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Crazy is a Compliment: The Power of Zigging When Everyone Else Zags
by Linda Rottenberg'Some books on entrepreneurship are of little practical use. Rottenberg's new book is different. Sober, convincing and offers the best ways to build new business ventures' Financial Times 'Linda has tapped into something important - that we all need to be more entrepreneurial these days. With her impressive track record and inspiring story, she shows us all how to overcome our fears and take smart, achievable steps to improve our organisations' Sheryl Sandberg'Buy it. Read it. Live it' Seth GodinThese days everybody needs to think and act like an entrepreneur. We all need to be nimble, adaptive, daring - and maybe even a little crazy - or risk being left behind.But how do you take smart risks without risking it all? Crazy Is a Compliment combines inspiring stories, original research and practical advice to create a road map for getting started and going bigger. It brings to life iconic entrepreneurs like Walt Disney and Estée Lauder, reveals how companies like GE and Burberry have broken the corporate mould, and introduces us to entrepreneurs like Leila Velez, who started an $80 million hair-care company from her kitchen sink in Rio.Whether you're serving coffee and fantasizing about launching a microbrewery or sitting at your desk brainstorming a new idea that can improve your company, Linda Rottenberg provides a road map to getting started, going bigger and achieving your dreams.
Salt, Sweat, Tears: The Men Who Rowed the Oceans
by Adam RackleyFewer people have rowed across the Atlantic than have climbed Everest.Adam Rackley is among them. For 70 days he and his rowing partner ate, slept and rowed in a boat seven metres long and two metres wide, in one of the world's most extreme environments. This is his story of adventure, endurance and self-discovery.They were following in the wake of pioneers. In 1896 a pair of Norwegian fisherman crossed the 2,500 miles in a wooden fishing dory - and their record stood for 114 years. John Fairfax, a smuggler, gambler and shark hunter, was the first to complete the feat single-handedly in 1969. Others have followed; some have not survived the attempt. This is their story, too.
The Vatican Diaries: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church
by John ThavisThe Vatican Diaries is an inside look at one of the world's most powerful and mysterious institutions, by John Thavis.'A humane and realistic and (yes) humorous picture of a mortal institution. To an old Prot like me, it's a tour of alien terrain and a bridge to old and dear friends' Garrison KeillorFor thirty years John Thavis worked for the Catholic News Service in Rome and reported on the inner workings of the Vatican. The Vatican Diaries is his insightful and often very funny account of exactly what goes on in this unique and secretive institution. It's a place where cardinals fight private wars, scandals are constantly threatening to undermine papal authority, and reverence for the past comes up painfully against the considerations of modern life. He describes the politics surrounding the election of a new pope and the beatification of an old one, the angst of dealing with the international issue of sexual abuse, the intricacies of arranging a Papal visit to India, the conflicts involved in trying to build a car park over an ancient Roman burial site - and above all the unfathomable personality of the conservative Pope Benedict XVI, the first pope to resign for 600 years. At this extraordinary moment of crisis in the Church, Thavis's account of its inner workings is invaluable.'One closes John Thavis' perceptive study reflecting on the Vatican's challenge: to persist in a secularizing world sometimes fascinated by the pomp and pageantry of St. Peter's-but often hostile or increasingly indifferent to the Church's determined mission to harmonize warring factions and bickering enemies, even if both are on the same Catholic side' New York Journal of BooksJohn Thavis recently retired as the prizewinning chief of the Rome bureau of Catholic News Service, where he had covered the Vatican since 1983. He is the past president of the International Association of Journalists Accredited to the Vatican, and in 2007 the Catholic Press Association awarded him the Saint Francis de Sales Award, the highest honour given by the Catholic press. He divides his time between Minnesota and Rome.
