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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Trevor Norton

Smoking Ears and Screaming Teeth is a hilarious celebration of the great eccentrics who have performed dangerous experiments on themselves for the benefit of humankind, written with all the wit, humour and eye for the beauties of nature - and machinery and scientific equipment - that have gained Trevor Norton a cult following and critical acclaim. 
 
Many have followed the advice of the great Victorian scientist Jack Haldane to 'never experiment on an animal if a man will do' and 'never ask anyone to do anything you wouldn't do yourself.'.He and his father inhaled poisonous gasses to test the efficacy of the prototype gas mask they had invented. When breathing gasses under pressure he suffered the smoking ears and screaming teeth of the title. 
 
The stories are astonishing, disturbing or absurd - the Marquis de Sade meets Monty Python. John Hunter pioneered self-experimentation and deliberately infected himself with venereal diseases by the puss transference method and gave his name to chancre of the penis. The zoologist Frank Buckland made a concentrated effort to widen the nation's diet by personally testing everything that crossed his path, from boiled elephant's trunk to bluebottles. He published recipes for such delicacies as slug soup. Some medics deliberately contracted deadly blood diseases in the hope of finding cures. Then there was the the surgeon who got the sack and won the Nobel prize for thrusting a catheter into his own beating heart. 
 
Trevor Norton writes that self-experimentation is still a component of much scientific research. In our health and safety obsessed society, we need people who are willing to risk themselves to make life safer for us.

Smoking Ears and Screaming Teeth

Mark Wallington

The original Boogie, reluctant hero of the South West Peninsular Path, was the Mongrel from hell. Mark Wallington's New Boogie, like New Labour, appears a much trendier and more wholesome incarnation -until, that is, Mark gets him on the Pennine Way. This is the big one in every sense. Clearly Boogie will do fine -but will Mark be up to the task?

Pennine Walkies

Simon Carr

When Simon Carr's wife, Susie, tragically loses her battle with cancer, Simon is left to raise his five-year-old son, Alexander, on his own. Soon after, his eleven-year-old son from a previous marriage, Hugo, comes to live with them too. All too quickly, plumped-up cushions, crisp beds and a drifting scent of rosemary from the kitchen are replaced with a floor piled high with video-games, Lego® and comics. While visiting mothers deem his parenting 'semi-feral', Simon dryly retorts that his methods are simply 'free-range'.In this new all-male partnership, Simon faces the challenges of parenthood unaided, as father and sons alike learn to become a family again. 
 
Carr's emotionally honest, compellingly anarchic and sharply comic story of a single parent's struggle is at once heartbreaking and wonderfully life-affirming.

The Boys Are Back

Peter J Bentley

'Shit happens', as the saying goes, but if you want to know why it does, the Undercover Scientist is on hand to explain all. Making his way through one of those days when everything seems to go wrong, Peter Bentley investigates the fascinating science that lies behind the most apparently mundane mishaps - from sleeping through the alarm to battling with immovable superglue - and shows you how to fight back against these everyday disasters.

The Undercover Scientist

Investigating the Mishaps of Everyday Life

Philippa Forrester

When TV presenter Philippa Forrester first met Charlie, a wildlife cameraman, she thought he was a show-off - and he thought she was arrogant. The second time, despite being hungry, thirsty and trapped in torrential rain aboard the world's most uncomfortable boat, they fell in love. 
 
This is the story of their move out of London, deep into the heart of the English countryside. When they impulsively buy an old mill-worker's cottage, they are entranced by its river, teeming with kingfishers, mink and water fowl. But they are overjoyed when they spot an animal long thought to have abandoned the area: an otter, swimming happily past their house. Inspired, they decide to make a film about the otters on their doorstep ... at the same time as having a baby, setting up house, and pursuing their careers. Unsurprisingly, things turn out to be easier said than done. 
 
Written with endless charm and real affection, featuring a cast of memorable characters, The River is packed with hilarious stories spanning floods, chicken keeping and wildlife watching. The result is sheer delight.

