5ive Guys FC

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. 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

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Ray Bishop

Follow Britain's most wanted man into London's underworld and back out again 
 
 Ray Bishop was on the run, skulking in a dealer's house in north London, when an image of his face flashed up on the TV, accompanied by a public warning. The assembled company were aghast, and Ray felt sick at what he saw. How had he become Britain's most wanted man? 
 
 Growing up in a council estate in South East London, where he and his friends were regularly brutalised by the police Ray tells all of his early days of petty crime. Being despatched to notoriously violent youth-detention centres where he was further criminalized he graduated with flying colours to a career in London's underworld as an armed robber, a drug smuggler and a people trafficker, developing a serious addiction to cocaine and heroin along the way. 
 
 But Ray's is also story of redemption, of coming back from rock bottom and learning lessons the hard back. Enrolling in a rigorous rehabilitation programme, Ray turned his life around. He went on to realise his childhood dream of becoming British Middleweight Boxing Champion, setting up his own business and advocating for others along the way. Here's how he did it.

Outlaw

Learning lessons the hard way as Britain’s most wanted man

Will Young

In To Be a Gay Man, Will Young speaks out about gay shame, revealing the impact it had on his own life, how he learned to deal with it, and how he can now truthfully say he is gay and happy. 
 
We know Will as a multi-platinum recording artist, Olivier-nominee, and the first winner of the Idol franchise. But his story began long before his first audition. Looking back on a world where growing up being called gay was the ultimate insult and coming out after a lifetime of hiding his sexuality, Will explores the long-lasting impact repressing his true self has had. 
 
As Will’s own story demonstrates, internalised shame in childhood increases the risk of developing low self-worth, and even self-disgust, leading to destructive behaviours in adult life. 
 
Will revisits the darkest extremes he has been to, sharing his vulnerabilities, his regrets, tracing his own navigation through it all and showing the way for others who might have felt alone in the same experience. 
 
Here you will find a friend, champion and mentor, breaking taboos with frank honesty, and offering invaluable practical advice on overcoming the difficult issues too often faced within the LGBTQ+ community.

To be a Gay Man

William Balsamo

George Carpozi Jr.

How did the Mob evolve from a disorganised gang of uncouth killers into the deadly 'international corporation' it is today? 
 
Tracing its beginnings as an underground society which sprang up in Sicily, to the Mob which went on to run organised crime throughout Italy and America, William Balsamo – great-nephew of the original godfather – and George Carpozi Jr draw on two decades of research to tell the true story of the most mythical and misunderstood criminal organisation in history.

The Mafia

The Inside Story of Organised Crime

The First 100 Years

Frankie Fraser

James Morton

‘They say I’ve killed 40 people and who am I to disagree? I’ve always liked even numbers.’ 
 
Branded the dentist for using pliers to extract the teeth of those who owed money to his boss Charlie Richardson, Frankie Fraser was labelled the most dangerous man in Britain by two Home Secretaries. He is famous for his crimes, many of which have entered gangster folklore. In these diaries, however, originally published when he was 78, Mad Frank delved into areas he had never chosen, or dared, to talk about before. 
 
His day-by-day entries record unsolved murders, shoot-outs, crooked coppers, bribery, extortion, wrongful convictions, and even sex in prison. And by contrast, he also opens up with personal memories of growing up in poverty, in London's East End, and the reality of having to steal food to feed the family. 
 
Frankie Frasier died in 2014, and this rare True Crime classic is first-hand history at its most compelling.

Mad Frank's Diary

The Confessions of Britain’s Most Notorious Villain

Lee Server

'A smile can get you far, but a smile with a gun can get you further.' 
- Al Capone 
 
Featured in Vice 
 
A man of singular influence in the American underworld, Johnny Rosselli's career flourished for half a century, from the bloody years of bootlegging in the Twenties - the last protégé of Al Capone - to the modern era of organised crime as a dominant corporate power. 
 
