Michael Symmons Roberts’s fourth book of poetry, Corpus, was the winner of the 2004 Whitbread Poetry Award, and was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize, the Forward Prize, and the Griffin International Prize. His sixth collection, Drysalter, was the winner of both the Forward Prize and the Costa Poetry Prize in 2013. He collaborated with Paul Farley on Edgelands (Cape/Vintage) and will do so again in The Deaths of the Poets (Cape, 2017). He has also worked many times with the composer James MacMillan. He has published two novels, and is Professor of Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Michael Symmons Roberts

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Jack Sheffield

As the 1982 school year begins, Jack Sheffield returns to Ragley village school for his sixth year as headteacher. Nora Pratt celebrates twenty-five years in her coffee shop, Ronnie Smith finally tries to get a job, and little Krystal Entwhistle causes concern in the school Nativity play. It's the time of ET and Greenham Common,. Price William's birth, Fame legwarmers and the puzzling introduction of the 20p piece. Meanwhile, for Jack, the biggest surprise of his life is in store...

Educating Jack

Winston Groom

With an Introduction by 
P.J. O'Rourke 
 
 
 
THE WORLD WILL NEVER 
BE THE SAME ONCE 
YOU'VE SEEN IT THROUGH 
THE EYES OF FORREST GUMP 
 
America's most lovable new hero is winning smiles and hearts everywhere these days - in the Paramount motion picture, Forrest Gump, starring Tom Hanks, and in the novel by Winston Groom 
(available in Black Swan paperback), hailed by critics as one of the funniest books they've ever read.Now the fun continues in this delightful confection of wit and wisdom from the world according to Gump... 
 
'ALWAYS BE ABLE TO LOOK BACK AND SAY "AT LEAST I DIDN'TLEAD NO HUMDRUM LIFE"'

Gumpisms: The Wit & Wisdom Of Forrest Gump

The year is 1969 and Jack Sheffield is a young teacher in need of a job. 
 
In a room full of twenty-nine other newly qualified teachers, he's overjoyed when he's appointed to Heather View Primary. Jack is excited to start his first year there and to begin shaping young minds in a beautiful new location on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. 
 
But Heather View isn't as idyllic as it first sounds. In fact, it looks more like a prison than a primary school. With less than adequate funding and a head teacher who doesn't seem to care, it's no easy task to give the kids the education they deserve. But Jack's determined to do just that. 
 
Full of warmth and good humour, Back to School is like taking a nostalgic walk through the past to a simpler time... 
_____________________ 
 
What readers are saying: 
 
***** 'I felt I was transported back in time. This was a joy to read.' 
***** 'By chapter 3 I loved this book so much that I ordered two other titles by this author!' 
***** 'So uplifting and joyous.' 
_____________________ 
 
Praise for Jack Sheffield: 
 
 'Wry observation and heartwarming humour in equal measure.' Alan Titchmarsh 
 'Overflowing with amusing anecdotes.' Daily Express 
 'Amusing adventures at the North Yorkshire village school.' Choice 
 'Jack Sheffield's in a class of his own.' York Press

Back to School

The delightful, feel-good novel from the author of the Teacher series

Phil Beadle

Phil Beadle is a former rock musician, the winner of the Secondary Teacher of the Year Award 2005, and the inspirational teacher who wowed the nation with his unorthodox teaching methods in Channel 4 series THE UNTEACHABLES. There, his bizarre but effective approach to teaching English included Punctuation Kung-Fu, and reciting Macbeth to a field of cows. Through techniques such as these Beadle seemingly achieved the impossible by successfully drawing out the desire to learn from a group of failing pupils. 
 
Now his focus is on spreading the word to parents: every child has the ability to learn, and to do better at school. In this book he tells parents that there is no such thing as a stupid child, only boring lessons. Intelligent, unconventional, humorous and inspirational, this hands-on guide blends personal anecdotes with the nitty gritty of how to best unlock your children's unique intelligence, and how to ensure they have the best possible chance to succeed at school.

Could Do Better!

Help Your Kid Shine At School

Terry Pratchett

Stephen Briggs

A Discworld series quote book. Go beyond the novels to discover more about the fantastically funny and gloriously inventive world of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. 
 