The River

A Love Story, a New Life in the Country, and One Idyllic Year With Otters

David Bellamy

David Bellamy is a natural story teller whose memoir is packed full of funny anecdotes and observations. He depicts wonderfully a childhood of discovery and adventure growing up in Carshalton during the second world war.  Despite rationing and evacuation, these were happy days of tremendous freedom spent roaming the wonderland of the surrounding countryside searching for bugs, beetles and bits of old shrapnel which young Bellamy and his brother would smuggle home to  their father's shed for their firework-making sessions. His growing love of nature is interwoven with loving, often hilarious, portraits of the various characters he meets along the way.   From his days as a student in fifties London to his trial by fire lectureship at Durham University with a young wife and ever-growing family to support, Bellamy reveals his many great loves from sports cars to ballet.  He also writes of his more serious concerns, with his reputation for being outspoken and undeterred in the face of big enterprises and corporations revealed in his battles and campaigns.

A Natural Life

Molly Watson

When two city girls embark on an afternoon of idle window-shopping in Worcestershire and end up buying a horse, their lives swerve gloriously off course. Within weeks they have abandoned their careers in London in favour of life in the wilds of Ledbury. But their dreams of a sunny rural idyll, preferably funded by a landed local bachelor, are quick to shatter. Thrown into a hair-raising world where the horses have cocaine habits and the locals have developed their own alternative to Viagra, Molly Watson and her sister Annabel make their way through the maelstrom that is country life to hilarious effect.

In The Pink

A Rural Odyssey

Lisa Lynch

Updated with new material, The C Word is the incredibly moving, darkly humorous account of one woman's fight against breast cancer. Now a BBC Drama starring Sheridan Smith. 
 
The last thing Lisa Lynch had expected to put on her 'things to do before you're 30' list was beating breast cancer, but them's the breaks. So with her life on hold, and her mind stuffed with unspoken fears, questions and emotions, she turned to her computer and started blogging about the frustrating, life-altering, sheer pain-in-the-arse inconvenience of getting breast cancer at the age of 28. 
 
The C-Word is an unflinchingly honest and darkly humorous account of Lisa's battle with The Bullshit, as she came to call it. From the good days when she could almost pretend it wasn't happening, to the bad days, when she couldn't bear to wake up, Lisa's story is emotional, heartbreaking and often hilarious. The C-Word will make you laugh and cry, and ultimately reaffirm your faith in life.

The C-Word

Ben Mezrich

Thad Roberts, a fellow in a prestigious NASA programme had an idea - a romantic, albeit crazy, idea. He wanted to give his girlfriend the moon. Literally. 
 
Thad convinced his girlfriend and another female accomplice, both NASA interns, to break into an impenetrable laboratory at NASA's headquarters - past security checkpoints, and electronically locked door with cipher security codes and camera-lined hallways - and help him steal the most precious objects in the world: Apollo moon rocks from every moon landing in history. 
 
Was Thad Roberts - undeniably gifted, picked for one of the most competitive scientific posts imaginable - really what he seemed? 
 
And what does one do with an item so valuable that it's illegal even to own? 
 
Based on meticulous research into thousands of pages of court records, FBI transcripts and documents, and scores of interviews with the people involved, Mezrich - with his signature high-velocity swagger - has reconstructed the madcap story of genius, love, and duplicity all centred on a heist that reads like a Hollywood thrill ride.

Sex on the Moon

Michael Crichton

ER has become the most succesful television series in the world since CHARLIE'S ANGELS. Michael Crichton created the series from his own experiences as a medical doctor in the emergency rooms, operating rooms and wards of Massachusetts General Hospital. FIVE PATIENTS is Michael Crichton's true account of the real life dramas so vividly portrayed in ER. A construction worker is seriously injured in a scaffold collapse: a middle-aged despatcher is brought in suffering from a fever that has reduced him to a delirious wreck; a young man nearly severs his hand in an accident; an airline traveller suffers chest pains; a mother of three is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease.

Five Patients

James Patterson

Cory Friedman was an ordinary fun-loving little boy. But one fateful March morning in 1989, the course of Cory's life changed dramatically. It started with an irresistible urge to shake his head; before long, overtaken by physical urges, tics and compulsions, his body became a volatile, explosive and unpredictable force. 
 