The Mob's 'Man in Hollywood', Johnny introduced big-time crime to the movie industry, corrupting unions and robbing moguls in the boldest extortion plot in history. Meanwhile, he consolidated his empire by smoothly befriending studio bosses and seducing their biggest stars, including Marilyn Monroe. 
 
In the 50s, Rosselli saw a new opportunity overseeing the birth and heyday of Las Vegas, and became the gambling mecca's behind-the-scenes boss, enjoying the Rat Pack night life with pals Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. 
 
Then, in the 60s, incredibly, he became the central figure in a bizarre plot involving the Kennedy Whitehouse, the CIA and an attempt to assassinate Castro. 
 
Based on years of research, this utterly compelling, richly detailed page-turner takes you inside American organised crime at the highest level. A story of extreme violence and superstar glamour - with Handsome Johnny in both roles.

Handsome Johnny

The Criminal Life of Johnny Rosselli, The Mob’s Man in Hollywood

Peter Hooton

Now also a new documentary film written and presented by Peter Hooton, The Boot Room Boys - BT Sport April 2022. 
 
The Boot Room story starts in 1959 when Bill Shankly arrived and converted a 12 x 12 storage room into a meeting place for him and his coaches, a move that had momentous consequences, both for the Club and British football. 
 
Fans on the Kop will remember the heart-stopping extra time of the 1965 FA Cup Final, and the jubilation of winning the treble in 1984. But what was the common thread during Liverpool's glory years? It was the Boot Room. 
 
Lifelong Liverpool supporter and editor of legendary fanzine The End, Peter Hooton takes us back into that old storage room, where first Shankly, then in succession Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish drank tea, analysed, strategised, selected and deselected, and built the most successful British club in Europe in the 20th Century. 
 
Illustrated throughout with over 100 powerful never-before-seen images from the Mirror's forgotten archives, The Boot Room Boys captures the story, as it unfolded, of Liverpool's conquering heroes.

The Boot Room Boys

The Unseen Story of Anfield's Conquering Heroes

Ryan North

***One of BBC Focus magazine's top books of 2018*** 
 
Get ready to make history better... on the second try. 
 
Imagine you are stranded in the past (your time machine has broken) and the only way home is to rebuild civilization yourself. But you need to do it better and faster this time round. In this one amazing book, you will learn How to Invent Everything. 
 
Ryan North -- bestselling author, programmer and comic book legend -- provides all the science, engineering, mathematics, art, music, philosophy, facts and figures required for this challenge. Thanks to his detailed blueprint, humanity will mature quickly and efficiently – instead of spending 200,000 years stumbling around in the dark without language, not realising that tying a rock to a string would mean we could navigate the entire world. Or thinking disease was caused by weird smells. 
 
Fascinating and hilarious, How To Invent Everything is an epic, deeply researched history of the key technologies that made each stage of human history possible (from writing and farming to buttons and birth control) – and it's as entertaining as a great time-travel novel. 
 
So if you’ve ever secretly wondered if you could do history better yourself, now is your chance to find out how.

How to Invent Everything

Rebuild All of Civilization (with 96% fewer catastrophes this time)

Nick Bilton

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
The unbelievable true story of the man now pardoned by President Trump 
 
 
In 2011, a twenty-six-year-old programmer named Ross Ulbricht launched the ultimate free market: the Silk Road, a clandestine Web site hosted on the Dark Web where anyone could trade anything – drugs, hacking software, forged passports, counterfeit cash, poisons – free of the government’s watchful eye. While the federal government were undertaking an epic two-year manhunt for the site’s elusive proprietor, the Silk Road quickly ballooned into a $1.2 billion enterprise. 
 
Ross embraced his new role as kingpin, taking drastic steps to protect himself – including ordering a hit on a former employee. As Ross made plans to disappear forever, the Feds raced against the clock to catch a man they weren’t sure even existed, searching for a needle in the haystack of the global Internet. 
 
