US RIGHTS LIST
August 2015
Fiction – page 2 (alphabetical by author)
Non-Fiction – page 21 (chronological by publication date)
Psychology – page 44 (alphabetical by author)
KATE HIBBERT
Joint Rights Director
[email protected]
+ 44 20 3122 6619
JOE DOWLEY
Rights Assistant
[email protected]
+ 44 20 3122 6209
Little, Brown Book Group Ltd
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50 Victoria Embankment
London
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+44 20 3122 6000
FICTION_________________________________________
* Titles marked * are new appearances since October 2014
* TALES FROM THE VATICAN VAULTS by David Barrett
Fantasy | 576pp | Robinson | August 2015
Twenty-eight science fiction and fantasy stories based on an extraordinary secret history
A captivating collection of original science fiction and fantasy stories based on the same alternate world
premise: a collection of documents that have been suppressed by the Vatican and hidden away for years,
centuries in some cases, is revealed when the vaults are thrown open by a reforming pope. In this alternate
reality, Pope John Paul I does not die a month after his accession in 1978; instead he lives on for over thirty
years to become the most reforming pope of all time. In addition to relaxing the rules on birth control and
priestly celibacy he also opens up the most secret parts of the Vatican Library to scholars. In the Vatican's
deepest vaults, documents are discovered which shed new light on world history, containing information
which, if true, would cause many parts of accepted history to have to be rewritten. These include not just
the undercover involvement of the Catholic Church in world affairs, but documented accounts of what really happened in historical
conundrums, the real lives of saints and popes, miracles, magic, angels and even alien encounters.
David V. Barrett is a British sociologist specialising in alternative religions and esoteric belief and history. His most recent book, THE
FRAGMENTATION OF A SECT, is based on his 2009 PhD thesis from the London School of Economics. He also co-runs the London
Fortean Society, for lovers of the weird and wonderful.
* THIN ICE by Quentin Bates
Crime and Mystery | 272pp | Constable | March 2016
Snowed in with a couple of psychopaths for the winter...
When two small-time crooks rob Reykjavik's premier drugs dealer, hoping for a quick escape to the sun, their plans start to unravel
after their getaway driver fails to show. Tensions mount between the pair and the two women they have grabbed as hostages when
they find themselves holed up-country in an isolated hotel that has been mothballed for the season. Back in the capital, Gunnhildur,
Eiríkur and Helgi find themselves at a dead end investigating what appear to be the unrelated disappearance of a mother, her
daughter and their car during a day's shopping, and the death of a thief in a house fire. Gunna and her team are faced with a set of
riddles but as more people are quizzed, it begins to emerge that all these unrelated incidents are in fact linked. At the same time, two
increasingly desperate lowlifes have no choice but to make some big decisions on how to get rid of their accidental hostages.
Quentin Bates was born in England and through a series of coincidences found himself working in Iceland for his gap year. After ten
years writing on the sea and a move back to the UK, Bates took to dry land and began work as a nautical journalist and editor of a
commercial fishing magazine. The Gunnhildur Gisladottir series was born from the author’s own inside knowledge of Iceland and its
society, along with exploring the world of crime.
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* THE HOUSE IN QUILL COURT by Charlotte Betts
Contemporary Fiction | 400pp | Piatkus | January 2016
The stunning new novel from multi-award-winning author Charlotte Betts - set in Regency London
Venetia Lovell lives by the sea in Kent with her pretty, frivolous mother and idle younger brother. Venetia's father, Theo, is an interior
decorator to the rich and frequently travels away from home, leaving his sensible and artistic daughter to look after the family.
Venetia designs paper hangings and she and her father daydream about the imaginary shop they would like to display the best
furniture, fabrics and art to his clients. When a handsome but antagonistic stranger, Jack Chamberlaine, arrives at the Lovell's cottage
just before Christmas bringing terrible news, Venetia's world is turned upside-down and the family have no option but to move to
London, to the House in Quill Court and begin a new life. Here, Venetia's courage and creativity are tested to breaking point, and she
discovers a greater love than she could have ever imagined. Rich with vivid period detail and historical flavour, take a spectacular
journey through vibrant Regency London. If you love Joanne Harris and Philippa Gregory, you will adore Charlotte Betts.
Betts’ debut novel, THE APOTHECARY'S DAUGHTER, won the YouWriteOn Book of the Year Award in 2010 and the Joan Hessayon
Award for New Writers, was shortlisted for the Best Historical Read at the Festival of Romance in 2011 and won the coveted Romantic
Novelists' Association's Historical Romantic Novel RoNA award in 2013. Her second novel, THE PAINTER'S APPRENTICE was also
shortlisted for the Best Historical Read at the Festival of Romance in 2012 and the RoNA award in 2014. THE SPICE MERCHANT'S
WIFE won the Festival of Romance's Best Historical Read award in 2013.
* THE PROMISE Alison Bruce
Crime & Mystery | 304pp | Constable | February 2016
The promise seemed simple. The scars would last a lifetime.
In a single night, Kyle Davidson’s life is derailed. His relationship is over, he is denied access to his young
son and everything important to him is at risk. His thoughts stumble between fear and revenge. He has a
choice to make. Meanwhile, after the tragic end to a previous case, DC Gary Goodhew finds himself
questioning his reasons for returning to work until the badly beaten body of a homeless man is found on
Market Hill. Having known the homeless man for several years, Goodhew feels compelled to be part of the
investigation – but routine lines of enquiry soon take a dark and unexpected turn… Suddenly the Cambridge
back streets hold deadly secrets for Goodhew and the only person who has the answers is planning one
final, desperate act.
Praise for CAMBRIDGE BLUES: You are pulled in relentlessly as Bruce racks up the tension. Menacing and insidious, this is a great
novel - R. J. Ellory; An exciting debut from a very promising new talent - Paul Johnstone
Alison Bruce is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Her five previous DC Gary Goodhew novels are
published by Constable & Robinson. A fan of vintage clothes and the rockabilly music scene, for two years she wrote and presented a
monthly 1950s music feature on the BBC. She is the author of THE BACKS, THE SILENCE, THE CALLING and CAMBRIDGE BLUES.
