Steve Roud was Local Studies Librarian for the London Borough of Croydon and served as Honorary Librarian of the Folklore Society for over fifteen years. He has been researching British folklore for over thirty years and is the joint author of the Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore, plus other books on traditional drama and folk song, and the Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland, which won the Katharine Briggs Folklore Award in 2004. His publications include London Lore (2008) and The Lore of the Playground (2010). He also compiles the Folk Song Index and the Broadside Index, two internationally acclaimed computer databases of traditional folk and popular song. He lives in Sussex.

Steve Roud

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Tristram Hunt

Josiah Wedgwood, perhaps the greatest English potter who ever lived, epitomized the best of his age. From his kilns and workshops in Stoke-on-Trent, he revolutionized the production of ceramics in Georgian Britain by marrying technology with design, manufacturing efficiency and retail flair. He transformed the luxury markets not only of London, Liverpool, Bath and Dublin but of America and the world, and helping to usher in a mass consumer society. Tristram Hunt calls him 'the Steve Jobs of the eighteenth century'. 
 
But Wedgwood was radical in his mind and politics as well as in his designs. He campaigned for free trade and religious toleration, read pioneering papers to the Royal Society and was a member of the celebrated Lunar Society of Birmingham. Most significantly, he created the ceramic 'Emancipation Badge', depicting a slave in chains and inscribed 'Am I Not a Man and a Brother?' that became the symbol of the abolitionist movement. 
 
Tristram Hunt's hugely enjoyable new biography, strongly based on Wedgwood's notebooks, letters and the words of his contemporaries, brilliantly captures the energy and originality of Wedgwood and his extraordinary contribution to the transformation of eighteenth-century Britain.

The Radical Potter

Josiah Wedgwood and the Transformation of Britain

Stephanie Shirley

Richard Askwith

In 1962, Stephanie "Steve" Shirley founded an IT software company when the concept of software barely existed. The company created huge opportunities for women in tech, allowing them to work on projects like the programming of the black box flight recorder from the comfort of their own home. The business thrived and Shirley gradually transferred ownership of the company to those who worked for it, creating 70 millionaires in the process. 
 
Let it Go explores Shirley's trail blazing career as an entrepreneur but it also charts her incredible personal story - her dramatic arrival in England as an unaccompanied Kindertransport refugee from Germany and the tragic death of her son, Giles, who suffered severely from Autism. Today, Dame Stephanie Shirley is one of Britain's leading philanthropists, devoting most of her time, energy and money to supporting and creating charities in the areas of Autism and STEM. This is an engrossing story of an extraordinary life, filled with lessons in what it means to be human.

Let It Go

My Extraordinary Story - From Refugee to Entrepreneur to Philanthropist

Steve Coll

From twice-Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Steve Coll comes Private Empire, winner of the FT/GOLDMAN SACHS BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2012 
 
The oil giant ExxonMobil makes more money annually than the GDP of most countries; has greater sway than US embassies abroad; and spends more on lobbying than any other corporation. Yet to outsiders it is a mystery. In Private Empire, award-winning reporter Steve Coll tells the truth about the world's most powerful and shadowy company. 
 
From the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989 to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, via Moscow, the swamps of the Niger Delta and the halls of Congress, he reveals a story of dictators, oligarchs, civil war, blackmail, secrecy and ruthlessness. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and newly declassified documents, this is a chilling portrait of unchecked power. 
 
Reviews: 
 
'Magisterial ... a revealing history of our time' New York Review of Books 
 
'Meticulous, multi-angled and valuable ... Coll's prose sweeps the earth like an Imax camera' Dwight Garner, The New York Times 
 
'Jaw-dropping reading' Kirkus Reviews 
 
'The definitive work on its subject ... at every stop there are vivid anecdotes, sharp insights and telling details' Ed Crooks, Financial Times 
 
About the author: 
 
Steve Coll is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Bin Ladens. He is president of the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy institute headquartered in Washington, D.C., and a staff writer for The New Yorker. He won a Pulitzer prize for explanatory journalism while working at the Washingon Post. He is the author of six other books, including the bestseller Ghost Wars, which won him a second Pulitzer prize. He lives in Washington and New York.