Drawing on exclusive access to key players and two billion digital words and images Ross left behind, New York Times bestselling author Nick Bilton offers a tale filled with twists and turns, lucky breaks and unbelievable close calls. It’s a story of the boy next door’s ambition gone criminal, spurred on by the clash between the new world of libertarian-leaning, anonymous, decentralised Web advocates and the old world of government control, order and the rule of law.

American Kingpin

Catching the Billion-Dollar Baron of the Dark Web

Wayne Anthony

Organised crime puts on a smiley face. 
 
When the Summer of Love hit Britain in ’88, Wayne embraced the bright new world of dance music, MDMA and all-night celebrations. But alongside the ecstasy, his natural East End entrepreneurial instincts kicked in, and he began to organise the infamous Genesis dance parties for thousands of kids. Wayne soon became a key figure in the high octane, technicolour rave scene. 
 
But beneath the shiny, smiley surfaces, he quickly found himself in a vicious world of violence, police harassment and organised crime, for which he was totally unsuited and unprepared. He was beaten by ex-paratroopers, menaced by gangsters, kidnapped, confronted with sawn off shotguns and threatened with murder, all so Britain could party like never before. 
 
When Class of ’88 was first published, it was so popular that Foyles dedicated an entire window to the book for a month. Now, re-issued for the 30th anniversary, this is Wayne’s very lively, highly individual account of the two years he spent as an illegal party promoter, leading the rave revolution which was sweeping the UK, changing lives, music and popular culture forever.

Class of '88

Find the warehouse. Lose the hitmen. Pump the beats.

Paul H Feldman

The Diary of Jack the Ripper, which came to light in 1991, revealed the identity of the world's most notorious serial killer. At the time it was widely believed to have been a hoax, yet, incredibly, not one person has managed to prove how it was forged or by whom. 
 
This, argues Paul Feldman, is because the diary was genuine. 
 
Discover how the largest and most detailed investigation on the subject ever to be undertaken led the author through the smokescreen of an official cover-up, via the Royals and the Masons, to the true provenance of the Diary, Jack the Ripper's watch and, ultimately, his identity.

Jack The Ripper

The Final Chapter

Jayne-Anne Gadhia

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the straight-talking CEO of Virgin Money, looks back at the events that have influenced, shaped and inspired her to become one of the most powerful women in banking. 
 
With anecdotes from her life before becoming a banker, including beating the bullies and experiencing racism as part of a mixed race marriage, through to building a business from scratch, working at RBS under Fred Goodwin just before the financial crash, and steering Virgin Money to become a listed business, breaking boundaries along the way, professionally and personally. 
 
Jayne-Anne shines a light on issues surrounding the role of women in banking and the alpha-male dinosaurs that dominate the industry. She draws on the relationships and deals that have shaped her career so far, including her personal experience with mental health issues, which has helped her attitude and approach to both her business and personal life. 
 
 This is not a conventional biography, nor a ‘how to do it’ business book. It is a candid, fresh and fascinating insight into being a woman in business, the financial crisis and the way in which business can be conducted as a force for good.

The Virgin Banker

Johanna Basford

From the international bestselling illustrator and Queen of Colouring Johanna Basford comes a lavishly illustrated fable to colour and bring to life - a girl named Ivy stumbles upon a secret door leading to the magical world of Enchantia... 
 
'The colourists have a queen, and her name is Johanna Basford' -- New York Magazine 
'Consider trading in your yoga mat for a set of markers and peruse the gorgeous gardens of Basford's imagination' -- The Huffington Post 
 
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A charming story that interacts playfully with beautiful, colourable artwork in ink evangelist Johanna Basford's signature style, Ivy and the Inky Butterfly is a one-of-a-kind adventure for readers to customise, colour and cherish. 
 
For Ivy and the Inky Butterfly Johanna has picked a crisp ivory paper that accentuates and compliments your chosen colour palette. The smooth, untextured pages allows for beautiful blending or gradient techniques with coloured pencils, or are perfect for pens, allowing the nib to glide evenly over the surface without feathering. 
 
Suitable for children.