Cory had developed a rare combination of Tourette's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder and other neurological conditions. The life he knew had been torn apart and his family were left watching him suffer. Desperate to help and hopeful of a cure, they embarked on a fifteen-year struggle which took them beyond breaking point.

Torn Apart

The True Story of a Childhood Lost

This is the funny and touching story of a menagerie of eccentric and talented ecologists who, mainly as a hobby, spent forty summers at Lough Ine, a stunning marine lough in a corner of Ireland, where myths seep from the ground like will o' the wisps and, in one of the most unlikely projects in the history of science, were responsible for the reinvention of marine biology. Among the stars of the book are the marine creatures that occupy the lake: sea urchins that won't dine unless they wear a hat, otters that steal experiments, and worms that will only mate by order of the moon. The creatures' eccentric behaviour is matched only by that of the ecologists themselves, whose antics and interactions with their Irish neighbours are all lovingly described with Norton's keen eye for both the wonderful and the absurd. But for all its humour, the book is also a moving account of two ecologists who collaborated for forty years until their friendship came to a tragic end. The book brings together all the rich flavours of Ireland, the wonders of natural history and the magic of being a marine biologist just for the fun of it.

Reflections On A Summer Sea

Stephen Venables

Like the swallows, our son Ollie came in the spring and left in the autumn. Dancing, singing, swooping - there was something birdlike about his energy, joy and laughter - but also the fleeting, enigmatic quality of his life. 
 
When he was two he lost all his speech, as autism turned his life - and ours - into a baffling challenge. Then at four he had to face a new challenge when he almost died from leukaemia. But chemotherapy worked its magic and he made a full recovery. He was a tough survivor and nothing seemed to dim his spirit: he could light up a room and energize everyone around him. So it was a huge shock, after several cancer-free years, when a fatal brain tumour was discovered. This time his body had had enough and he died very suddenly. He was twelve. 
 
Ollie had extraordinary courage and endurance. Time after time he bounced back, determined to enjoy life. He was obstinate, mischievous, playful, flirtatious, quixotic, funny. He generated - and continues to generate - huge amounts of laughter. And he was very beautiful. We always felt that if autism had not unravelled the wiring of his neural pathways, he would have achieved extraordinary things. 
 
This is the story of the journey we made with Ollie. Unlike a mountaineer, pursuing extreme experiences out of choice, he had difficulty thrust upon him: he was forced to be brave. For me, too, the journey was far more compelling than any expedition.

Ollie

The True Story of a Brief and Courageous Life

Paul Bloom

Why is a forgery worth so much less than an original work of art?What's so funny about someone slipping on a banana peel? Why, as Freud once asked, is a man willing to kiss a woman passionately, but not use her toothbrush? And how many times should you baptize a two-headed twin? Descartes' Baby answers such questions, questions we may have never thought to ask about such uniquely human traits as art, humour, faith, disgust, and morality. 
 
In this thought-provoking and fascinating account of human nature, psychologist Paul Bloom contends that we all see the world in terms of bodies and souls. Even babies have a rich understanding of both the physical and social worlds. They expect objects to obey principles of physics, and they're startled when things disappear or defy gravity. They can read the emotions of adults and respond with their own feelings of anger, sympathy and joy. 
 
This perspective remains with us throughout our lives. Using his own researches and new ideas from philosophy, evolutionary biology, aesthetics, theology, and neuroscience, Bloom shows how this way to making sense of reality can explain what makes us human. The myriad ways that our childhood views of the world undergo development throughout our lives and profoundly influences our thoughts, feelings, and actions is the subject of this richly rewarding book.