Last Man Off: A True Story of Disaster and Survival on the Antarctic Seas
by Matt LewisLast Man Off by Matt Lewis - a first-hand account of an ocean tragedy'Reads like a sinister version of The Perfect Storm . . . Thrilling, compelling, unsettling, rewarding' Sunday Times'A story that reminds us of the unforgiving nature of the sea and the courage that lies within the everyday heroes that have found themselves in hell'Bear Grylls*THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER*The waters of Antarctica, June 6th 1998. 23-year-old Matt Lewis has just started his dream job. An observer aboard a deep sea fishing boat, he is mesmerized by his new surroundings: glistening icebergs, killer whales and majestic albatross. As the crew haul in their lines for the day, the waves seem bigger than usual - they are casting shadows on the deck. A storm is brewing.What follows is an astonishing story of human courage, folly and tragedy. With the captain missing, and the crew forced to abandon ship, Lewis leads the escape onto three life rafts, where the battle for survival begins.This brilliantly written and thrilling hour-by-hour account will be enjoyed by readers of non-fiction classics such as A Perfect Storm and Touching the Void, as well as fans of Deadliest Catch, Captain Phillips and 127 Hours. As heard on BBC Radio 4.Matt Lewis was born in Bristol, England, in 1974. He trained as a marine biologist first at Bangor University and then at Aberdeen University, and has an MSc with distinction in Marine and Fisheries Science. In 1998 he got his first deployment as an observer aboard a deep sea fishing boat in the Southern Ocean. The trip was to end in tragedy. He now lives with his wife and two children in Aberdeen.
Benjamin Britten (Penguin Specials)
by Igor Toronyi-LalicBenjamin Britten was one of the most important and unusual figures in twentieth-century music. This is the perfect introduction to his many wonderful works and his fascinating, controversial life.Benjamin Britten single-handedly transformed the reputation of British classical music. The enormous popular appeal of his great works, such as Peter Grimes (1945) and the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1946), make him the most successful opera composer of any born in the twentieth century. But his success was not without controversy and pain: he was accused of fleeing Britain to avoid military service, he was widely known to be sexually obsessed with boys and he suffered an astonishing array of illnesses. This short book combines a colourful overview of his life with pithy descriptions of all of his major musical works, providing an intimate portrait of this highly unusual man and a persuasive account of his influences, reputation and importance.Each chapter tackles a key episode and theme in his life, from his first compositions at the age of 5, his early friendship and collaboration with W H Auden and the beginnings of his life-long relationship with the tenor Peter Pears, through to his great musical successes and the establishment of the influential, if tempestuous, Aldeburgh Festival, as well as his failures, such as his coronation opera Gloriana (known as 'Boriana') and being satirised by Dudley Moore in Beyond the Fringe - and ending with frank discussions of his naïve politics, his troubling sexuality and his glorious musical legacy.Published to coincide with his 100th anniversary of his birth, this is the perfect introduction to a towering figure of British culture.Igor Toronyi-Lalic is a critic and curator. He writes regularly on music for, among others, The Times and Sunday Telegraph. He is a founder of theartsdesk.com, the author of What's That Thing? (2012), a report on public art, and co-director of the London Contemporary Music Festival.
Too Many Tears
by Fiona DoyleAs heard on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour'Ireland and its people know that Fiona Doyle is a trailblazer' Sunday Independent'A wrenching read ... Doyle resists giving her story a Hollywood gloss' Irish Independent'[A] hopeful, horrific read' Ray D'Arcy, Today FM'A testament to her resolve and courage. A remarkable story by a remarkable woman' Irish Times'Always inspirational' National Women's Council of Ireland @NWCI'Fiona Doyle is a hero' Roisin Ingle @roisiningle'Well worth reading' Colette Fitzpatrick, MidWeek, TV3Too Many Tears is the moving and inspiring story of how Fiona Doyle came through the agony and humiliation of being sexually abused by her father, how she foudn the strength to seek justice, and how she coped when, at the final hurdle, it appeared that he was about to escape prison.For as long as she can remember, and well into her teens, Fiona's father raped and abused her. Her mother blamed Fiona for leading him on. The effects on her life were catastrophic.Fiona first reported her father, Patrick O'Brien, to the authorities in the early nineties but the police investigation went nowhere. She made a second complaint in 2010 and this time, it appeared, O'Brien would face the consequences of his crimes . He, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting his daughter and Fiona assumed the next time she came to court, he would be going to jail.Instead, shockingly, having suspended nine years of a twelve-year sentence, the judge released O'Brien on bail. Three days later, following a national outcry and questions in parliament, the presiding judge expressed his 'profound regret' to Fiona Doyle and sent O'Brien to jail.Too Many Tears is Fiona Doyle's story of abuse and its aftermath - the turmoil and isolation she experienced as a child and young girl, the devastating price she continued to pay in her adult life, and how finally she had the courage and tenacity to take on her father - and the authorities - to make him face up to what he had done. It is a startling and inspiring story of survival and hope against the odds.