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* TREACHEROUS STRAND by Andrea Carter
Crime & Mystery | 352pp | Constable | August 2016
TREACHEROUS STRAND is the second in a series of Ben O’Keeffe mysteries set on the Inishowen peninsula in County
Donegal, Ireland
A woman’s body washes up on a remote beach on the Inishowen Peninsula. Partially-clothed, with a strange tattoo on her thigh, she is
identified as Marguerite Etienne, a French woman who has been living in the area. Solicitor Benedicte O’Keeffe is consumed by guilt;
Marguerite was her client, and Ben has failed someone who needed her, with tragic consequences. So when local Sergeant Tom
Molloy dismisses Marguerite’s death as the suicide of a disturbed and lonely woman, Ben cannot let it lie. Ben uncovers Marguerite’s
strange past as a member of a French doomsday cult, which she escaped twenty years previously but not without leaving her baby
daughter behind. Disturbed by what appears to be chilling local indifference to Marguerite’s death, Ben pieces together the last few
weeks of the French woman’s life in Inishowen. What she discovers causes her to question the fragile nature of her own position in
the area, and she finds herself crossing boundaries both personal and professional to unearth local secrets long buried.
Andrea Carter is a barrister living in Dublin. She graduated in law from Trinity College, Dublin in 1991 and qualified as a solicitor,
setting up her own practice on the Inishowen peninsula in 1998. In 2005, she moved to Dublin to practise as a barrister. In 2011 she
was a finalist in the Irish Times Power’s Whiskey Short Story Competition and her short story, WHAT MAISIE DID, was published in
CELEBRATING WHAT REALLY MATTERS - POWER’S WHISKEY SHORT STORY COLLECTION. TREACHEROUS STRAND was long listed
for the 2012 Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair.
DEATH AT WHITEWATER CHURCH by Andrea Carter
Crime and Mystery | 336pp | Constable | September 2015
WHITEWATER CHURCH is the first in a series of Ben O’Keeffe mysteries set on the Inishowen
peninsula in County Donegal, Ireland.
When a skeleton is discovered, wrapped in a blanket, in the hidden crypt of a deconsecrated church,
everyone is convinced the bones must be those of Conor Devitt, a local man who went missing on his
wedding day six years previously. But the post mortem reveals otherwise. Solicitor Ben O’Keeffe is acting
for the owners of the church. An unwelcome face from Ben’s past makes her reluctant to get involved
initially, but when Conor’s brother dies in strange circumstances shortly after coming to see her, she finds
herself drawn in to the mystery. Whose is the skeleton in the crypt and how did it get there? Is Conor
Devitt still alive, and if so is there a link? What happened on the morning of his wedding to make him
disappear? Negotiating between the official investigation, headed up by the handsome but surly Sergeant Tom Molloy, and
obstructive locals with secrets of their own, Ben unravels layers of personal and political history to get to the truth of what happened
six years before.
* THE HOUSE OF MORIARTY by Sam Christer
Crime & Mystery | 496pp | Sphere | March 2016
Sherlock Holmes' greatest nemesis unleashes Victorian London's deadliest assassin in a stunning new Victorian
adventure thriller from the bestselling author of THE CAMELOT CODE.
Cold-blooded killer Simeon Lynch has lived a brutal and glorious life in the employ of the House of Moriarty - the most feared criminal
enterprise in the world. Now, as he faces the noose, Simeon learns dark truths about his master, about Sherlock Holmes and about his
own past. Truths that make him determined to escape and kill again. Follow Simeon's bloody footsteps through the capital's cobbled
alleyways, wretched workhouses and flash taverns as he crosses swords with Sherlock Holmes and the villainous characters of
Victorian London.
Praise for Christer’s previous works: Well-plotted and well-executed, this is a chilling and clever thriller – Daily Telegraph on THE TURIN
SHROUD SECRET; Smart, slick and effective – Daily Mail on THE STONEHENGE LEGACY.
Sam Christer is the internationally bestselling author of THE CAMELOT CODE, THE TURIN SHROUD SECRET, and THE STONEHENGE
LEGACY which has been published in thirty-six countries around the world.
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CATCH ME IF YOU CANNES by Lisa Dickenson
Fiction | Sphere | May 2015 | 320pp
The new romantic comedy by Lisa Dickenson, author of THE TWELVE DATES OF CHRISTMAS
(winner of the Novelicious Debut of the Year award) and YOU HAD ME AT MERLOT.
Jess has decided it's time to get out of her comfort zone and live a little. So when her best friend Bryony, a
journalist on a gossip magazine, is sent to cover the Cannes Film Festival, Jess decides to seize the day and
go along for the ride. Two weeks of glitz, glamour and exclusive entry into celeb-filled parties is just the
kind of adventure Jess needs. Reality soon bites, however, when Jess and Bryony find they're staying in a
dingy hotel far away from all the action and Bryony's expenses budget barely covers a glass of local wine.
Undeterred, the two women are determined to live like the elite and enjoy one fancy night out to begin
their holiday. So what if they have to tell a few white lies along the way? It's just this once. No harm done…
right? Full of hilarious one-liners, sparkling blue seas and plenty of romantic moments, CATCH ME IF YOU
CANNES is the story of two friends, a few white lies and one extremely delicious man.
Praise for THE TWELVE DATES OF CHRISTMAS: a fun, flirty festive read full of Christmas sparkle and romance – Jo Thomas; The
biggest, most sparkly, snow-dusted 5/5! – Tishylou.wordpress; sprinkled with humour, warmth and, of course, Christmas magic; I could
almost smell that gingerbread latte! – Cathy Bramley
Lisa Dickenson was born in the wrong body. She was definitely meant to be Beyonce. Despite this hardship, she grew up in Devon
attempting to write her own, completely copyright-infringing versions of SWEET VALLEY HIGH, before giving Wales a go for
university, and then London a go for the celeb-spotting potential. She's now back in Devon, living beside the seaside with her husband
and forcing cream teas down the mouths of anyone who'll visit. She is sadly still not Beyonce.
*THE NEARNESS OF YOU by Sareeta Domingo
Romance | 352pp | Piatkus | May 2016
A fantastic debut book from a very promotable romance author
This is a beautifully written contemporary romance novel, set in London, about a heroine with a troubled past who begins to fall for
her best friend’s boyfriend. Their forbidden love makes for an intense, compelling read. It’s rare to find such a compelling UK romance
voice writing and this combined with the unique and gripping premise means Piatkus is very excited about her potential.