Ivy and the Inky Butterfly

A Magical Tale to Colour

From the international bestselling illustrator and Queen of Colouring Johanna Basford comes a beautiful new colouring book that takes you on a wondrous expedition through the jungle. Also features a large double-sided pull-out poster to colour and keep 
 
'The colourists have a queen, and her name is Johanna Basford' -- New York Magazine 
'Consider trading in your yoga mat for a set of markers and peruse the gorgeous gardens of Basford's imagination' -- The Huffington Post 
 
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Follow ink evangelist Johanna Basford down an inky trail through Magical Jungle and discover a forgotten world of flora and fauna just waiting to be coloured in. 
 
Through intricate pen and ink illustrations, colour-inners are invited to explore an exotic rainforest teeming with creatures large and small. Encounter speckled tree frogs and dainty hummingbirds, prowling tigers and playful monkeys. Let your imagination run wild in the leafy treetop canopy or find yourself drawn to the delicate world of sensational blossoms and tropical plants below. There are ancient relics to be found along the way, each one leading toward the mystical treasure hidden at the heart of the magical jungle. Only the bravest, most inquisitive colourers will discover what lies hidden at the end of this inky quest. 
 
For Magical Jungle Johanna has picked a crisp ivory paper that accentuates and compliments your chosen colour palette. The smooth, untextured pages allows for beautiful blending or gradient techniques with coloured pencils, or are perfect for pens, allowing the nib to glide evenly over the surface without feathering. 
 
Suitable for children.

Magical Jungle

An Inky Expedition & Colouring Book

For the last 50 years, drug prohibition laws have put the market for illegal drugs into the hands of organised criminals. Now, it’s time to take control. 
 
Ending the failed war on drugs will reduce drug-related violence, tackle organised crime, end the needless criminalisation of millions, and will halt the drain on government funds and resources. 
 
In this book, global opinion-leaders on the frontline of the drug debate describe their experiences and perspectives on what needs to be done. Highlighting the pitfalls behind drug policy to-date and bringing to light new policies and approaches, which make a clear case for galvanizing governments to end the war on drugs – once and for all.

Ending the War on Drugs

From the international bestselling illustrator and Queen of Colouring Johanna Basford comes a beautiful colouring book that takes you on a magical journey beneath the waves. Also features a large double-sided pull-out poster to colour and keep. 
 
'The colourists have a queen, and her name is Johanna Basford' -- New York Magazine 
'Consider trading in your yoga mat for a set of markers and peruse the gorgeous gardens of Basford's imagination' -- The Huffington Post 
 
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With Lost Ocean, ink evangelist Johanna Basford invites colour-inners to discover an enchanting underwater world hidden within the depths of the sea. 
 
With intricate pen and ink illustrations to complete, colour and embellish, readers will meet shoals of exotic fish, curious octopuses and delicately penned seahorses, visit coral reefs and barnacle-studded shipwrecks, and discover intricate shells and pirate treasure. Experienced colourers and newcomers alike will delight in this creative journey into an inky new world. 
 
For Lost Ocean Johanna has picked a crisp ivory paper that accentuates and complements your chosen colour palette. The smooth, untextured pages allows for beautiful blending or gradient techniques with coloured pencils, or are perfect for pens, allowing the nib to glide evenly over the surface without feathering. 
 
Suitable for children.

Lost Ocean

An Inky Adventure & Colouring Book

George the Poet

‘The title is Search Party – the idea being that we’re all out here looking for something, and my poems are my way of finding myself.’ 
 
 A young black poet blending spoken word and rap; an inner city upbringing with a Cambridge education; a social consciousness with a satirical wit and infectious rhythm – George The Poet is the voice of a new generation. 
 