Descartes' Baby

How Child Development Explains What Makes Us Human

This is the remarkably funny true story of some of the brave, brilliant and often barmy men that invented diving. It is a story of explosive tempers and exploding teeth, of how to juggle live hand grenades and steer a giant rubber octopus. A series of vivid portraits reveal the eccentric exploits of these underwater pioneers. They include Guy who held a world altitude record when only sixteen, wrote a film for Humphrey Bogart, invented snorkelling and loved his wife enough to shoot her. Roy wore a backet over his head and stole a coral reef. Bill wearied of fishing with dynamite and wrestling deadly snakes, so he sealed himself in a metal coffin to dangle half a mile beneath the ocean. Cameron, testing the bouncing bomb for dam busters, made a plastic ear for a dog, a false testicle for a stallion and invented a mantrap disguised as a lavatory. He ascended from a depth of 200 feet without breathing equipment to see if his lungs would burst, then studied the effects of underwater explosions by standing closer and closer until shattered by the blast. The book also traces the evolution of underwater exploration, from spear fishermen to conversationalists, from treasure hunters to archaeologists, from photographers to philosophers. The sea is a secretive and seductive place and the author describes, with incredible humour, knowledge and historical accuracy, the magic and mystery of being beneath the waves.

Stars Beneath The Sea

Jean Ritchie

'I'll always remember that Christmas. It was the day the angel came...' 
 
It is Christmas Eve and Lisa faces another Christmas alone. After running away from home as a teenager to live with a man who treated her badly, Lisa has spent years searching for a peace and happiness that seem forever out of her reach. Now, at the age of 35, although she's settled in a job, she has never managed to open herself up to love. 
 
 
For Lisa has a hidden guilt that's been at the centre of her life for as long as she can remember. And on this lonely Christmas Eve, the burden becomes too much to bear. But then something extraordinary happens, and suddenly Lisa realises that perhaps there is hope. And maybe it's time to forgive herself for her mistakes. There are many obstacles to overcome, but with the help of her angel, Lisa can learn to heal the rifts from her past, and find a love that will last...

The Day the Angel Came

Helena Frith Powell

Sooner or later, it happens to everyone: getting older. Some do it gracefully, others less so, but no one is immune to wrinkles and grey hair creeping up, seemingly overnight. And once they're there, they're hard to shift. 
 
Helena Frith Powell, fashion and lifestyle journalist extraordinaire, didn't even want to think about surrender. Surely, something could be done about advancing age? Armed with potions, lotions and pills (as well as resorting to a few much more extreme measures), she sets out to investigate any and all anti-aging tricks out there. From green tea and botox to yoga and exfoliating masks, To Hell in High Heels is the hilariously funny tale of one woman taking on the body clock, giving you a tried-and-tested survival guide for that ill-fated moment when the first wrinkle dares show its face.

To Hell in High Heels

John Darnton

Matt ans Susan, two rival palaeontologists and former lovers, are summoned by a secret US goverment agency to help locate their college mentor, who has disappeared without trace in the remote mountains of Tajikstan. It appears that a race of Neanderthals have survived on the roof of the world, the high Himalayas. When Matt and Susan finally make contact, the implications of their dramatic discovery are more than simply scientific. These hominids have the uncanny facility for telepathic communication, and both American and Russian agents would like to harness their power for military and espionage purposes. 'Darnton narrates his rollicking tale with just the right tone of straightfaced experience he needs to make everything seem pretty plausible. (In particular the ESP skill of protohumans, something called 'remote viewing', is hair-raisingly believable. ) 'NEANDERTHAL' is perfect vacation reading: entertaining, midly educational and scary enough to make you grateful that the only neanderthals you're likely to meet will be the kind who cut into your lane on the expressway to the beach. ' - Maureen Corrigan, NEWSDAY

Neanderthal

Monty Roberts

'As I left the round pen, I saw the Queen, Prince Philip, and the Queen Mother rise from their seats to come down and join me . . . With a warm smile on her face the Queen put out her hand to shake mine and said, 'That was beautiful'. She said she was amazed by what had happened and how the filly has responded, and she advised me to be proud of the work I was doing.' 
___________________________________________ 
 
When Monty Roberts was thirteen years old he went off alone into the deserts of Nevada to watch mustangs in the wild. What he learned about their methods of communication changed his life forever. 
 
His horse whisperer powers may seem like magic, but his amazing "horse sense" is based on a lifetime of experience and a deep love and understanding of horses. He can take a wild, high-strung horse who has never been handled before and persuade that horse to accept a bridle, saddle, and rider in thirty minutes. 
 