Sareeta Domingo works as Senior Editor at creative children's book packager Hothouse Fiction by day, and squeezes writing into her
mornings, evenings and weekends. Having been commissioned to write erotic short stories published in compilations for Agent
Provocateur, and then an erotic novella for Pavilion Books, Sareeta turned her hand to pursuing a story that had been on her mind for
as long as she can remember. She also finds time to review New Adult contemporary romance titles on her blog, The Palate
Cleanser: http://thepalatecleanserblog.wordpress.com/
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THE KING’S ASSASSIN by Angus Donald
Historical Fiction | 432pp | Sphere | June 2015
THE KING'S ASSASSIN is the latest breath-taking instalment in Angus Donald's bestselling
Robin Hood series, the Outlaw Chronicles, taking his hero into the year of Magna Carta
King John is scheming to reclaim his ancestral lands in Europe, raising the money for new armies by
bleeding dry peasants and nobles alike, not least the Earl of Locksley - the former outlaw Robin Hood - and
his loyal man Sir Alan Dale. As rebellion brews across the country and Robin Hood and his men are dragged
into the war against the French in Flanders, a plan is hatched that will bring the former outlaws and their
families to the brink of catastrophe - a plan to kill the King. England explodes into bloody civil war and Alan
and Robin must decide who to trust - and who to slaughter. And while Magna Carta might be the answer
their prayers for peace, first they will have to force the King to submit to the will of his people . . .
FremantleMedia North America has acquired rights to the OUTLAW CHRONICLES. Michael Konyves, co-writer of the action feature
Last Knights starring Clive Owen, also set in the Middle Ages, will pen the adaptation.
Joyous writing, full of verve and control – Conn Iggulden; Donald's Robin is a fascinating figure - enigmatic, unpredictable, charismatic
and more Benedict Cumberbatch than Errol Flynn – The Times
Angus Donald was educated at Marlborough College and Edinburgh University. He has worked as a fruit-picker in Greece, a waiter in
New York and as an anthropologist studying magic and witchcraft in Indonesia. For twenty years, he was a journalist in Hong Kong,
India, Afghanistan and London. He now has two children with his wife, Mary, and he lives and writes in a medieval farmhouse in rural
Kent.
* HOSTAGE by Jamie Doward
Crime & Mystery | 288pp | Constable | January 2016
Another fantastic crime thriller from Observer journalist Jamie Doward.
A bomb takes out a CIA station chief in Geneva. A serial killer strikes apparently at random across the UK. In
Algeria a terrorist network that controls the illicit trade in guns, drugs, oil and cigarettes is preparing to
murder a hundred US and British energy workers unless a ransom is paid. The British and the American
intelligence services are competing to find the kidnappers for very different reasons. One person can see
how everything is linked, and that both MI5 and the CIA are being manipulated as part of a grotesque
marketing campaign. But Kate Pendragon threatens the vested interests of people who don't want the truth
to surface. And some of them are very close to home.
Jamie Doward has been a journalist on the Observer for sixteen years. In his career, he has worked as the business reporter, the Home
Affairs editor, the Religious Affairs correspondent, the Social Affairs Editor, the diarist and, currently, the Senior Reporter.
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TOXIC by Jamie Doward
Crime | 352pp | Constable | March 2015
A gripping debut crime thriller from renowned Observer journalist Jamie Doward.
The mutilated body of a senior banker is found on a remote Kent beach. Could the man's death be linked to
the scandal engulfing his employer, a global investment bank created by the CIA to help it track terrorism
financing? Kate Pendragon, a financial analyst seconded to MI5, discovers that the bank is close to collapse,
something that threatens to bring down the CIA. Elsewhere, intelligence is gathered on an Islamic terrorist cell
intent on triggering a nuclear catastrophe to rig the world's financial markets – rigged, it would appear, by the
Americans. But will rogue agents in the CIA really allow the disaster to happen in order save their bank?
There is plenty of suspense in this well-written and ambitious first novel – Literary Review; A slick, brainy and
very timely spy thriller […] An extremely entertaining debut – Sunday Mirror
Jamie Doward has been a journalist on the Observer for sixteen years. In his career, he has worked as the business reporter, the Home
Affairs editor, the Religious Affairs correspondent, the Social Affairs Editor, the diarist and, currently, the Senior Reporter.
UNTITLED NOVEL by Emily Elgar
Thriller/Suspense | 400pp | Sphere | September 2016
A taut psychological thriller from a daring new talent
There’s a new patient in Intensive Care: she’s had a near-fatal accident. The doctors discover that she’s pregnant –and it would
appear she didn’t want her husband to know. But she has a bigger, and dangerous, secret, and the only other person who knows it
can’t tell because he is a patient in the next bed with Locked In Syndrome.
Emily Elgar recently completed the Writing a Novel course at The Faber Academy. Originally from the Cotswolds, she studied at
Edinburgh University, but she now works in London as a support worker for a national charity supporting vulnerable women.
THE NIGHTWALKER by Sebastian Fitzek
Psychological thriller | 384pp | Sphere | January 2016
Meet international number one bestselling author Sebastian Fitzek, The Master of Mind Games
As a young man, Leon Nader suffered from insomnia. As a nightwalker, he even turned to violence during
his nocturnal excursions and had psychiatric treatment for his condition. Eventually, he was convinced he
had been cured – but one day, years later, Leon’s wife disappears from their flat under mysterious
circumstances. Could it be that his illness has broken out again? In order to find out how he behaves in his
sleep, Leon fits a movement activated camera to his forehead – and when he looks at the video the next
morning he makes a discovery that bursts the borders of his imagination. His nocturnal personality goes
through a door that is totally unknown to him and descends into the darkness...
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets Inception – The Guardian on SPLINTER; A taut psychological
thriller – The Times on SPLINTER; Dazzling – The Sunday Times
Sebastian Fitzek is an internationally bestselling psychological thriller writer from Germany. He has worked as a journalist for radio
and TV stations all around Europe.
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* UNTITLED by Vanessa Greene
Contemporary Fiction | 432pp | Sphere | April 2016
Would you live out your best friend’s dreams if she wanted you to?