Private Empire

ExxonMobil and American Power

Dan McCrum

When journalist Dan McCrum followed a tip to investigate the hot new tech company challenging Silicon Valley, everything about Wirecard looked a little too good to be true: offices were sprouting up around the world, it was reporting runaway growth and the CEO even wore a black turtleneck in tribute to Steve Jobs. In the space of a few short years, the company had come from nowhere to overtake industry giants like Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank on the stock market. 
 
As McCrum dug deeper, he encountered a story stranger and more dangerous than he ever imagined: a world of short sellers and whistleblowers, pornographers and private militias, hackers and spies. Before long he realised that he wasn't the only one in pursuit. Shadowy figures were following him through the streets of London, high-flying lawyers were sending ominous letters to his boss, and he was named as the prime suspect in a criminal inquiry. The race was on to prove his suspicions and clear his name. 
 
Money Men is the astonishing inside story of Wirecard's multi-billion-dollar fraud, Europe's biggest new tech darling revealed as a house of cards. Uncovering fake bank accounts, fake offices and possibly even a fake death, McCrum offers a searing exposé that will finally lay bare the truth.

Money Men

A Hot Startup, A Billion Dollar Fraud, A Fight for the Truth

Ken Segall

'Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. -Steve Jobs 
 
The obsession with Simplicity is what separates Apple from other technology companies. It's what helped Apple recover from near death in 1997 to become the most valuable company on Earth in 2011, and guides the way Apple is organized, how it designs products, and how it connects with customers. It's by crushing the forces of Complexity that the company remains on its stellar trajectory. 
 
As creative director, Ken Segall played a key role in Apple's resurrection, helping to create such critical campaigns as 'Think Different' and naming the iMac. Insanely Simple is his insider's view of Jobs' world. It reveals the ten elements of Simplicity that have driven Apple's success - which you can use to propel your own organisation. Reading Insanely Simple, you'll understand how his obsession with Simplicity helped Apple perform better and faster.

Insanely Simple

The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success

Lionel Barber

Gambling Man is the biography of one of the world’s least known but most consequential investors. Japan’s Masayoshi Son has made and lost several fortunes, investing or controlling assets worth $1 trillion in the past two decades through his media-tech giant, SoftBank. He bankrolled Alibaba, China’s internet colossus, before the world had heard about it; plotted with Steve Jobs to turn the iPhone into a wonder product; and financed hundreds of tech start-ups, fuelling the biggest boom Silicon Valley has ever seen.This book takes you on Son’s wild ride, from his birthplace in a Korean slum in post-war Japan to the modern-day temples of power. It speeds through Donald Trump’s golden skyscraper in Manhattan, the royal palaces of Riyadh and the throne rooms of China’s Marxist rulers; all places where Son has deployed his unique blend of financial engineering and crazy risk-taking.Son’s story captures a 25 year-span of hyper-globalisation in which money, technologies and ideas flowed freely. From the launch of the microchip to the advent of artificial intelligence, he has ridden the technological wave which has created extraordinary wealth and economic change. His topsy-turvy business career is testimony to the power of optimism, daring to dream, ever in search of the Next Big Thing.As an ethnic Korean in Japan, Son has overcome adversity and discrimination to become Japan’s best-known businessman and empire-builder but he remains an elusive, intensely private figure. This book, by a former editor of the Financial Times, contains a wealth of new information and has had the co-operation of many of the key participants, including Son himself. Written with a verve appropriate to its subject, Gambling Man reveals the man behind the money, what drives him, why he matters, and what he plans for his next act.