In this remarkable worldwide bestseller, Roberts shares his unforgettable personal story and his exceptional insight into the silent language of horses and nonverbal communication: an understanding that applies to human relationships as well. He shows that between parent and child, employee and employer, abuser and abused, there are forms of communication far stronger than the spoken word that are accessible to all who will learn to listen. 
____________________________________________ 
 
'For anyone who care about animals - not just horses, either - it is required reading' DAILY TELEGRAPH 
 
'The horse whisperer in action . . . more exciting than his fictional counterpart' OBSERVER 
 
'Riveting and inspirational' NEW YORK TIMES 
 
'Monty Roberts is the real thing' TATLER 
 
'Wild horses should not drag you away from finding out more about Monty Roberts' INDEPENDENT 
 
'This book contains some wonderful vignettes of his adventures' THE TIMES 
 
'Absorbing . . . Roberts' story is more fascinating and profound than any told in fiction . . . the kind of life-altering book you never want to finish.' SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE 
 
'A riveting read' HORSE AND HOUND

The Man Who Listens To Horses

The worldwide million-copy bestseller

Paul Osborne

The full, true story of the dog featured on the cover of Clare Balding's HEROIC ANIMALS 
____________________ 
 The incredible true story of Sherlock, the brave dog with a nose for saving lives. 
 
 Firefighter Paul Osborne works with the Fire Investigation Dog unit, where he handles Sherlock - an excitable, bright-eyed cocker spaniel. 
 
What makes Sherlock different? He's the most talented investigative dog the Fire Brigade has ever produced, capable of identifying extraordinarily subtle traces and scents even after thousand-degree blazes - even when he has to wear special protective boots due to the dangerous environments. 
 
Today, Paul and Sherlock fearlessly plunge into the most dramatic fire scenes in London, helping to keep the capital safe around the clock. With remarkable insight into the life of London's most heroic working dog, this inspiring account of the London Fire Brigade's four-legged heroes will delight and amaze. 
 
 Foreword by Dany Cotton, Commissioner for The London Fire Brigade 
 ____________________ 
 Winners of the Mirror and RSPCA Animal Hero Awards 2017 
 
 Written in collaboration with and with full support from the London Fire Brigade

A Brave Dog Named Sherlock

Douglas Adams

Mark Carwardine

‘Descriptive writing of a high order… this is an extremely intelligent book’ The Times 
 
Join Douglas Adams, bestselling and beloved author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and zoologist Mark Carwardine on an adventure in search of the world’s most endangered and exotic creatures. 
 
In this book, Adams’ self-proclaimed favourite of his own works, the pair encounter animals in imminent peril: the giant Komodo dragon of Indonesia, the lovable kakapo of New Zealand, the blind river dolphins of China, the white rhinos of Zaire, the rare birds of Mauritius island in the Indian Ocean and the alien-like aye-aye of Madagascar. Inimitably witty and poignant, Last Chance to See is both a celebration of our most extraordinary creatures and a warning about what we have to lose if we do not act soon. 
 
Featuring a fantastic new foreword by the authors' long-time friend Stephen Fry, and an afterword from Mark Carwardine that considers what has changed since the book was first published, Last Chance to See feels more urgent than ever before. 
 
‘Douglas Adams’ genius was in using comedy to make serious points about the world’ Independent

Last Chance To See

Alastair Campbell

She likes a drink. Everyone has a problem. 
 
Hannah is seventeen. A drink makes her feel better. For a bit. But then she feels worse and the pain inside comes back. 
 
This is the story of Hannah’s addiction as seen by the people around her – her mum, her little sister, her best friend, her best friend’s mother, her mum’s boyfriend… 
 
Powerful and passionate, their voices shed a sometimes shocking, sometimes tender light on a life veering terrifyingly off course. 
 
‘Campbell has taken the vilified, sprawling, drunken youths caricatured in tabloid headlines and, in one young girl, showed us the damaged human beings beneath.’ The Times 
 
‘This superb book is sad, terrifying and uplifting in equal measure. Every parent, every young man or woman and anyone who “likes a drink” should read it.’ Anne Robinson

My Name Is...

Kevin Dutton

'A surprising, absorbing and perceptive book. I found it altogether fascinating' PHILIP PULLMAN 
______________________________________________________ 
 
Psychopath. No sooner is the word out than images of murderers, rapists, suicide bombers and gangsters flash across our minds. 
 