Isla and Sophie are friends in their mid-thirties. Together at university, they each made a list of places they wanted to travel to, things
they wanted to learn and experience, everything they wanted to get out of life. Isla is halfway through hers – happy and in love in
Paris – when she falls ill. When Isla is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, her world changes, but her best friend Sophie steps in to help
her complete everything on her list. Together for every step of their adventures, they piece together new lives in the most unexpected
ways. An uplifting novel about female friendship and romance but with an emotional core, this is heart-warming storytelling at its very
best.
THE PRIMROSE PATH by Rebecca Griffiths
Crime | 384pp | Sphere | March 2016
Sphere Senior Editor, Jade Chandler, acquired world right for a striking and original debut psychological thriller by
Rebecca Griffiths, and a second novel, in a dramatic early deal with the author’s agent.
The Primrose Path - the pursuit of pleasure, especially when bringing disastrous consequences
Rebecca Griffiths’ first novel is set in the heart of beautiful, rural Wales. The protagonist, Rachel, is running from her past. Her
tormentor has been in prison for twenty years, but is about to be released. Just as Rachel thinks she’s escaped from him, there’s a
threat closer to home. Somebody’s watching her. And they know she’s alone…
This stunning new thriller, with its quality writing and myriad twists, is perfect for fans of APPLE TREE YARD and THE GIRL ON THE
TRAIN.
Rebecca Griffiths grew up in rural mid-Wales and went on to gain a first class honours degree in English literature. After a successful
business career in London, Dublin and Scotland she returned to mid-Wales.
IMAGINE by Mark Haysom
Superlead | 544pp | Piatkus | May 2015
Mark Haysom moves us from sixties to seventies in his follow-up to LOVE, LOVE ME DO
1973: The party of the sixties is well and truly over and what's left is the hangover. It is a time of rising
unemployment, inflation and industrial unrest. Railway workers, civil servants, miners and ambulance
drivers take to the picket lines. There are IRA bombs in London and Manchester; there's violence on
football terraces, a crash on the stock market. It is the year when the US finally decides to stop laying
waste to Vietnam and Cambodia; the year of Watergate, of secrets and lies. In this year of heartache and
upheaval, the mendacious and unrepentant Truman Bird decides he deserves a second chance. He sets out
to find Christie, the wife he abandoned ten years before, and Baxter, the son he never had time for. And to
help him on his way, Truman believes he's found a secret golden key that will open every door. Christie and
Baxter, meanwhile, are still haunted by the past - and trying to make new beginnings. But they, too, have
their tragic secrets. Their lies. And, as they are about to discover, when Truman re-enters their lives, secrets are corrosive and lies
have a habit of unravelling.
Praise for LOVE, LOVE ME DO: Places Mark Haysom up there with the literary luminaries – Country Style; Bound to succeed […] both
original and stylish – Irish Independent
The author was the youngest Managing Director of Mirror Group, one of the largest nationwide newspaper groups in this country.
Then he moved into the world of education as Chief Executive of a large government agency, and was awarded the CBE. Now living in
Brighton with his wife, he works with charities to overcome poverty, disadvantage, criminality and addiction.
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JOURNEY UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN by Keigo Higashino
Crime | 544pp | Sphere | October 2015
From the multi-million-copy Japanese bestselling author of THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X
When an Osaka pawnbroker is found dead inside a locked warehouse, few people care to mourn him, and
there's no obvious suspect. Middle-aged detective Sasagaki is assigned to the case, not realizing the
murder and its ramifications will become part of his life for the next two decades. As the elegantly
constructed story emerges it becomes clear that two children – the pawnbroker's emotionally suppressed
son, Ryouji, and his mistress' equally strange young daughter, Yuhiko – are the lynchpins in the mystery.
Praise for THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X: The Japanese Stieg Larsson - The Times; Intricate and
beguiling...if you like riddles inside enigmas, it will please you no end - Guardian; The plot is taut and
intriguing...this psychological driver sets it apart from more run-of-the-mill crime thrillers...Agatha Christie
would be mightily impressed - Financial Times; Meticulous...a thriller hung on obsessional love and impeccable logic which drags you
along with a teasing "how did he do it" logic...the ending is a killer twist - Metro
Keigo Higashino was born in Osaka. He started writing novels while still working as an engineer at Nippon Denso Co. He won the
Edogawa Rampo Prize for writing at age twenty-seven, and subsequently quit his job to start a writing career that has made him a
multi-million copy Japanese bestseller and a national obsession.
* THE TWO O’CLOCK BOY + SEQUEL by Mark Hill
Crime | 400pp | Sphere | October 2016
Detectives Ray Drake and Flick Barnes are investigating a series of killings across London. Slowly, it becomes clear to Drake that the
case is tied to his own traumatic childhood in an orphanage – a past he will do anything to cover up – as one by one the children from
that orphanage are being killed, thirty years on.
SPEAK MY LANGUAGE edited by Torsten Højer, with a foreword by Stephen Fry
Modern and Contemporary Fiction | 592pp | Robinson | November 2015
An outstanding anthology of gay literary fiction
In this exciting new collection of gay short stories, we hear from authors imagining, surmising, and revealing aspects of gay life from a
multitude of perspectives, ages, eras, locations, cultures and political climates. Contributors range from those emerging into a life of
writing to those who have enjoyed international mainstream success. Some, such as Felice Picano, were pioneers of not only gay
writing but also gay liberation itself. Others are recipients of world-class awards, including Vestal McIntyre, whose LAKE OVERTURN:
A NOVEL was named Editor's Choice by the New York Times Book Review and Out magazine, and a Best Book of 2009 by the
Washington Post. It also won the Grub Street National Book Prize and Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction. Readers will find
themselves immersed in an engaging set of stories remarkably different from one another, yet, as Stephen Fry notes, offering a
surprising sense of shared identity.
Torsten Højer was born in Sussex, England. He has worked as a journalist and editor for a number of publications, including 3SIXTY,
reFRESH, one80news, The Pink News, GayStarNews, Frontiers LA and DNAmagazine. His first fiction appeared in WHAT LOVE IS
(Arcadia Books, 2010) and he is currently working on a non-fiction book about scandal. He lives in Brighton, England.
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* THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF THE ADVENTURES OF MORIARTY by Max Jakubowski
Crime and Mystery | 592pp| Robinson |October 2015
The secret life of Sherlock Holmes's nemesis, Moriarty
We think of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, but far more seductive is the pairing of Holmes and
Professor James Moriarty, 'the Napoleon of crime' - a rivalry unparalleled in the world of crime fiction.