In Your Prime: Older, Wiser, Happier
by India KnightHumane, witty, wise and full of practical advice: India Knight's guide to ageing is the book every woman has been waiting for.'Our mothers' fifty is not our fifty. We have no map, no blueprint, no nothing. We have no sense of what is and isn't age-appropriate, or even of whether age-appropriateness is still relevant. We're supposed to be grown-up, but we seldom feel it.'Part guide, part memoir, part manual, in In Your Prime India Knight seeks to provide proper, weighty answers to the questions women are asking themselves now. Covering a wide range of subjects from clothes and cosmetics, being a parent to older children, having older parents and what that entails, and of course, the menopause, In Your Prime is the definitive, much-needed guide to approaching middle age with confidence and panache.India Knight is the author of three previous novels: My Life on a Plate, Don't You Want Me and Comfort and Joy. Her non-fiction books include The Shops, the bestselling diet book Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet, the accompanying bestselling cookbook Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet Cookbook and The Thrift Book. India is a columnist for the Sunday Times and lives in London with her three children.
How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness
by Russ Roberts'A fun, fascinating, and original book that will challenge you to become a better version of yourself'Daniel H. Pink, author of DriveWhat does it take to be truly happy? Should we pursue fame and fortune or the respect of our friends and family? How can we make the world a better place? Two hundred and fifty years ago, Adam Smith addressed these fundamental questions in his life-long project, The Theory of Modern Sentiments.Dwarfed by the success of Smith's masterpiece The Wealth of Nations, The Theory of Modern Sentiments has been virtually forgotten. But when Russ Roberts finally picked up the epic tome, he realized he'd stumbled upon the greatest self-help book that almost no one has read.In How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life, Roberts reinvigorates the neglected classic to unearth a treasure trove of timeless, practical wisdom that cuts to the core of what it means to be human. It will challenge you to think about the way you treat others, the decisions you make in pursuit of happiness, and your place in the world.
A Heart So Big
by Rio HogartyRio Hogarty's story of her life in fostering, A Heart So Big, combines the heart-warming nostalgia of Mollie Moran's Aprons and Silver Spoons with heart-breaking stories of children whose lives were blighted by being unloved and uncared for in the style of Cathy Glass.Nearly seventy years ago, Rio started to do her bit for vulnerable children, one child at a time. While she was still in school, she thought nothing of bringing home a schoolmate who needed refuge. It was the start of opening her home and her heart to children in need. She has never stopped.A Heart So Big is the astonishing and moving story of Rio's life and how she has tried to make a difference. She has fostered over 140 children and in 2010, in an award created especially for her, she was named Mother of the Year at the annual People of the Year Awards.It includes stories of trauma - Rio has rescued children from the direst of circumstances and seen the price they pay for the failures of adults. And Rio has had her share of heartache along the way. But it is also a story full of humour, searing honesty and good old-fashioned fighting spirit.Rio Hogarty's A Heart So Big is an uplifting account of an amazing and inspiring life.'She is instinctively protective of children in need, and doesn't take "no" for an answer. She's also fearless.' The Herald
The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty
by Matthew Dixon Nicholas Toman Rick DeLisiA new breakthrough idea about how to win customer loyalty from Matthew Dixon, the bestselling author of The Challenger SaleEveryone knows that the best way to create customer loyalty is with service so good, so over the top, that it surprises and delights. But what if everyone is wrong?In their acclaimed bestseller The Challenger Sale, Matthew Dixon and his colleagues at CEB busted longstanding myths about sales. Now they've turned to a new vital business subject - customer loyalty - with a book that turns conventional wisdom on its head.Companies devote untold time and resources trying to dazzle customers. Yet CEB's careful research proves that is wildly overrated: loyalty has a lot more to do with how well companies deliver on their basic promises than on how dazzling the service experience might be. Forget bells and whistles and just solve your customer's problems. The Effortless Experience lays out the four pillars of a low-effort customer experience, with robust data, insights and profiles. Here are tools and templates you can start applying right away to improve service, reduce costs, and ultimately generate the elusive loyalty that the 'dazzle factor' fails to deliver.The rewards are there for the taking, and the pathway to achieving them is now clearly marked.'A business detective story, in which cherished truths are systematically investigated-and frequently debunked' -Dan Heath, coauthor of Decisive, Switch, and Made to StickMatt Dixon is Executive Director of the Sales & Service Practice at CEB. He is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, and his previous book, The Challenger Sale, was a Wall Street Journal bestseller.Nick Toman is Senior Director of Research for CEB's Sales & Services Practice and is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review.Rick DeLisi is Senior Director of Advisory Services for CEB's Sales & Service Practice and a noted public speaker and facilitator.
Stuff I've Been Reading
by Nick HornbyStuff I've Been Reading by Nick Hornby - the bestselling novelist's rich, witty and inspiring reading diary'Read what you enjoy, not what bores you,' Nick Hornby tells us. And in this new collection of his columns from the Believer magazine he shows us how it's done. From historical tomes to comic books, literary novels to children's stories, political thrillers to travel writing, Stuff I've Been Reading details Nick's thoughts and experiences on books by George Orwell, J.M. Barrie, Muriel Spark, Claire Tomalin, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Jennifer Egan, Ian McEwan, Cormac McCarthy and many, many more. This wonderfully entertaining journey in reading differs from all other reviews or critical appreciations - it takes into account the role that books actually play in our lives.This book, which is classic Hornby, confirms the novelist's status as one of the world's most exciting curators of culture. It will be loved by fans of About a Boy and High Fidelity, as well as readers of Will Self, Zadie Smith, Stewart Lee and Charlie Brooker.
Tide: The Science and Lore of the Greatest Force on Earth
by Hugh Aldersey-WilliamsFrom Cnut to D-Day: the history and science of the unceasing tide explored for the first time.Half of the world's population lives in coastal regions lapped by tidal waters. Yet how little most of us know about the tide.Our ability to predict and understand the tide depends on centuries of science, from the observations of Aristotle and the theories of Newton to today's supercomputer calculations. This story is punctuated here by notable tidal episodes in history, from Caesar's thwarted invasion of Britain to the catastrophic flooding of Venice, and interwoven with a rich folklore that continues to inspire art and literature today.With Aldersey-Williams as our guide to the most feared and celebrated tidal features on the planet, from the original maelstrøm in Scandinavia to the world's highest tides in Nova Scotia to the crumbling coast of East Anglia, the importance of the tide, and the way it has shaped - and will continue to shape - our civilization, becomes startlingly clear.