Gambling Man

The Wild Ride of Japan’s Masayoshi Son

Bill Gates

Everyone is programmed a bit differently. Source Code tells the human, personal story of how Bill Gates became who he is today. Taking us back to his beginnings, Gates describes with candour his childhood in Seattle, the centrality of family – his close relationship with his card-playing grandmother and his demanding but caring parents – his struggles to fit in, his rebelliousness, his first deep friendships and the impact of losing his closest friend. 
 
We follow his extraordinary development as a restless teenager who discovered a love of coding and computing at the dawn of a new era, and see the earliest signs of the phenomenal business acumen that led him to drop out of Harvard at the age of 20 to devote all his energies to Microsoft. We also learn what distinguishes him from others in his line: from his first encounters with the three Steves – Jobs, Wozniak and Ballmer – to when Microsoft signed its first deal with Apple in the late 1970s and beyond, Gates never forgot his mother’s reminder that he was merely a steward of any wealth that he gained. 
 
This warm and inspiring book allows readers to understand Gates's energy and ambition – and to see how he sets himself in the world.

Source Code

My Beginnings

Jeremy Clarkson

CLARKSON'S BACK - AND THIS TIME HE'S PUTTING HIS FOOT DOWN 
 
From his first job as a travelling sales rep selling Paddington Bears to his latest wheeze as a gentleman farmer, Jeremy Clarkson's love of cars has just about kept him out of trouble. 
 
But in a persistently infuriating world sometimes you have to race full-throttle at the speed-bumps. 
 
Because there's still plenty to get cross about, including: 
 
· Why nothing good ever came out of a meeting 
· Muesli's unmentionable side effects 
· Navigating London when every single road is being dug up at once 
· People who read online reviews of dishwashers 
· ****ing driverless cars 
 
Buckle up for a bumpy ride - you're holding the only book in history to require seatbelts . . .

Really?

Morgan Spurlock

A tongue-in-cheek - and burger in hand - look at the legal, financial and physical costs of our hunger for fast food, by the funniest and most incisive new voice since Michael Moore. Can a man live on fast food alone? Morgan Spurlock tried. For thirty days he ate nothing but three 'square' meals a day from McDonald's as part of an investigation into the effects of fast food on our health. Don't Eat This Book gives the full background story to the experiment that so captivated audiences around the world in the documentary Super Size Me, and explores in further depth the connections between the rise of fast food and obesity. In this groundbreaking and hilarious book of epic portions, Morgan Spurlock lays bare the devastating facts for all to see

Don't Eat This Book

Dana Thomas

In Gods and Kings Dana Thomas, author of Deluxe, tells the story of how John Galliano and Alexander McQueen changed the face of fashion 
 
In the first decade of the 21st century the fashion world was dominated by two different but equally successful and turbulent figures. Within twelve months, Alexander McQueen had committed suicide, and John Galliano had professionally imploded. Who was to blame? And how was fashion changed by their rise and fall? Spanning the 80s, 90s and noughties, Gods and Kings tells the story of these two charismatic figures and times of great change in the world of fashion, from London's raucous art and club scene to the old-world glamour of Parisian couture, and reveals the machinations of this notoriously secretive industry.

Gods and Kings

The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano

Alistair Coleman

The great British public are masters of the art of grumbling and no complaint is too trivial for the pages of our local newspapers. They are full of people pointing wanly at a bin, a mouldy pie, or even the empty space where their stolen bicycle isn't. This book will open up the APILN archives to find the all-time best stories from this much-loved blog, exploring popular subjects for fury, hilarious photos, weird news, angry poetry, furious letters and more.

Angry People in Local Newspapers

Scott Belsky

Silicon Valley is full of start-up success stories; every day stories emerge of a new company with the potential for a billion-dollar valuation and plans for global domination. 
 
But what can we really learn from these stories? How many of these start-ups are genuinely successful in the long term? When nine out of ten start-ups end in spectacular burnout, how can we ensure our own success story? 
 
While most books and press focus on the more sensational moments of creation and conclusion, The Messy Middle argues that the real key to success is how you navigate the ups-and-downs after initial investment is secured. It will give you all the insights you need to build and optimize your team, improve your product and develop your own capacity to lead. Building on seven years' of meticulous research with entrepreneurs, small agencies, start-ups and billion-dollar companies, Scott Belsky offers indispensable lessons on how to endure and thrive in the long term.