Fiercely intelligent and a relentless schemer, Moriarty is the super-villain as megastar. This wonderfully
diverse collection by writers such as Martin Edwards, Jürgen Ehlers, Barbara Nadel, L. C. Tyler, Michael
Gregorio, Alison Joseph and Peter Guttridge reveals not just the evil side of Moriarty's personality, but his
humanity, his motivations and his human failings. Some of the stories are humorous, some scary, but all are
hugely entertaining.
* A DARK CENTRE by Julian Lees
Crime and Mystery | 352pp | Constable | October 2016
The first in a brilliant new crime series set in Indonesia and featuring Inspektur Ruud Pujasumarta
Taut and suspenseful, A DARK CENTRE is the first in a crime series set in contemporary dark and dirty Jakarta. Inspektur Ruud
Pujasumarta has seen some gang-perpetrated horror crimes in his time, but the slum murder of a middle-aged woman is both
horrifying and baffling. Mari Agnes Liem has not only been choked to death while tied to her bed, but the murderer has amputated
her left hand and left a mah-jong tile in her throat. Meanwhile, Ruud’s personal life is a disaster: the whole world seems to know that
his wife has left him for another man, perhaps because his (ex) mother-in-law keeps turning up at his office with food. The only bright
spot on Ruud’s horizon is the imminent arrival of Imke Sneijder, from Amsterdam, whom he hasn’t seen since they were twelve-yearold friends before the Sneijders left Indonesia and moved back to Holland. Imke is travelling with her aunt, the wise-cracking, sugaraddicted world-famous artist Erica, who has been commissioned to paint President Yudhoyono’s portrait. As Ruud and his department
of colourful colleagues investigate the crime and those that follow, they are led to a very dark centre indeed.
Julian Lees grew up in Hong Kong, went to boarding school in England and attended Cambridge University. He worked as a
stockbroker in the City of London before returning to the Far East. Lees’s exotic heritage (his grandmother was a Russian Cossack child
refugee, his grandfather was the son of a Shanghai tycoon who lost everything, he has an impeccable English education and speaks
fluent Cantonese) has steeped him in a world where East meets West. Lees now lives in Malaysia with his wife, three children and
constant canine companion Boobert.
* LA NOVELA LUMINOSA (THE LUMINOUS NOVEL) by Mario Levrero
Contemporary Fiction/Translation | 512pp | Constable | February 2017
In this novel, published posthumously in 2004, Levrero attempts to narrate certain extraordinary experiences that he
describes as ‘luminous’
In LA NOVELA LUMINOSA, published posthumously in 2004, Mario Levrero had tried to write a novel in which he could narrate
certain extraordinary experiences that he called ‘luminous’. An impossible task, as he admitted before his untimely death, but one
which he nevertheless attempted in ‘Diary of the Grant’. (Levrero wrote this novel after receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship.) In each
of the entries in this diary, which covers a year of his life, Levrero tells us about himself, his quirks, his agoraphobia, his sleep
disorders, his computer addictions, his hypochondria, the meaning of his dreams and women (especially Chl, who feeds him and takes
him on the few walks he takes around Montevideo in search of books by Rosa Chacel and the detective novels he reads obsessively).
The fear of death, love, the loss of love, old age, poetry, and the nature of fiction, the luminous, inexpressible experiences: there is
room for all of it in this monumental work.
Praise for Mario Levrero: An incontrovertible figure in the new literature of Latin America - El País [Spain]; When you read it you
understand what a novel is: not the ostentatious capacity of a writer to rule a text, but a hymn to life the way it is - Il Giornale [Italy];
Style and imagination like Levrero’s are rare in Spanish-language literature’ - Antonio Muñoz Molina
Jorge Mario Varlotta Levrero was born in Montevideo in 1940 and died there in 2004. He was a photographer, bookseller, script writer
(comics), humourist, crossword writer, creator of brain teasers. In his later years, he supervised a literary workshop. A cult writer
during his lifetime, he was posthumously seen as a master and point of reference for many of the best writers in Latin America.
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WHO’S AFRAID? by Maria Lewis
Urban Fantasy/Romance | 400pp | Piatkus | January 2016
On the surface Tommi is all cool confidence: brown skin, blue hair and a faint Scottish accent. Inside, she’s still reeling from the
unexpected death of her mother. She leaves small town Scotland and sets out for a remote corner of New Zealand to track down her
estranged father, but some things are best left buried. Her father was the head of a powerful Maori werewolf clan, and they’re
desperate for new members. Refusing to join the sadistic pack, she makes the bold choice to become what the Maori call
Kahuatairingi – a lone wolf - barely escaping New Zealand with her life. Yet supernatural law dictates she cannot do it alone. Enter
Lorcan: her mysterious and deadly tutor from ancient organisation The Trieze. With secrets of his own, Tommi and Lorcan begin an
uneasy partnership as she tries to learn how to control this monstrous new side of herself. But something has followed her home.
Maria Lewis writes about all things film and entertainment related for Sydney Confidential at The Daily Telegraph. She is based in
Sydney and you can follow her on Twitter @MovieMazz. WHO’S AFRAID is her debut novel.
THE ASTONISHING RETURN OF NORAH WELLS by Virginia Macgregor
Fiction | 480pp | Sphere | January 2016
From the author of WHAT MILO SAW comes this powerful, emotional and perceptive novel
about what it takes to hold a family together, and how much you are willing to sacrifice for the
ones you love
One ordinary morning, Norah walked out of her house on Willoughby Street and left behind her husband,
her one-year-old toddler and her seven-year-old daughter. She never looked back. Six years later, Norah
returns to the home she walked away from only to find another woman in her place. Fay held Norah's
family together after she disappeared, she shares a bed with Norah's husband and Norah's youngest
daughter calls Fay 'Mummy'. Fay is Norah's best friend. Now that Norah has returned, everyone has
questions. Where has she been? Why did she leave? And why is she back? As their family tries to find the
answers they each need, Norah and Fay must face up to the most pressing question of all: what happens to The Mother Who Stayed
when The Mother Who Left comes back? Virginia Macgregor was brought up in Germany, France and England by a mother who never
stopped telling stories.