The Battle for Scotland
by Andrew Marr'We may be about to see a new country - indeed, two new countries, - emerging on these islands. Half a lifetime ago, I sat down to write this book as a work of history. As it's aged, it's become current affairs.'Just twenty years ago it seemed impossible that Scotland would ever get home rule, let alone full independence. Yet very soon there will be a Scottish referendum which will not only decide on this matter but which will have profound consequences for the future of all people on these islands.In The Battle for Scotland, first published in 1992, Andrew Marr provides the historical backdrop to these extraordinary events. He attempts to explain the deep sources of Scottish national feeling and the political will which has brought us to this deeply uncertain time. And in a substantial new introduction, Marr considers how we got here so suddenly, what the stakes really are and what the questions every voting Scot (and every non-voting UK citizen) will be asking themselves.Andrew Marr was born in Glasgow. He graduated from Cambridge University and has enjoyed a long career in political journalism, working for the Scotsman, the Independent , the Economist, the Express and the Observer. From 2000 to 2005 he was the BBC's Political Editor. Andrew's broadcasting includes series on contemporary thinkers for BBC 2 and Radio 4, political documentaries for Channel 4 and BBC Panorama, and Radio 4's 'Start The Week'.
Wild Tales: A Rock And Roll Life
by Graham NashWild Tales by Graham Nash - a classic rock memoir of the legendary Hollies front man and member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungGraham Nash, lead singer and principal songwriter of the Hollies, then member of supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, made the incredible and possibly unique journey from 60s Manchester to Swinging London to sunny California. And along the way he created many of the iconic songs which defined a generation that began with the opening salvos of the British Rock revolution and ended with the last embers of Woodstock: 'Bus Stop', 'Carrie Anne', 'Marrakesh Express', 'Teach Your Children', among many others.In this candid and riveting autobiography Nash tells it all: growing up in poverty in postwar Manchester, founding the Hollies with schoolfriend Allan Clarke and the incredible success that followed, friendships with all the great British bands of the 60s including the Beatles, the Stones and the Kinks, decamping to America and becoming the lover and muse of Joni Mitchell (for whom he wrote 'Our House'),achieving superstardom with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Neil Young.From London to Laurel Canyon, the story is extraordinary: the love, the sex, the jealousy, the drugs, and the magical music-making. With an amazing range of characters including John Lennon, Mama Cass, Janis Joplin, Elton John, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, not to mention Presidents Carter, Clinton and Obama, Wild Tales is one of the great rock and rock stories which befits someone who has been inducted not once but twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.This book will be adored by Graham Nash fans and takes its rightful place in the pantheon of classic music memoirs alongside Book Dylan's Chronicles, Keith Richards' Life and Neil Young's Waging Heavy Peace.Graham Nash was born in Blackpool in 1942 and brought up in Salford. He was cofounder with his schoolfriend Allan Clarke of the Hollies - one of the most successful British pop groups of the 1960s for whom he was lead-singer and one of the principal songwriters. In 1968 he left the UK to live in California, where he became part of the supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (later, after Neil Young joined, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young). Unusually he has been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, for the Hollies and for CSNY, and in 2010 he received the OBE. He is noted for his political and charity work (he played Occupy Wall Street in 2011), is a serious photographer, and has homes in California and Hawaii.
The Guns of August: The Classic Bestselling Account of the Outbreak of the First World War
by Barbara TuchmanBarbara Tuchman's The Guns of August is a spellbinding history of the fateful first month when Britain went to war.War pressed against every frontier. Suddenly dismayed, governments struggled and twisted to fend it off. It was no use . . .Barbara Tuchman's universally acclaimed, Pulitzer prize-winning account of how the first thirty days of battle determined the course of the First World War is to this day revered as the classic account of the conflict's opening. From the precipitous plunge into war and the brutal and bloody battles of August 1914, Tuchman shows how events were propelled by a horrific logic which swept all sides up in its unstoppable momentum.'Dazzling' Max Hastings'Magnificent' Guardian'Fascinating, splendid, glittering. One of the finest works of history' New York Times'A brilliant achievement' Sunday TelegraphBarbara Tuchman achieved prominence as a historian with The Zimmerman Telegram and international fame with the Pulitzer-Prize winning The Guns of August. She is also the author of The Proud Tower, Stilwell and the American Experience in China (also awarded the Pulitzer Prize), A Distant Mirror and The March of Folly. She died in 1989. The Proud Tower and The Zimmerman Telegram are published by Penguin.