Search Party is a thought-provoking and deeply autobiographical collection. From the overtly political ‘Go Home’ to the deeply personal ‘Full-time’; the narrative poems that offer vivid and unapologetic snapshots of inner-city life, such as ‘His Mistakes’, ‘Believer’ and the anthemic ‘My City’; to the provocative social commentary in ‘Lazy Dog’ and ‘YOLO’; to the inspiring, idea-driven pieces such as ‘The Power of Collaboration’ and ‘School Blues’, George takes poetry into new territories and to new audiences, offering a different way to talk about the things that matter, to explore his own experience and ideas, and encourage others explore theirs. 
 
George The Poet’s mesmerising and unforgettable live performances have earned him critical acclaim. From sell-out headline gigs and YouTube hits, to recording his own music, and now his first collection of poetry, George uses his work to speak truth to power and challenge our preconceived ideas about the society we’re living in. 
 
Whether you’re searching for yourself, for answers, for change – join the search party.

Introducing George The Poet

Search Party: A Collection of Poems

Daniel Goldberg

Linus Larsson

Just a few years ago, Markus Persson was a bored IT-developer in Stockholm. In the evenings, he toiled away on a labour of love: a game with a tiny but dedicated online following. It was called Minecraft and Markus released it to the world in early 2009. The game itself looks deceptively simple. It resembles a digital version of Lego – bricks stacked on top of each other, giving players a world where they build whatever structures their mind can conjure. A breath of fresh air compared to the industry giants’ shooter games. In the space of a few years, Minecraft has become one of the most astonishing success stories of the internet age, attracting millions of players and proving how a single great idea can topple empires in the digital, post-industrial world. 
 
This is the story of the man behind the game. Here Markus opens up for the first time about his life. About his old Lego-filled desk at school, the first computer his father brought home one day and also about growing up in a family marked by drug abuse and conflict. But above all it is the story of the fine line between seeming misfit and creative madman, and the birth of a tech visionary.

Minecraft

The Unlikely Tale of Markus 'Notch' Persson and the Game that Changed Everything

Britney Fuller

‘To start: it was just me and my mom. I am an only child, and she is a single parent. My mother is a trash hoarder. Ever since I can remember the house was always messy and stunk. At around age 9ish I noticed that something was wrong. I started throwing bags of trash away every day, just to have my mom freak out when she got home. We didn’t eat at home anymore because the fridge was disgusting, and she used the sink as a trash can, so it got clogged. We always ate out, we never had a home-cooked meal, and I’ve never had a family dinner at a dinner table. I had a stool in the corner of the living room. That is what I sat on, and that alone. I kept that corner as clean as I could. Made sure there was foot space, and that there wasn’t dust on the walls. That was my corner, my space. It never seemed to matter though, eventually that spot would get overrun with trash too...’ 
 
Trash is Britney Fuller's shocking account of growing up in the house of a hoarder.

Trash

An Innocent Girl. A Shocking Story of Squalor and Neglect.

Jane Plume

'I’m glad I could do her this one last favour. If it had been the other way round, I know Gina would have done the same for me.’ 
 
Jane and Gina were the best of friends. When Gina’s husband Shaun was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2009, Jane vowed to do everything she could to help her best mate and her two small sons through the awful time to come. 
 
But things were about to take a tragic turn for the worse. In 2010, Gina was killed in a shock car crash. Though devastated by her own grief, Jane knew that Gina needed her now more than ever – to help with the boys she had left behind. And after cancer claimed Shaun's life, Jane stepped in to care for the two orphans, becoming the mother her best friend could no longer be. 
 
This is the moving true story behind an incredible act of love.

Please Don't Cry

A family torn apart by grief. An incredible act of love.

Katie Beers

Carolyn Gusoff

In December 1992, a nine-year-old girl was kidnapped and locked in a secret underground dungeon. She was chained by the neck in a coffin-shaped box. She was regularly raped. She thought she would die in that dank, dark hole. But, somehow, she survived to tell the tale. 
 
Virgin Books is proud to publish HELP ME by Katie Beers, an extraordinary true story which has already shot straight into the Top Ten in The New York Times. 
 