Praise for WHAT MILO SAW: Brilliant – Heat; Poignant and very clever – Company; Beautifully written and complete with a powerful
message – Daily Express; Understated and likeable - Bella; Challenging and moving – Image; Absolutely delightful - Novelicious
After studying at Oxford, MacGregor started writing regularly while working as an English Teacher and Housemistress. She lives in
Berkshire with her husband, Hugh, and their daughter.
* BUTTERFLY IN THE DARK by Gilly MacMillan
Contemporary Fiction | 480pp | Piatkus |February 2016
An exceptional and intricately woven new psychological thriller by the author of Burnt Paper Sky
Several years ago, Zoe Maisey - child genius, musical sensation - caused the death of three teenagers. She served her time. And now
she's free. Her story begins with her giving the performance of her life. By midnight, her mother is dead. BUTTERFLY IN THE DARK
is an intricate exploration into the mind of a teenager burdened by brilliance. It's a story about the wrongs in our past not letting go
and how hard we must fight for second chances.
Praise for BURNT PAPER SKY: A nail-biting, sleep-depriving, brilliant read – Saskia Sarginson; Deft, tense and utterly gripping – Tim
Weaver; Tightly focussed and fast-paced. You won't rest until you really know what happened – Lisa Ballantyne
Gilly Macmillan grew up in Swindon, Wiltshire and also lived in Northern California in her late teens. She studied History of Art at
Bristol University and then at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. She worked at The Burlington Magazine and the Hayward
Gallery before starting a family. Since then she's worked as a part-time lecturer in A Level Photography and a full-time mum.
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* INVERSION by Paul Mendelson
Crime and mystery | 352pp | Constable | May 2016
When the South African Police Service are contacted by the wayward daughter of a Cape Town scion, they discover only her body but,
within it, a warning message which will take Colonel Vaughn de Vries of the Special Crimes Unit outside the law - and beyond the
borders of his country - to decipher and resolve. As organised crime grips Cape Town, new players from throughout Africa, without a
thought for the destruction of lives, converge to exploit the poor and hopeless, promising redemption and the fulfilment of dreams.
Whilst other government agencies snap impotently at the small fish, Vaughn de Vries and his colleagues resolve to follow the trail up
through one organisation and take it down from the top. As the stakes rise, they risk their careers, their lives and those of their friends
and family.
Praise for THE FIRST RULE OF SURVIVAL: An excellent, uncompromising crime thriller made even better by its setting ... the story is
two journeys in one, and I'm glad I took both - Lee Child; An impressive debut – The Times
Paul Mendelson is a leading author on poker, whose previous books include Texas Hold 'Em Poker: Begin and Win. His expertise comes
from a long association with gaming in the UK, South Africa and in Las Vegas. He runs poker classes and also writes as gambling
correspondent for the Financial Times. His debut novel, THE FIRST RULE OF SURVIVAL, was nominated for the CWA Gold Dagger in
2014. The follow-up, THE SERPENTINE ROAD, was published in 2015.
* UNTITLED WHEELER AND ROSS (Book 3 + Book 4) by A.J. McCreanor
Crime | 352pp | Constable | March 2017
When an actress is found dead, the ligature marks suggest that she had been involved with sadomasochism. When Dis Wheeler and
Ross begin to investigate her death, they uncover not only an industry with varying degrees of regulation but also a sinister private
club where some of Glasgow’s elite pay handsomely to indulge their darkest fantasies.
A. J. McCreanor was born in Glasgow and after university taught English in various secondary schools in inner Glasgow. In 2011 she
won first prize for crime fiction writing at the Wells Literature Festival. Anne now lives in Glastonbury with her husband, two cats and
one dog.
A.J. McCreanor’s first Wheeler and Ross novel was RIVEN (Constable, 2014). Brilliant – The Sun; This is a well-plotted and gripping
crime fiction debut – Choice Magazine
SILENCED by A.J. McCreanor
Crime | 368pp | Constable | September 2015
The second Wheeler and Ross novel, from one of the most exciting new voices in the genre.
He buried his victim alive. And now he's escaped from prison and is on the run in the city.
Fiona Henderson, the daughter of the victim who'd descended into a world of silence following her
mother's murder, has gone missing. Her sister Annabelle scours the city in a desperate attempt to find
her. And then the body of a homeless person if found among the rubbish in a deserted alleyway. As DIs
Wheeler and Ross investigate, more suspicious deaths occur and a pattern emerges: the victims are all
homeless. And so the police are pitched against a killer who is hell-bent on a mission to rid the streets of
the vulnerable and dispossessed. As Wheeler and Ross descend further into Glasgow's netherworld, their
investigation reveals not only a flawed support system for the disaffected, but also a criminal class
ruthlessly willing to exploit them. A city of double standards, where morality is bought and sold. But it's
when the killer begins stalking DI Wheeler, that she and Ross realise that the threat is now personal.
12
* MR KREUZER’S GUIDE TO LIVING DANGEROUSLY by Beatrice Meier
Contemporary Fiction | 304pp | Abacus |April 2016
One spring, five retirees embark on a flatshare. So begins a new chapter in friendship, love and all the joys and
challenges that life has to offer.
Mr Philip Kreuzer, a retired doctor, returns to his hometown in Germany to deal with his late mother's will. She has left two things in
his possession: a large flat and a small dachshund named Ralf. Soon enough, Philip bumps into his childhood sweetheart: Ricarda. In a
clumsy attempt to her woo her, and upon hearing she must leave her home for six months while it is being repaired, he propositions
her: he has decided to set up a flatshare and will she move in with him? Philip quickly scrambles to find friends to join him in his new
experiment. Three other retirees agree to embark on the new adventure too: Uschi, Harry and Eckart. And so the doors are flung open
to love, friendship and new beginnings. MR KREUZER'S GUIDE TO LIVING DANGEROUSLY is charming, life-affirming novel.
Translated from the German by Simon Pare.
Beatrice Meier was born in Germany and studied literary translation at the University of Dusseldorf. In 2006 she studied at the
International Film School in Cologne. Meier was later awarded the screenplay prize at the Festival of German cinema. MR KREUZER'S
GUIDE TO LIVING DANGEROUSLY is her first novel.