The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914 (Papermacs Ser.)
by Barbara TuchmanBarbara Tuchman's The Proud Tower is a haunting account of Britain on the cusp of total war - reissued for the 2014 Centenary.The last government in the Western world to possess all the attributes of aristocracy in working condition took office in England in June of 1895 . . .In this now classic work, Pulitzer prize-winning historian Barbara Tuchman explores the quarter century leading up to the First World War, from the dying embers of the British aristocracy to the fitful eruptions of the anarchist movement. She provides a compelling portrait of the key figures and conflicting ideologies of this time, giving an intimate view of an epoch that was soon to be swept away by the tide of history.'Her intention is to make the age alive for us, and in that she abundantly succeeds' Daily Telegraph'Tuchman has a gift of recreating a period and a mood by an inspired selection of detail and sheer narrative sweep. A volcano of a book' Evening Standard'Impeccable scholarship and literary polish. Impossible to read without pleasure and admiration' New York TimesBarbara Tuchman achieved prominence as a historian with The Zimmerman Telegram and international fame with the Pulitzer-Prize winning The Guns of August. She is also the author of Stilwell and the American Experience in China (also awarded the Pulitzer Prize), A Distant Mirror and The March of Folly. She died in 1989. The Guns of August and The Zimmerman Telegram are published by Penguin.
The Zimmermann Telegram: America Enters The War, 1917-1918
by Barbara TuchmanBarbara Tuchman's The Zimmerman Telegram is one of the greatest spy stories of all time.Nothing can stop an enemy from picking wireless messages out of the free air - and nothing did. In England, Room 40 was born . . .In January 1917, with the First World War locked in terrible stalemate and America still neutral, German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmerman gambled the future of the conflict on a single telegram. But this message was intercepted and decoded in Whitehall's legendary Room 40 - and Zimmerman's audacious scheme for world domination was exposed, bringing America into the war and changing the course of history. The story of how this happened and the incalculable consequences are thrillingly told in Barbara Tuchman's brilliant exploration.'A most exciting book, full of vivid pen portraits and curious episodes' Sunday Times'As thrilling as a John Buchan novel' The Times Literary Supplement'Its 200 pages are worth more than all the thrillers and whodunits of the fiction writers put together'Herald'A fine exciting book told with intense drama. A thriller of real life' Observer'Brilliant. Told with great literary and dramatic talent' New York Times Book ReviewBarbara Tuchman achieved prominence as a historian with The Zimmerman Telegram and international fame with the Pulitzer-Prize winning The Guns of August. She is also the author of The Proud Tower, Stilwell and the American Experience in China (also awarded the Pulitzer Prize), A Distant Mirror and The March of Folly. She died in 1989. The Guns of August and The Proud Tower are published by Penguin.
Big Bang Disruption: Business Survival in the Age of Constant Innovation
by Larry Downes Paul Nunes'A stimulating read...carefully researched and accessibly written...the case studies on disruption alone are worth the cover price' -Financial Times'Everything you need from business school in one very direct book' -Dick Costolo, CEO, TwitterIt used to take years for new products and services to dethrone industry leaders. Now any business can be instantly devastated by something better and cheaper. How can you protect yourself, and harness the power of Big Bang Disruption?No matter what your industry, start-ups can change the market before you even begin to grasp what's happening. The good news is that any business can master the strategy of the start-ups.In Big Bang Disruption, Larry Downes and Paul Nunes show you how to spot the next big thing - before the next start-up does. Based on extensive research by the Accenture Institute for High Performance and interviews from over 30 industries, this essential bookwill give you with the tools to take control of your future.