But perhaps what’s most troubling about Katie’s tale is that, as the world started hunting for this lost little girl, it uncovered a horrific scale of abuse carried out by her godparents before she was taken. Katie was neglected. She was treated like a slave. She was sexually abused from the age of two. And no one had ever noticed, or cared, or helped. 
 
Katie needed to be rescued … instead, she was groomed by another paedophile and taken to a dungeon hell. 
 
In HELP ME, Katie recalls memories long since buried, writing together with the journalist who uncovered the awful crimes against her, to create a unique book: part crime thriller as the search for Katie intensifies; part inspiring memoir, as Katie frankly describes the horror of facing your own death, and tells us how she survived to build a new life.

Help Me

A Vulnerable Girl. A Dungeon Hell. A Staggering True Story of Survival

Tom Jones

A seasonal snapshot of things to do in England at any time of the year, come rain or shine (or more likely just rain!). Beautifully illustrated with bitesize entries, this is the perfect gift for anyone wanting to discover all of the gems England has to offer... 
 
'Excellent and unusual book - a wonderful way of discovering and planning things to do and places to visit you would never have thought of' -- ***** Reader review 
'A travel guide with humour' -- ***** Reader review 
'Good fun and interesting' -- ***** Reader review 
'A great gift for all ages' -- ***** Reader review 
'Must have book for anyone who's interesting in a staycation or any fans of weekend mini-breaks' -- ***** Reader review 
'Takes you on a journey to places you never knew existed...' -- ***** Reader review 
 
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Using a mixture of unique seasonal events and interesting places to visit (all presented in attractive bite-sized entries), Mad Dogs and Englishmen is a browsable gift book aimed at those who are interested in getting to know their home country better as well as tourists seeking to make the most of their stay in England. 
 
In more than 220 pages, divided into months, Tom Jones demonstrates the diversity of England as a country; presenting interesting, unusual and thought-provoking things to do which also enlighten the reader, and convey the message that England is a great place to live and explore all year round. 
 
Go to a tree cathedral, collect glass on the beach, pretend to be a spy, visit a pub with no beer, go curling and canoeing, walk in the footsteps of dinosaurs - the possibilities are endless! 
 
'England is a country which requires more than a second look, an amazingly diverse place, offering almost-unlimited landscapes, culture and history, and a diversity of opportunities which is unrivalled anywhere else in the world.'

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

A Year of Things to See and Do in England

Piers Paul Read

On Thursday August 8, 1963, fifteen masked men stopped the night train from Glasgow to London and robbed it of £2,500,000 (the equivalent of £41 million today). It was called the crime of the century, and the thieves were relentlessly pursued by Scotland Yard until half the gang were behind bars serving huge prison terms. But the story did not end there. First one, then another escaped in thrilling style and fled abroad, catching the world's imagination and making the Train Robbers into folk heroes. 
 
Thirteen years later, the gang combined to tell their story, and Piers Paul Read, author of the bestselling Alive, agreed to write it. This is the classic, complete and exclusive story of the twentieth-century's most audacious crime and its even more sensational aftermath.

The Train Robbers

Their Story

Sarbjit Kaur Athwal

In 1998, Sarbjit Athwal was called by her husband to attend a family meeting. It looked like just another family gathering. An attractive house in west London, a large dining room, two brothers, their mother, one wife. But the subject they were discussing was anything but ordinary. At the head of the group sat the elderly mother. She stared proudly around, smiling at her children, then raised her hand for silence. ‘It’s decided then,’ the old lady announced. ‘We have to get rid of her.’ 
 
‘Her’ was Surjit Athwal, Sarbjit’s sister-in-law. Within three weeks of that meeting, Surjit was dead: lured from London to India, drugged, strangled, and her body dumped in the Ravi River, never to be seen again. 
 
After the killing, risking her own life, Sarbjit fought secretly for justice for nine long, scared years. Eventually, with immense bravery, she became the first person within a murderer’s family ever to go into open court in an honour killing trial as the Prosecution’s key witness, and the first to waive her anonymity in such a trial. As a result of her testimony, the trial led to the first successful prosecution of an honour killing without the body ever being found. 
 