* MIDWINTER by Fiona Melrose
Contemporary Fiction | Corsair | 320pp |November 2016
Rooted in the rural Suffolk landscape Midwinter is the story of Landyn Midwinter and his son Vale, long years after the death of
wife/mother Cecelia. Alternating between Vale’s and Landyn’s voice, it recalls the tragic years leading up to the present day, shifting
from Suffolk to Zambia (where Cecelia died a brutal death) and back again. It is a story of friendship and rivalry, fathers and sons,
blame and forgiveness, love and anger, loss and recovery, and the relationship between humans & the natural world. Interestingly,
this is a novel about men written by a woman who has an extraordinary way of contrasting their physical strength and gruff lifestyle
against their inherent humanity and vulnerability.
Melrose was born and raised in Johannesburg. She has lived and worked in London and Sussex over the years. She’s currently living
back in Johannesburg but continues to have a foot on both continents and frequently travels to the UK. She tweets as
@PaperCutPrint, is a Contributing Editor at Bookanista.com and a reviewer and contributor for WritersHub.
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A TEEN’S GUIDE TO MODERN MANNERS by Simon Norman
Poetry/Humour | Corsair | 96pp | October 2016
Comic cautionary poetry for teens.
A humorous, contemporary collection of cautionary tales in the tradition of Hilaire Belloc and Roald Dahl, A TEEN’S GUIDE TO
MODERN MANNERS is a book for teenagers written by a teenager. The collection is composed by twelve poems and 8000 words of
iambic tetrameter to be accompanied by illustrations.
There’s little that’s been written yet
Concerning teenage etiquette,
So as a sort of useful guide
A dozen cases lie inside
Of teenagers who lost their way
And suffered for it, sad to say;
You’ll read about the tragic fate
Of Pete, who couldn’t get a date,
And Jen, whose hopes and dreams were quashed,
And James, who staunchly never washed.
This book could be, and no mistake,
The best investment that you make,
So quickly – pluck it from the shelf!
Or suffer some such fate yourself…
Sam Norman was born in 1995 and educated at Eton College, where he won the Senior Poetry Prize twice, edited the school
newspaper and successfully self-published a novella. He has been longlisted in National Theatre Playwriting Competition, won the
Happenstance Limerick Competition, and also triumphed in the Stephen Spender Prize for Poetry in Translation. He is on a Gap Year at
the moment, and will start studying at Magdalen College, Oxford, in October 2015. Norman started writing the guide when he was
only 16 years old in an attempt to placate his Maths teacher, who had set a piece of homework that he could not even come close to
understanding.
* UNTITLED by Claire North
Contemporary Fiction | Orbit | 400pp |February 2016
The stunning new novel from the voice that brought you the word-of-mouth bestseller The First Fifteen Lives of Harry
August and the highly acclaimed Touch
Listen. All the world forgets me. First my face, then my voice, then the consequences of my deeds.
So listen. Remember me.
My name is Hope Ardern, and you won't know who I am. We've met before - a thousand times. But I am the girl the world forgets.
It started when I was sixteen years old. A slow declining, an isolation, one piece at a time.
A father forgetting to drive me to school. A mother setting the table for three, not four. A teacher who forgets to chase my missing
homework. A friend who looks straight through me and sees a stranger.
No matter what I do, the words I say, the people I hurt, the crimes I commit - you will never remember who I am.
That makes my life tricky. But it also makes me dangerous . . .
Forget Me Not is the tale of the girl no one remembers. But this gripping story - of love and loss, of hope and despair, of living in the
moment and dying to leave a mark - is novel that will stay with you forever.
Claire North is the pen name for the Carnegie-nominated Catherine Webb. Her novel The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August was
selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club, the Waterstones Book Club and the Radio 2 Book Club. Webb currently works as a
theatre lighting designer and is a fan of big cities, urban magic, Thai food and graffiti-spotting. She lives in London. Find her on Twitter
as @ClaireNorth42.
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* A CHRISTMAS KISS by Vicky Pattison
Fiction | 384pp | Sphere | November 2015
Join the original Geordie Girl, Vicky Pattison, and sparkle with style this Christmas!
Amber Raey is working all the hours God sends as assistant to one of the country's top fashion designers, and her boss is a complete
nightmare. Amber's dream is to launch her own fashion line one day so, for the time being, she just has to grin and bear it. And then
opportunity comes knocking and Amber's suddenly on the fast track to the top. The parties, the glamour, a whirlwind romance Amber loves every second of her new life. But there's more to this world than its glossy exterior suggests, and when a face from
Amber's past reappears, she finds herself in real trouble. Amber is drifting further and further away from the person she once was and
she's not sure how to find her way back. Can she get her life back on track before it's too late? Full of heart, warmth and humour, A
CHRISTMAS KISS is a romantic, glamourous and festive read from everyone's favourite Geordie Girl, Vicky Pattison. It's the perfect
book to curl up with this Christmas!
Vicky Pattison is one of the original Geordie Shore cast and appeared in nine series of the hit MTV show. Her autobiography, NOTHING
BUT THE TRUTH, was a Number One Sunday Times bestseller in hardback and remained in the Top Ten for seven weeks. She is now
the star of her own MTV show, Judge Geordie. Before appearing on Geordie Shore, she studied drama at Liverpool John Moores. Vicky
Pattison is a genuine Geordie Girl, born and bred in Newcastle. A CHRISTMAS KISS is her second novel.
ALL THAT GLITTERS by Vicky Pattison
Fiction | 384pp | Sphere | July 2015
Bold, thrilling and romantic, Vicky Pattison's first novel is a rollercoaster ride full of glitz, warmth
and drama
Three years ago Issy Jones walked away from her dream because her family needed her. Today, she spends
her days working in her mum's salon and her nights going out with her best friend, Molly. Life is good yet
Issy can't help wishing for something more. When Issy's dad puts her forward for a sensational new reality
TV show, no one expects her to actually be selected. With her family urging her to grab the opportunity with
both hands, Issy suddenly finds herself surrounded by glamour, fame and celebrities. Full of excitement, Issy
embraces it all - it's what she needs to do to achieve her goals. But when the reality of what she's signed up
for doesn't match the dream Issy is chasing, things begin to fall apart. Issy is so close to getting everything
she ever wanted - but just how much of herself will she have to sacrifice to get it?
