Yet, in his life Jon Gaunt has had to overcome unimaginable hardship, solitude, bankruptcy and despair. His mother died suddenly when he was just twelve, his hard-drinking, womanising father abandoned him to suffer appalling treatment in a children's home. At twenty-eight, his business had a million pound turnover, but a stroke of fate caused catastrophe. Undaunted, Jon Gaunt has always fought back. Behind the outspoken media personality, this is the very human story of self-preservation, personal growth and forgiveness, told in Jon's inimitable forthright style.

Undaunted

The True Story Behind the Popular Shock-Jock

Mike Oldfield

Born without social instincts many people take for granted, brought up in a troubled environment and possessed with an extraordinary musical talent, Mike Oldfield was thrust into the spotlight at the tender age of nineteen. His first album Tubular Bells went on to sell fifteen million copies worldwide and catapulted him into a stardom he was ill-equipped to cope with. 
 
From growing up with an alcoholic mother, to his feelings of alienation and struggles with depression, this book takes Mike from his early years, through his staggering fame, his broken marriages, years as a recluse, his rebirth experience at a controversial Exegesis seminar and beyond. Mike Oldfield has been on a journey few of us could ever imagine, and offers a message of hope to anybody who feels they live on the edge of society.

Changeling

The Autobiography of Mike Oldfield

No other city in the world is as well known or loved for its vibrant and definitive musical history as Liverpool. In 2002, Guinness World Records: British Hit Singles voted Liverpool 'World Capital of Pop', recognising that Liverpool's homegrown talent has produced more number one hit singles per capita than anywhere else in the world. In 2008, Liverpool will celebrate its crown as European Capital of Culture. 
 
Paul Du Noyer's acclaimed book takes us on a tour of the rich musical history of his hometown, from the world-famous Cavern Club in Mathew Street, host to the Beatles' debut performance in 1961, to the city's musical future with contemporary bands like The Zutons. Featuring interviews with key figures of the music scene, this book reveals the creative impulse behind Britain's most musical city. 
 
Find out why Liverpool is not just a place where music happens. The city is the reason music happens.

Liverpool - Wondrous Place

From the Cavern to the Capital of Culture

Nicola Slade

Gone are the days when recording an album required a large, expensive recording studio and piles of ultra hi-tech equipment. Lily Allen's myspace video netted her no.1 in the UK singles chart and an NME nomination, folk singer Seth Lakeman made an album in his kitchen for £300 and has been nominated for a Mercury Prize. And of course, there's the Arctic Monkeys - winners of a Mercury Prize, a Brit Award and two NME awards, who marketed their album through demo tapes and file sharing. 
 
Nicola Slade shows how anyone can record and mix killer music from the comfort of their bedroom. The author explains what hardware, software and mixing equipment is required, and includes a history of the digitisation of music, advice on marketing and promoting your music and contributions from DIY music artists who have made it big.

How to Make Music in Your Bedroom

James Clarke

Animation has never been so popular. The best animated films have combined the latest technology with creativity and a flair for storytelling and are adored by both children and adults. With films such as Monsters, Inc., Shrek and Toy Story capturing the imagination of moviegoers and critics, animated film is enjoying a resurgence unseen since its golden age in the 30s and 40s. From the earliest full-length feature animation, Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, through stop-motion animation and Japanese anime to the advent of CGI, this book takes a critical look at animation through the ages and explores its infinite cinematic possibilities.

Animated Films - Virgin Film

David Hughes

The superheroes are back! Since the 1970s, the film world has found inspiration in comic books and graphic novels. These days no summer is complete without a major blockbuster movie based on a comic: Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men, Men in Black, Daredevil, and The Hulk. Modern special effects have made large-scale superhero epics possible, but the diversity of the comics being published has made for a wide variety of subjects, as evidenced by Ghost World, From Hell, Akira and Road to Perdition. This book looks in detail at twenty key titles, covering every step of the development from comic book panel to feature film frame. Includes interviews with key creative artists about the evolution of the films from the original comics, and speculates about future films.

Comic Book Movies - Virgin Film

Empire Magazine

From the team who brought you The Empire Film Guide, here are all the obscure, indecent and downright bizarre movie facts and figures that were not considered sensible for a practical film guide. 
 
Discover which country translated GI Jane as Satan Female Soldier, which Hollywood heartthrob is the lead singer of 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, and which country takes a bag of toasted leaf cutter ants to the cinema instead of popcorn! 
 
The Schott's Miscellany of movies, packed full of movie facts, figures and lists, as well as explanations of filmmaking terminology and a "shot miscellany" - a list of all the various camera shots. You will soon know your Oscar Hosts from your Monty Python French insults, and never be short of small talk again!

Empire Movie Miscellany

Instant Film Buff Status Guaranteed

Richard Topping

Have you ever wanted to be a lumberjack? Had trouble with a dead parrot? Or gone for a silly walk? 
 
Combining outrageous humour, unbridled creativity and surreal animation, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Eric Idle entertained millions and inspired generations of future comedians. Including all Monty Python material ever produced, from the Flying Circus to the Life of Brian to Spamalot! with biographies, programme guides and a filmography, this is a must-have plethora of Pythonism and a fitting tribute to comedic pioneers.

Monty Python

From the Flying Circus to Spamalot

Eddie Robson

Joel and Ethan Coen make up one of the most original and unconventional movie-making partnerships to come out of America at the end of the 20th century. From their debut tour de force Blood Simple to the hugely acclaimed The Man Who Wasn't There, the brothers' films have attracted critical kudos and commercial success in equal measure due to their irreverent, individual and technically virtuoso nature. Each of their films defies categorisation, yet you're never in any doubt you're watching a Coen brothers movie. 
 
This exploration of the movie career of Hollywood's best-loved outsiders charts their rise from cult favourites to box-office contenders, whilst combining indispensable reference material and critical analysis of their films.

Coen Brothers - Virgin Film

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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