The Messy Middle

Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture

Alan Ruddock

Michael O'Leary is a business giant. He transformed Ryanair from a loss-making joke of an Irish carrier into one of the most valuable airlines in the world, and in the process he has revolutionized the very nature of commercial aviation. In this, the first biography of O'Leary, Alan Ruddock portrays the man in three dimensions and examines the business miracle &ndash; often talked about but poorly understood &ndash; that O'Leary has wrought.

Michael O'Leary

A Life in Full Flight

Jane Martinson

You May Never See Us Again is the definitive story of David and Frederick Barclay - commonly known as the Barclay brothers. Born poor, these enigmatic twins built one of the biggest fortunes in Britain together and spent six decades at the epicentre of British business, media and politics. Their empire, said to be worth &pound;7bn at its height, included Littlewoods, the Ritz, The Daily Telegraph and the channel island of Brecqhou. 
 
And yet despite their fortune and influence, the Barclays' desire for privacy meant that their story has remained largely unknown - until a very public family dispute pitched Barclay against Barclay in the High Court. 
 
Journalist Jane Martinson unravels the fascinating story of these once inseparable brothers. Through their lives she offers compelling insights into post-war Britain, from the conditions that enabled their way of doing business to thrive through to the tightly enmeshed webs of influence between capitalism, politics and the media that shape Britain today.

You May Never See Us Again

The Barclay Dynasty: A Story of Survival, Secrecy and Succession

Brian Johnson

'It wasn't me. I didn't do it. And I'll never do it again!' says Brian Johnson of The Lives of Brian. That AC/DC's legendary front man got to do it all is one of the most cheering and entertaining stories in rock 'n'roll history. 
 
 The son of a British army sergeant-major and Italian mother, Brian grew up in Dunston, Tyne and Wear, as it emerged from the shadow of the Second World War. Then he saw Little Richard on the BBC and it changed the course of his life. 
 
 The choirboy and cub scout was going to be singer. 
 
 For over a decade he tried to make his mark with a succession of bands. He appeared on to Top of the Pops, toured Australia and yet the big time looked out of reach. Then he was invited to London for an audition for one of the world's biggest rock acts. AC/DC were a band in crisis following the tragic death of their lead singer, Bon Scott, but with Brian on board they would record their masterpiece: Back in Black. It became the biggest selling rock album of all time. The tour that followed played to packed out arenas. Quickly embraced by the band's fans, the new boy had earned his spurs. But there was to be a twist in the tale. In 2016, Brian was forced to quit the band after being diagnosed with hearing loss, only to make a triumphant return to the band he loved with the release of 2020's smash hit album Power Up. 
 It's been a rollercoaster of a life, throughout which Brian's kept his feet firmly on the ground, never losing touch with his roots. 
 
 Warm, vivid, evocative, life-affirming and often laugh-out-loud funny, The Lives of Brian tells the story of one of our most well-loved performers in his own inimitable voice

The Lives of Brian

The Sunday Times bestselling autobiography from legendary AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson

Emily Maitlis

If you think you know the news, think again. 
 
 In this behind-the-scenes, no holds barred account of life on Newsnight in the seconds before, during and after going on air, Emily Maitlis discloses the wrangling, bust-ups, blow-ups, pleading, last-second script-shreddings, scoops, walk-outs and unexpected love-ins that we never see on-screen. 
 
 Covering everything from the Paris terror attacks to Grenfell, #MeToo to President Clinton's love affairs, Boris Johnson, goat yoga, and interviews with everyone from Emma Thompson and Tony Blair to Donald Trump and Russell Brand, Airhead is a brilliant exposé of the moments that never make the news. 
 