But unlike their film and television counterparts, not all psychopaths are violent, or even criminal. Far from it. In fact, they have a lot of good things going for them. Psychopaths are fearless, confident, charismatic, ruthless and focused - qualities tailor-made for success in twenty-first-century society. 
 
In this groundbreaking adventure into the world of psychopaths, renowned psychologist Kevin Dutton reveals a shocking truth: beneath the hype and the popular stereotype, psychopaths have something to teach us. 
 
With a new introduction from the author 
___________________________________________ 
 
'Highly original . . . provocative and humorous' V. S. RAMACHANDRAN 
 
'This startling study considers whether or not we have anything to learn from psychopaths . . . it's good to know that rubbing shoulders with such dangerous characters hasn't destroyed his sense of humour.' THE TIMES 
 
'Inspiring and revelatory. Dutton's book gave me an insight into who I really am' ANDY McNAB 
 
'Dutton's curiosity takes him from boardrooms and law courts to neurological labs . . . Psychopaths, we learn, are the ultimate optimists; they always think things will work in their favour' GUARDIAN 
 
'The Wisdom of Psychopaths is captivating. Dr. Dutton's book invigorated my consideration of not just a certain television character, but slow-pulsed overachievers everywhere' MICHAEL C HALL (Dexter)

The Wisdom of Psychopaths

Arthur Bloch

Murphy's Law - popularly known as Sod's Law - with acknowledgements to Parkinson's Law and the Peter Principle - explains the truth of man's existence: that if anything can go wrong, it will. In three volumes of murphology, Arthur Bloch has provided the only comfort possible - laughter - for all those who have ever been exasperated by things going wrong, with a set of rules offering a wise and witty view of the human predicament  in the cosmos.

Murphy's Law

Complete

Anthony Clare

Spike Milligan

In 1982, leading psychiatrist and TV presenter Anthony Clare interviewed Spike Milligan for the radio series In The Psychiatrist's Chair, a show in which Clare led revealing interviews with a range of celebrities. He was so overwhelmed by Milligan's account of his forty years of depressive experiences that he knew he had found the person to help him illuminate and explore the mysterious and sometimes terrifying illness that is clinical depression. 
 
Depression and How to Survive It is the result of this collaboration, through which Anthony Clare charts the development of Spike Milligan's illness and the strategies he uses in dealing with the often misunderstood disorder of clinical depression. Drawing inspiration and advice from Spike's experience, Depression and How to Survive It is a book which takes you to the depths of human unhappiness in order to show you the way towards leading a happy life. 
 
A unique book about human psychology from one of Britain's most successful psychiatrists, providing a revelatory insight into the mind of Spike Milligan, everyone's favourite goon.

Depression And How To Survive It

Martin Sturrock desperately needs a psychiatrist. The problem? He is one. 
 
Emily is a traumatised burns victim, Arta a Kosovan refugee recovering from a rape. David Temple is a longterm depressive, while the Rt Hon Ralph Hall MP lives in terror of his drink problem being exposed. Very different Londoners, but they share one thing: every week they spend an hour at the Prince Regent hospital, revealing the secrets of their psyche to Professor Martin Sturrock. Little do they know that Sturrock's own mind is not the reassuring place they believe it to be. For years he has hidden in his work, ignoring his demons. But now his life is falling apart, and as his ghosts come back to haunt him, the only person he can turn to is a patient. 
 
Set over a life-changing weekend, Alastair Campbell's astonishing first novel delves deep into the human mind to create a gripping portrait of the strange dependency between patient and doctor. Both a comedy and tragedy of ordinary lives, it is rich in compassion for those whose days are spent on the edge of the abyss.

All in the Mind

Deborah Coates

Cats have been with us for thousands of year. They are: 
 
Enigmatic friends 
Lone hunters, family pets 
Our garden tigers 
 
and they too can be a man's best friend. The haiku is an ancient and honourable Japanese verse form - three lines, seventeen syllables - encapsulating a vision of the poem's subject; a person, place, even a cat... 
 