But her story doesn’t end there. Since the trial, her life has been threatened; her own husband arrested after an allegation of intimidation. Shamed is a story of fear and of horror – but also of immense courage, and a woman who risked everything to see that justice was done.

Shamed

The Honour Killing That Shocked Britain – by the Sister Who Fought for Justice

Mark Leigh

Herewith a handful of sample entries to tickle your funny bones… 
 
In the 1824 war between Britain and Ashanti (now part of Ghana), the British Redcoats found themselves surrounded by 10,000 fierce Ashanti warriors, and running very low on ammunition. Their commander ordered Charles Brandon, the army’s stores manager, to break open the reserve ammunition he’d ordered. As the Ashanti advanced Brandon began to open the ammunition boxes – only to find he had brought the wrong supplies. They were all full of biscuits. 
 
The grandfather of film star Lana Turner owned a half share in a brand new company that had started bottling a fizzy drink. He thought the drink’s name would affect its saleability and wanted to change it – without success. In frustration and as a protest he sold his 50%. It’s a pity really because Coca-Cola became quite popular… 
 
Italian Vittoria Luise was out driving during a fierce storm in Naples. A huge gust of wind blew his car into the River Sele. The car began to sink, but the calm motorist managed to break a window and swim to safety. He dragged himself onto the riverbank – and it was here that he was hit by a falling tree and killed. 
 
The Times of 19 October 1986 carried the story of Emilio Tarra, a crewmember of the 1986 America’s Cup race, who was driving from Perth towards Adelaide during the Australian leg of the race. En route, his car sideswiped a kangaroo, leaving it sprawled across the road. 
 Tarra got out of his car and, assuming the kangaroo was dead, decided to take a novelty photograph to show his colleagues. Dressing the kangaroo up in his smart team blazer, he propped it against his car to take its photograph. As he was focusing his camera, the kangaroo, which had only been stunned, woke up and bounded back off into the bush, taking with it the jacket, which contained Tarra’s passport, $2,000 worth of cash and his credit cards.

Epic Fail

The Ultimate Book of Blunders

Donald Rumbelow

Fully updated and revised, Donald Rumbelow’s classic work is the ultimate examination of the facts, theories, fictions and fascinations surrounding the greatest whodunit in history. 
 
The Complete Jack the Ripper lays out all the evidence in the most comprehensive summary ever written about the Ripper. Rumbelow, a former London Metropolitan policeman, and an authority on crime, has subjected every theory – including those that have emerged in recent years – to the same deep scrutiny. He also examines the mythology surrounding the case and provides some fascinating insights into the portrayal of the Ripper on stage and screen and on the printed page. More seriously, he also examines the horrifying parallel crimes of the Düsseldorf Ripper and the Yorkshire Ripper in an attempt to throw further light on the atrocities of Victorian London.

Complete Jack The Ripper

While many lawyers are honest, for Gangland figures, the best lawyer is often corrupt – a ‘shyster’ – who will act as a go between with the police, provide false alibis, bribe and intimidate witnesses, jurors and judges and occasionally organise robberies and burglaries. Sometimes these lawyers even kill or may be killed themselves. 
 
Gangland: The Lawyers brings us such lawyers as Frank Ragan, who acted for three mob leaders, and James Sawyer, the barrister and forger involved in the first Great train Robbery. From the amazing story of Gambino crime boss John Gotti (the ‘Teflon Don’) and his attorney Bruce Cutler, to the American judge Joseph Peel, who had his co-judge killed, James Morton presents a worldwide history of these shady individuals and their seedy but compelling stories.

Gangland: The Lawyers

Dean Unkefer

From 1950 through the late 1960s, America feared two great enemies: Communism and illegal drugs. While the espionage stories have been well publicised, the war against drugs was far more violent and has remained mostly secret. In New York City, the centre of organised crime and drug import, the offices of the newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics were based at 90 Church Street. While the FBI refused even to acknowledge organised crime, these agents stood alone against a well-organised Mafia and vicious drug cartels. To survive against impossible odds, the agents used incredibly brutal and cunning tactics to make cases and bring the war to a stalemate. Using an ever-expanding network of criminal informants held together by secret immunity deals, the sinister reputation of 90 Church grew along with the rising body count. 
 