'A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores.' From, THE FIFTH ELEPHANT 
 
'Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened.' From, MOVING PICTURES 
 
The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld is a collection of the wittiest, pithiest and wisest quotations from this extraordinary universe, dealing one-by-one with each book in the canon. Guaranteed to transport you back to your favourite or forgotten Discworld moments it is the perfect book for die-hard Pratchett fans, as well as anyone coming to the Discworld for the first time.

The Wit And Wisdom Of Discworld

1984 - and it's an important time for the children of Ragley-on-the Forest school... Their school choir is to sing a carol in a church in York, and is actually going to be on television! Helping to keep his excited children, not to mention their parents, under control during these momentous events taxes Jack and his staff to the limit. 
 
And at the same time, Jack has his own problems to deal with...

Silent Night

David Hand

Why is it that incredibly unlikely phenomena actually happen quite regularly and why should we, in fact, expect such things to happen? Here, in this highly original book - aimed squarely at anyone with an interest in coincidences, probability or gambling - eminent statistician David Hand answers this question by weaving together various strands of probability into a unified explanation, which he calls the improbability principle. 
 
This is a book that will appeal not only to those who love stories about startling coincidences and extraordinarily rare events, but also to those who are interested in how a single bold idea links areas as diverse as gambling, the weather, airline disasters and creative writing as well as the origin of life and even the universe. The Improbability Principle will change your perspective on how the world works – and tell you what the Bible code and Shakespeare have in common, how to win the lottery, why Apple's song shuffling was made less random to seem more random. Oh and why lightning does in fact strike twice...

The Improbability Principle

Why coincidences, miracles and rare events happen all the time

Walter Mischel

A child is presented with a marshmallow and given a choice: Eat this one now, or wait and enjoy two later. What will she do? And what are the implications for her behaviour later in life? 
 
Walter Mischel’s now iconic 'marshmallow test,' one of the most famous experiments in the history of psychology, proved that the ability to delay gratification is critical to living a successful and fulfilling life: self-control not only predicts higher marks in school, better social and cognitive functioning, and a greater sense of self-worth; it also helps us manage stress, pursue goals more effectively, and cope with painful emotions. But is willpower prewired, or can it be taught? 
 
In his groundbreaking new book, Dr. Mischel draws on decades of compelling research and life examples to explore the nature of willpower, identifying the cognitive skills and mental mechanisms that enable it and showing how these can be applied to challenges in everyday life--from weight control to quitting smoking, overcoming heartbreak, making major decisions, and planning for retirement. 
 
With profound implications for the choices we make in parenting, education, public policy and self-care, The Marshmallow Test will change the way we think about who we are and what we can be. And since, as Mischel argues, a life with too much self-control can be as unfulfilling as one with too little, this book will also teach you when it’s time to ring the bell and enjoy that marshmallow.

The Marshmallow Test

Understanding Self-control and How To Master It

Craig Unger

THE EXPLOSIVE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
'A bombshell.' Daily Mail 
 
'Damning, terrifying and enraging.' The Spectator 
 
House of Trump, House of Putin offers the first comprehensive investigation into the decades-long relationship among Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and the Russian Mafia that ultimately helped win Trump the White House. 
 
It is a chilling story that begins in the 1970s, when Trump made his first splash in the booming, money-drenched world of New York real estate, and ends with Trump’s inauguration as president of the United States. That moment was the culmination of Vladimir Putin’s long mission to undermine Western democracy, a mission that he and his hand-selected group of oligarchs and associates had ensnared Trump in over more than two decades of shady business associations. 
 
As Unger traces Donald Trump's sordid ascent from foundering real estate tycoon to leader of the free world, House of Trump, House of Putin, reveals the deep-rooted alliance between the highest echelons of American political operatives and the biggest players in the frightening underworld of the Russian Mafia. Examining Russia's phoenixlike rise from the ashes of the post-Cold War Soviet Union, Unger reveals its ceaseless covert efforts to retaliate against the West and reclaim its status as a global superpower, and how such ambitions came to compromise the president. 
 
Without Trump, Russia would have lacked a key component in its attempts to return to imperial greatness. Without Russia, Trump would not be in the White House. This essential book is crucial to understanding the real powers at play in the shadows of today’s world.

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