CAT HAIKU presents cats as you've never seen them before. In a series of brilliant vignettes, Deborah Coates gets inside the minds of our cats and comes up with some surprising revelations. You will never look at your (or anyone else's) cat the same way again.

Cat Haiku

Dale Winton

For over 25 years, Dale Winton (1955-2018) was one of Britain's most popular stars. 
 
His warm and winning ways made him one of Britain's most popular and powerful personalities on TV, radio and with live audiences everywhere – but Dale's life was far from perfect. 
 
The story of his private life was traumatic and eventful, a tale of childhood insecurity, poverty and heartbreaking family tragedy – but also courage, commitment and strength. In this emotional, heartfelt book, Dale discusses the problems, the pain and the personalities of a life lived to the full in the mad world of showbusiness – as well as his plastic surgery, his lifelong battle with his weight, and the complicated truth about his sexuality. 
 
Rawest and most affecting is his honest account of his relationship with his parents, his bullying father who died on the day of Dale’s bar mitzvah – but particularly his close relationship with his troubled mother, whose struggle with depression ended with her taking her own life, her body found by Dale just days after his 21st birthday. 
 
With an eye to the future as well as his fascinating past, Dale Winton's autobiography will make compelling reading for millions, testament to the legacy of one of Britain's great entertainers.

My Story

Tim Peake

The inspirational autobiography of Britain’s beloved astronaut Tim Peake, the #1 bestselling author of Hello, is this Planet Earth? and Ask an Astronaut 
 
As heard on BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs 
__________________ 
'What surprised me was how entirely serene I felt. I was weightless, no forces exerting themselves on my body. To my left was the Space Station. Below me, gradually going into shadow, was the Earth. And over my right shoulder was the universe.' 
 
In fascinating and personal detail, and drawing on exclusive diaries and audio recordings from his mission, astronaut Tim Peake takes readers closer than ever before to experience what life in space is really like: the sights, the smells, the fear, the sacrifice, the exhilaration and the deep and abiding wonder of the view. 
 
Warm, inspiring and often funny, Tim also charts his surprising road to becoming an astronaut, from a shy and unassuming boy from Chichester who had a passion for flight, to a young British Army officer, Apache helicopter pilot, flight instructor and test pilot who served around the world. Tim's extensive eighteen-year career in the Army included the command of a platoon of soldiers in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, deployment in Bosnia, and operations in Afghanistan. 
 
Full of life lessons for readers of all ages, Limitless is the story of how ordinary can become extraordinary. 
__________________ 
'For someone who has literally been out of this world Tim's an incredibly down to earth guy and I think you'll be amazed at some of the things he has done ... it's so inspiring to know that even going into space didn't change him as much as being a parent did.' JOE WICKS 
 
'Tim is one of our nation's good guys - and his story is a testament to his courage, kindness and a never-give-up spirit.' BEAR GRYLLS 
 
'Full of courage, camaraderie and daring escapades, this reads like a Boys' Own adventure' MIRROR 
 
'A fantastic book' PIERS MORGAN 
 
'Fasten your seatbelt for an exhilarating read ... His accounts of blasting into orbit at 25 times the speed of sound and floating, weightless, around the space station are enthralling.' EXPRESS 
 
Bestseller in the UK, Sunday Times, October 2020

Limitless: The Autobiography

The bestselling story of Britain’s inspirational astronaut

Joao Magueijo

The idea that the speed of light is a constant - at 186,000 miles per second - is one of the few scientific facts that almost everyone knows. That constant - c- also appears in the most famous of all scientific equations: e=mc2- Yet over the last few years, a small group of highly reputable young physicists have suggested that the central dogma of modern physics may not be an absolute truth - light may have moved faster in the earlier life of the universe, it may still be moving at different speeds elsewhere today. 
 
In telling the story of this heresy, and its gradual journey towards acceptance, Joao Magueijo writes as one of the three central figures in the story, introducing the reader to modern cosmology, to the implications of VSL (variable speed of light) and to the world of physicists. The initial rejection of Magueijo's ideas is beginning to give way to a reluctant acceptance that the young men may have a point - only the next few years will tell the final fate of this 'dangerous' idea.

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