In 1968, alarmed politicians launched an ill-fated investigation into the Bureau's operations. Accusations were made against the agents, and now fighting a war on two fronts, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics was dissolved and its agents discredited. 
 
Though some names and sequences have been changed to protect identities, 90 Church is the real story of a young agent's downward slide into hell as he falls victim to addiction, deception, violence, and shifting loyalties.

90 Church

The True Story of the Narcotics Squad from Hell

B Reynolds

Bruce Reynolds

8 August 1963; a railway track in Buckinghamshire. The moon shines clearly over Bruce Reynolds and sixteen other men robbing a train of its sacks of money. The Great Train Robbery has entered British folklore as one of the most audacious and extraordinary crimes of the twentieth century. The haul £2,631,684 - is, in todays money, a staggering £26 million. 
 
Bruce Reynolds, the leader of the gang, was sentenced to 25 years in prison; even the Commissioner of the Met, Sir Robert Mark, thought that excessive. On its first publication in 1995 Bruce Reynolds autobiography was widely acclaimed and it is now regarded as a classic in the true crime genre. Now reissued with a new introduction and final chapter, the story is brought up to date to include the return of Ronnis Biggs to the UK, the deaths of Buster Edwards, Roy James and Taters Chatham and the continuing story of Reynolds life since his release from jail, as well as dozens of previously unseen photographs.

The Autobiography of a Thief

The Man Behind The Great Train Robbery

Fatima Whitbread

Fatima Whitbread had the worst possible start in life. Abandoned as a baby, she spent much of her childhood in and out of children's homes. A brief, disastrous stay with her birth mother saw her raped by her mother's drunken boyfriend - while her mother held a knife to her throat to 'quieten her down'. Fatima was only twelve at the time. 
 
Athletics was her saviour: local athletics coach Margaret Whitbread took the young Fatima under her wing, eventually adopting her. Fatima competed in three Olympics, winning bronze at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. In 1986 she set a world record, and the following year in Rome became world champion and was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year. But then Fatima faded from the public eye, leaving many to wonder where she had gone. 
 
After the cheering stopped, Fatima faced prejudice, penury, scandal and heartbreak. Survivor describes how she defeated all her demons to rise triumphantly from the ashes once again, this time as queen of the jungle. Almost 13 million people watched her on I'm a Celebrity, and after surviving 20 days in the Australian heat, she has millions of new fans eager to know more about Fatima the woman: the forthright, focused, slightly bossy, charismatic single mum who knows how to transform even the most devastating experiences into lessons in life. This is the unforgettable story of a true champion, who triumphed against the worst hardships imaginable.

Survivor

The Shocking and Inspiring Story of a True Champion

Barbara Natterson Horowitz

Kathryn Bowers

Concerns about the recent explosions of diseases like HIV, the West Nile Virus, and other avian and swine flus that originate in animals have encouraged new efforts on a global scale to bridge the gap between animal and human medicine for the benefit of both. Zoobiquity is the first book to explore many of the human and animal health issues that overlap and provides new insight into the treatment of many diseases including diabetes, cancer, heart disease and mental illness. 
 
But Zoobiquity is even bigger than health and academic medicine, and encompasses much more than our diseases and how to cure them. It sheds light on the evolution of hierarchies and similarities between a tribe of apes and a Fortune 500 company. It suggests that the ways we run our political and justice systems may overlap with how animals protect and defend their territories - and that examining this possibility in a scientifically credible way could help strengthen our institutions. It dangles the possibility that human parenting could be informed by a greater knowledge and respect for how our animal cousins solve issues of childcare, sibling rivalry and infertility.

Zoobiquity

What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human

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.

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