 'A wonderfully sane book for our unhinged times' Simon Schama 
 
 'Vividly chronicles the pains and perils of news television' Guardian 
 
 'Emily has a style that would make you enjoy her report on the end of the world' Jeremy Vine 
 
 'Fluent, conversational and funny. Acerbic, hilarious' Evening Standard 
 
 'Searing honesty, compassion, intelligence . . . engages at every level' Daily Mail 
 
 'Irresistible. Her book's a romp' The Times

Airhead

The Imperfect Art of Making News

These days, you might know him better as a tractor-driving Gentleman Farmer, but Jeremy Clarkson wasn't always a horny-handed son of the soil. 
 
Not at all . . . 
 
Back in the day Jeremy was far more likely to be found gunning around the world in a haze of burnt rubber and petrol fumes. But life as a globe-trotting petrol-head also meant he was forced endure more than his fair share of foolishness, frustration and downright bafflement. And, while Jeremy may not a patient man, you have to ask why anyone should have to consider issues as diverse and perplexing as: 
 
- The downsides of relaxing in a bath of crude oil 
- Why fishing is for people who hate their kids 
- Whether there are noise-cancelling headphones with the power to silence James May 
- Why saving the planet means soggy paper straws and no more children 
- What to do about the rambler who stole his marrow 
 
But as puzzling and exasperating as life on the road often seemed to be, you could always count on Jeremy to set the world to rights with a rare wit and unique understanding. And at full throttle. Just don't expect it to all go smoothly . . .

Can You Make This Thing Go Faster?

David Niven

The Moon's a Balloon is an account of one of the most remarkable lives Hollywood has ever seen. From early tales of school, army and wartime hi-jinx, Niven shows how, even as an unknown young man, he knew how to live the good life. But it is his astonishing stories of life in Hollywood, working and partying with the legends of the silver screen - Lawrence Oliver, Vivien Leigh, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Marlene Dietrich, Noel Coward and dozens of others, while making some of the most acclaimed films of the last century - which turn Niven's memoir into an outright masterpiece.

The Moon's a Balloon

The Classic Hollywood Memoir

Clare Pollard

What is The Tiger Who Came to Tea really about? 
 How is Meg and Mog related to Polish embroidery? 
 And why does death in picture books involve being eaten? 
 
Fierce Bad Rabbits explores the stories behind our favourite picture books, weaving in tales of Clare Pollard's childhood reading and her re-discovery of the classic tales as a parent. Because the best picture books are far more complex than they seem - and darker too. Monsters can gobble up children and go unnoticed, power is not always used wisely, and the wild things are closer than you think.

Fierce Bad Rabbits

The Tales Behind Children's Picture Books

Gregory Zuckerman

In 2006 the US was running out of energy. From running a city to turning on a lightbulb, the entire country depended on dwindling energy sources tied up in international politics. Then came the Frackers. 
 
Ambitious and headstrong, these few pioneers - some without degrees or backgrounds in geology - risked their livelihoods in the stubborn search under the soil. What they found transformed the nation, and the world. 
 
With exclusive access, award-winning reporter Gregory Zuckerman chronicles their untold story for the first time and explores just how dangerous fracking really is.

The Frackers

The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Energy Revolution

Jay Rayner

I have been a restaurant critic for over a decade, written reviews of well over 700 establishments, and if there is one thing I have learnt it is that people like reviews of bad restaurants. No, scratch that. They adore them, feast upon them like starving vultures who have spotted fly-blown carrion out in the bush. 
 
They claim otherwise, of course. Readers like to present themselves as private arbiters of taste; as people interested in the good stuff. I'm sure they are. I'm sure they really do care whether the steak was served au point as requested or whether the soufflé had achieved a certain ineffable lightness. And yet, when I compare dinner to bodily fluids, the room to an S &amp; M chamber in Neasden (only without the glamour or class), and the bill to an act of grand larceny, why, then the baying crowd is truly happy. 
 