Signifying Rappers: Rap And Race In The Urban Present
by David Foster WallaceSignifying Rappers is a fun and quirky discovery for any fan of David Foster Wallace or Hip-hop.Signifying Rappers is an old-school classic from David Foster Wallace and his friend and room-mate Mark Costello, first published in 1990, long out of print, and previously unavailable outside the USA.A paean to the golden age of Hip-Hop and the first book to consider seriously its position as a vital force in American culture, Signifying Rappers is a must-read for fans of both Wallace and hip-hop. Set against the legendary 1980s scene, it maps the bipolarities of rap and pop, rebellion and acceptance, glitz and gangsterdom, with an energy and exuberance which is as fresh today as when it was written.'Costello and Wallace's pioneering study is a dazzling performance: informative, provocative, funny, brilliantly written . . . great wit, insight and in-your-face energy' Review of Contemporary Fiction'Both a cogent explication of rap and a cutting, revealing parody of overinflated, pseudointellectual rap criticism' Seattle WeeklyDavid Foster Wallace, who died in 2008, was the author of the acclaimed novels Infinite Jest and The Broom of the System. His final novel, The Pale King, was published posthumously in 2011. He is also the author of the short-story collections Oblivion, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and Girl with Curious Hair. His non-fiction includes several essay collections, including Both Flesh and Not, which was published in 2012, and the the full-length work Everything and More.Mark Costello is the author of two novels, including the National Book Award Finalist Big If. He lives in New York City.
Little Failure: A memoir
by Gary ShteyngartLittle Failure is an autobiography of comic genius by the hilarious Gary Shteyngart.Little Failure - its title the same as the alarming pet-name given to the young Gary Shteyngart by his father when growing up in pre-Glasnost Russia - is one of the most remarkable immigrant memoirs ever written.A candid and deeply poignant story of a Soviet family's trials and tribulations, and of their escape in 1979 to the consumerist promised land of the USA, it is also an exceptionally funny account of the author's transformation from asthmatic toddler in Red Square to 40-something Manhattanite with a receding hairline and a memoir to write.'Kicks ass - more fantastic, more unbelievable than his novels' Mary Karr, author of The Liars' Club 'A marvel of a story. His finest book yet' Zadie Smith'Little Failure is a delight' Aravid AdigaGary Shteyngart was born in Leningrad in 1972. In 2007 he was named one of Granta's Best Young American novelists. His debut The Russian Debutante's Handbook was widely acclaimed (and won the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction), as were his second, Absurdistan (one of the 10 Best Books of the Year in the New York Times) and Super Sad True Love Story. He writes regularly for the New Yorker.
Wild Child: The jaw-dropping true story of a chaotic youth and an unlikely new life
by Alan CroghanWild Child by Alan Croghan: a child's journey through crime, punishment and redemption. From the moment his mother went into labour with him - on a transatlantic flight - Alan Croghan's life was chaotic. As a young boy in north Dublin, he drank, took drugs and rarely attended school. What he loved best was stealing cars, driving them around, and swapping parts with his fellow thieves. By the age of sixteen he had accumulated thirty-five criminal convictions - and yet he'd never been locked up. Fearing that his friends suspected he was a police informer, he contrived to get himself imprisoned. Wild Child - published in trade paperback as Disorganised Crime - is the story of this troubled young boy, and of the man he became - a criminal and alcoholic who eventually had the strength and courage to get sober and go straight. Sometimes shocking, often hilarious, and always gripping, Alan Croghan's memoir is both a true-crime classic and an uplifting story of personal redemption.Alan Croghan was born in Dublin in 1968. After abandoning crime, he worked as a national newspaper journalist. Wild Child is his first book. 'An extraordinary story of an extraordinary life' Matt Cooper, The Last Word, Today FM
Hitler's Scientists: Science, War and the Devil's Pact
by John CornwellIn a rich and fascinating history John Cornwell tells the epic story of Germany's scientists from the First World War to the collapse of Hitler's Reich. He shows how Germany became the world's Mecca for inventive genius, taking the lion's share of Nobel awards, before Hitler's regime hijacked science for wars of conquest and genocidal racism. Cornwell gives a dramatic account of the wide ranging Nazi research projects, from rockets to nuclear weapons; the pursuit of advanced technology for irrational ends, concluding with with penetrating relevance for today: the inherent dangers of science without conscience.
Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York that Changed Music Forever
by Will HermesLove Goes to Buildings on Fire by Will Hermes - Five Years in New York that Changed Music Forever'A must-read for any music fan' (Boston Globe)Crime was everywhere, the government was broke and the city's infrastructure was collapsing, but between 1974 and 1978 virtually all forms of music were being recreated in New York City: disco and salsa, the loft jazz scene and the Minimalist classical composers, hip hop and punk. Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith arrived from New Jersey; Grandmaster Flash transformed the turntable into a musical instrument; Steve Reich and Philip Glass shared an apartment as they experimented with composition; the New York Dolls and Talking Heads blew away the grungy clubs; Weather Report and Herbie Hancock created jazz-rock; and Bob Dylan returned with Blood on the Tracks.Recommended by Nick Hornby, this fascinating and hugely inspiring book will be loved by readers of Just Kids by Patti Smith, Chronicles by Bob Dylan, How Music Works by David Byrne and The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross.'Can literature change your life? Yes ... along came Will Hermes, who cost me several hundred pounds on iTunes and ruptured my relationship with guitars' Nick Hornby, Believer magazine Will Hermes was born in Queens, in the city of which he writes. He is a senior critic for Rolling Stone, and also writes for the New York Times and the Village Voice. He was co-editor of SPIN: 20 Years of Alternative Music.
Agent Storm: My Life Inside al-Qaeda
by Morten Storm Paul Cruickshank Tim ListerAgent Storm - My Life Inside al-Qaeda by Morten StormMorten Storm was an unlikely Jihadist. A 6'1" red-haired Dane, Storm spent his teens with a biker gang or in jail. But after converting to Islam he embarked on a transformation that led from a militant madrassa in Yemen to a close friendship with Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric who would emerge as al-Qaeda's greatest threat to the West.Then Storm's story took another dramatic twist. He lost his faith and was recruited by the CIA, MI6 and MI5, becoming a double agent. His ultimate mission: to bring down his mentor al-Awlaki.This is the searing memoir of a man who sought purpose in a community of believers before rejecting their extremist ideology. In a quest for atonement he lived undercover for five years, travelling the world to complete high profile missions. As well as single-handedly thwarting multiple terrorist attacks, he led the intelligence services to some of al-Qaeda's most dangerous terrorists, all the while knowing his own life was expendable.Agent Storm takes readers inside the Jihadist world like never before, showing the daily life of zealous men set on mass murder: from dodging drones with al-Qaeda leaders in the Arabian desert to Jihadist gyms in Birmingham. It also gives a rare look inside the world's most powerful spy agencies, including their tradecraft, after-hours carousing - and their ruthless use of a beautiful blonde in a honey trap.Filled with hair-raising close calls, coded messages and chilling duplicity, Agent Storm is a captivating real-life thriller.
We Did Nothing: Why the truth doesn't always come out when the UN goes in
by Linda PolmanLinda Polman's We Did Nothing: Why the truth doesn't always come out with the UN goes in is an eye-opening account of peace-keeping operations across the globe.In recent years our newspapers and televisions have brought us stories of the failure of the UN to keep the peace in the modern world. How often have our journalists, our politicians and charity workers turned around and accused the UN of weakness in the face of violence? During the 1990s Polman visited UN peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Haiti and Rwanda to try to understand how resolutions are made and how the peace is lost. The result is this extraordinary, disturbing and utterly compelling book. We Did Nothing shows what the resolutions mean for the people who must live in these battle fields, and for the UN soldiers who are sent to bring order to the terrifying chaos.'A small classic of man's inhumanity to man' Sunday Telegraph'One of the most affecting pieces of writing about man's inhumanity this side of Primo Levi' Guardian'What Michael Herr's Dispatches was to war in the era of Vietnam, this is to the peace keeping era of the nineties' Evening Standard Linda Polman has been a freelance journalist for Dutch radio, television and newspapers. Since the publication of her book in Holland Polman has lectured to government, military and academic audiences throughout the region. She currently lives in Sierra Leone.