Don't believe me? Then why, presented with the chance to buy this ebook filled with accounts of twenty restaurants - their chefs, their owners, their poor benighted front of house staff - getting a complete stiffing courtesy of the sort of vitriolic bloody-curdling review which would make the victims call for their mummies, did you seize it with both hands?

My Dining Hell

Twenty Ways To Have a Lousy Night Out

Francis Bourgeois

The adventure filled memoir from the world's most beloved trainspotter, TikTok sensation Francis Bourgeois. 
 
'Francis is one of the kindest, most genuine people I've met in a long time. His passion and unadulterated happiness is inspiring. I can't wait for more magical adventures with him.' - Joe Jonas 
 
'A National Treasure Of The TikTok Age.' - Grazia 
 
'Thrashing builds and builds. I look down and pull up my sleeve: I've got goosebumps, making all the hairs on my arm stand on end. I'm absolutely buzzing.' 
 
From sleeping in a car to get a good shot of 73962 Dick Mabbutt to trainspotting with Niall Horan, Francis Bourgeois has been on one hell of a ride over the past year. Bringing joy to millions, his epic journeys have highlighted the importance of connecting with your passions. 
 
In The Trainspotter's Notebook, Francis shares his greatest trainspotting adventures and takes you with him across the fields and footbridges of Britain, passing through historic terminals and backwater stations in pursuit of tones, thrash and locomotive perfection. Told in his inimitable style, these hilarious and heart-warming tales take you behind the scenes of his most popular videos, and celebrate the places and people of the railway. 
 
Are you ready to depart? 
 
'Oh for goodness sake, I'm on the wrong platform!'

The Trainspotter's Notebook

Andrew Ridgeley

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
For the first time, Andrew Ridgeley - one half of one of the most famous bands in the world - tells the inside story of Wham!, his life-long friendship with George Michael and the formation of a band that changed the shape of the music scene in the early eighties. 
 
In 1975 Andrew took a shy new boy at school under his wing. They instantly hit it off and their boyhood escapades at Bushey Meads School built a bond that was never broken. The duo found themselves riding an astonishing rollercoaster of success, taking them all over the world. They made and broke iconic records, they were treated like gods, but they stayed true to their friendship and ultimately to themselves. It was a party that seemed as if it would never end. And then it did, in front of tens of thousands of tearful fans at Wembley Stadium in 1986. 
 
Andrew's memoir covers in wonderful detail those years, up until that last iconic concert: the scrapes, the laughs, the relationships, the good and the bad. It's a unique and one-and-only time to remember that era, that band and those boys.

Wham! George & Me

Celebrate 40 Years of Wham! with the Sunday Times Bestseller

Dr. Kelly Weinersmith

Zach Weinersmith

What will the world of tomorrow be like? How does progress happen? And why don't we have a lunar colony already? In this witty and entertaining book, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith give us a snapshot of the transformative technologies that are coming next - from robot swarms to nuclear fusion powered-toasters - and explain how they will change our world in astonishing ways. By weaving together their own research, interviews with pioneering scientists and Zach's trademark comics, the Weinersmiths investigate why these innovations are needed, how they would work, and what is standing in their way.

Soonish

Ten Emerging Technologies That Will Improve and/or Ruin Everything

Tom Jones

In a career that has spanned six decades, Sir Tom Jones has performed with almost every major recording artist, from Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis and Sinatra, to Robbie Williams, Van Morrison and Jessie J, across every imaginable genre, from rock and pop to country, blues and soul. The one constant throughout has been his unique musical gift and unmistakable voice. 
 
In this, his first ever autobiography, Tom revisits his past, both personal and professional, exploring the twists of fate that took a boy from a poor Welsh coal-mining family to global celebrity status. He charts the stories behind the hits as well as the ups and downs of his professional life - from the heyday in Las Vegas and subsequent fallow years in the 1980s to his renaissance and comeback, thanks to the direction and management of his son, Mark - as well as shedding a light on the life he has led behind the cameras and the stage.

Over the Top and Back

The remarkable autobiography from a national treasure

Charles Fishman

Charles Fishman takes us into the heart of the biggest company on earth, ever, to show how the &lsquo;Wal-Mart effect&rsquo; shapes lives everywhere, whether for cleaners in America, bicycle-makers in China or salmon farmers in Chile. Now Wal-Mart&rsquo;s influence is so great it can determine everything from working practices to market forces themselves, Fishman asks: how did a shop manage to do all this? And what will the ultimate cost of low prices be?

The Wal-Mart Effect

How an Out-of-town Superstore Became a Superpower

In November 2016 we woke up to the news that the forthright presenter of a popular television programme had become the most powerful man on the planet. His name, sadly, was not Jeremy Clarkson, but we might not have been any more surprised if it had been. 
 
 Because the world seems to have taken a decidedly odd turn since Jeremy last reflected on the state of things between the covers of a book. But who better than JC to help us navigate our way through the mess? 
 
 And while he's being trying to make sense of it all he's discovered one or two things along the way, including 
 
- The disabling effects of being vegan 
- How Blackpool might be improved by drilling a hole through it 
- The problem with meditation 
- A perfect location for rebuilding Palmyra 
- Why Tom Cruise can worship lizards if he wants to 
 
 It's all been a bit unsettling. 
 
 But don't worry. If You'd Just Let Me Finish is Clarkson at his best. He may be as bemused, exasperated, amused and surprised as the rest of us, but in a world gone crazy, thank God someone has still got his head screwed on ...

If You’d Just Let Me Finish

Fashion may be fabulous, but what price true luxury? With incredible access to the glamorous world of the luxury brand, Deluxe goes deep inside the workings of today&rsquo;s world of profit margins and market share to discover the fate of real luxury. From the importance of fashion owners, to red carpet stars and the seasonal &lsquo;must-have&rsquo; handbags, Dana Thomas shows how far illustrious houses have moved from their roots. Thomas witnesses how these &lsquo;luxury&rsquo; handbags are no longer one in a million, discovers why luxury brand clothing doesn&rsquo;t last as long, and finds out just who is making your perfume. 
 
From terrifying raids on the Chinese sweat shops to the daunting chic of Paris workshops, from the handcrafting and economics of early-twentieth century designers to the violent truth behind the &lsquo;harmless&rsquo; fakes, Deluxe goes deep into the world of extravagance, and asks: where can true luxury go now?

Deluxe

How Luxury Lost its Lustre

Daniel Levitin

Dividing the sum total of human musical achievement, from Beethoven to The Beatles, Busta Rhymes to Bach, into just six fundamental forms, Levitin illuminates, through songs of friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion and love, how music has been instrumental in the evolution of language, thought and culture. And how, far from being a bit of a song and dance, music is at the core of what it means to be human. 
 
A one-time record producer, now a leading neuroscientist, Levitin has composed a catchy and startlingly ambitious narrative that weaves together Darwin and Dionne Warwick, memoir and biology, anthropology and a jukebox of anecdote to create nothing less than the ' soundtrack of civilisation' .

The World in Six Songs

How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature

James Patterson

To be a bookseller or librarian . . . 
 
You have to play detective. 
 
Be a treasure hunter. A matchmaker. A brilliant listener. 
 
A person who creates a kind of magic by pulling a book from a shelf, handing it to someone and saying, 'You've got to read this. You're going to love it'. 
 
In this love letter to the heroes of literacy, James Patterson uncovers true stories from booksellers and librarians. Prepare to enter a world where you can feed your curiosities, discover new voices, and find whatever you need. 
 
Meet the smart and talented people who live between the shelves - and who can't wait to help you find your next great read. 
 
_________________________________ 
 
PRAISE FOR JAMES PATTERSON 
 
'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades.' LEE CHILD 
 
'James Patterson is The Boss. End of.' IAN RANKIN 
 
'The master storyteller of our times' HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON 
 
'One of the greatest storytellers of all time' PATRICIA CORNWELL 
 
'Patterson is in a class by himself' GUARDIAN

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