Vicky Pattison is one of the original Geordie Shore cast and appeared in nine series of the hit MTV show. Her autobiography, NOTHING
BUT THE TRUTH (Sphere 2014), was a Number One Sunday Times bestseller in hardback and remained in the Top Ten for seven weeks.
*CITY IN DARKNESS by Michael Russell
Crime & Mystery | 416pp | Constable | May 2016
Christmas 1939. In Europe the Phoney War hides carnage to come. In Ireland Detective Inspector Stefan
Gillespie keeps tabs on Irishmen joining the British Forces. It’s unpleasant work, but when an IRA raid on a
military arsenal sends Garda Special Branch in search of guns and explosives, Stefan is soon convinced his
boss, Superintendent Terry Gregory, is working for the IRA. At home for Christmas, Stefan is abruptly called
to Laragh, an isolated mountain town. A postman has disappeared, believed killed, and Laragh’s Guards are
hiding something. Stefan is the nearest Special Branch detective, yet is he only there because Gregory wants
him out of the way? Laragh is close to the lake where Stefan’s wife Maeve drowned years earlier, and when
events expose a connection between the missing postman and her death, Stefan realises it wasn’t an
accident, but murder. Pursuing his wife’s murderer pushes everything aside, including the woman he loves,
Kate O’Donnell. The killer’s identity rests with a dying priest at the Irish College in Saragossa, and when a Garda officer has to
accompany the Irish ambassador to Spain to Madrid, Stefan uses suspicions about Gregory to get the job. In Franco’s newly fascist
Spain he is dragged into an attempt to spring an Irish International Brigade man, Frank Ryan, from jail. But German Intelligence has its
own plans for Ryan, plans Stefan already knows too much about.
15
* A BOY MADE OF BLOCKS by Keith Stuart
Contemporary Fiction | 400pp | Sphere | September 2016
Sphere is to publish a moving father-son novel A BOY MADE OF LOCKS about autism and Minecraft by Guardian
journalist Keith Stuart
A BOY MADE OF BLOCKS follows father Alex trying to reinvent his life after the breakdown of his marriage, which has also seen him
leaving behind his autistic son Sam. As Alex navigates dating, family secrets and part-time fatherhood, Sam begins playing Minecraft.
His imagination blossoms and father and son find a new way of communicating. Together, they discover that sometimes everything
must fall apart before you can build something wonderful.
Stuart is the Guardian games editor, and Sphere senior editor Ed Wood approached him to write the novel, securing all rights, after
the journalist wrote about his experience of playing Minecraft with his autistic son. Stuart said: "Having an autistic son has changed
my life in so many ways, and one of the challenges is getting people to understand more about the condition. Minecraft has played a
pivotal role in his development, so telling a fictional story that explores autism, video games, love and relationships, feels really
important and exciting to me."
* ANGEL MEADOW by E. S. Thomson
Fiction | 352pp | Constable | March 2017
In ANGEL MEADOW the past catches up with the present in a murderous summary justice. To discover the truth Jem and Will must
pursue the story through the darkest corners of the city – from the depths of a notorious rookery, to the sordid rooms of London’s
brothels, the gallows, the convict fleet and the asylum. The warmth and safety of the apothecary, and the wild greenery of the herb
garden are oases of light in a world where guilt and innocence, crime and atonement, madness and reason, are grounded on
hypocrisy, ambition and betrayal. ANGEL MEADOW is a fast-paced book whose darkness is laced with humour, and which has
forgiveness and redemption at its heart.
Elaine Thomson was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire. She has a PhD in the history of medicine and works as a university lecturer in
Edinburgh. She was shortlisted for the Saltire First Book Award and the Scottish Arts Council First Book Award.
*BELOVED POISON by E. S. Thomson
Fiction | 400pp | Constable | March 2016
BELOVED POISON is a historical novel set in the 1850s against a background of medicine and science, at a crossroads in Victorian
society when traditional values are threatened by progress. The main character is Jem Flockhart, an apothecary with a keen eye for
detail who can move easily in this world as she is secretly a woman but dressed as a man. Richly atmospheric, the book addresses the
darker side of ambition, jealousy and love and explores the need for salvation through forgiveness. BELOVED POISON is set in a
crumbling London hospital, about to be demolished to make way for a railway. Within its walls, its doctors are at loggerheads as new
thinking in medicine is resisted by the old guard. Six tiny coffins are discovered in the old hospital chapel, each containing a bundle of
rags, and the progressive Dr Bain undertakes to discover their meaning. Shortly afterwards he is discovered dead, and apothecary
Jem Flockhart is convinced that he's been murdered. Her subsequent investigations uncover a secret that will tear the world of St
Saviour's apart.
16
I GO BY SEA, I GO BY LAND by P. L. Travers illustrated by Gertrude Hermes
Young Adult (10+ years) | 208pp | Virago | March 2015
'Now I am going to write a Diary because we are going to America because of the War. It has just
been decided. I will write down everything about it because we shall be so much older when we
come back that I will never remember it if I do not. So this is the beginning'
This is the fictional diary of Sabrina Lind, an eleven-year-old English girl who, with her younger brother, is sent
to her aunt in America when the Second World War breaks out. First published in 1941, this children's classic,
by the author of Mary Poppins, has been unavailable for many years. It is based on actual events, and has
beautiful illustrations by artist and sculptor Gertrude Hermes OBE.
P. L. Travers is one of the outstanding authors of literature for children. She is known throughout the world for
her beloved character, Mary Poppins. Gertrude Hermes OBE is an artist and sculptor.
THE FOX AT THE MANGER by P.L. Travers
Fiction | 96pp | Virago | November 2015
When a fox meets the Messiah at the Nativity, he offers a gift unlike any other
The Three Wise Men had their gifts. Then the donkey offered his back, and the sheep gave his wool. THE
FOX AT THE MANGER is the charming tale of an elderly woman, looking back on one of the most memorable
tales of her childhood, that of the fox who offered his cunning, and argued for its worth.
P.L. Travers is the author of MARY POPPINS.
* A MASTERPIECE OF CORRUPTION by L.C. Tyler
Crime & Mystery | 320pp | Constable | January 2016
A John Grey historical mystery
It is December 1657. John Grey has returned to the study of law in London. He receives a mysterious
invitation which seems to have come from some of his mother’s royalist friends – possibly members of the
largely ineffectual secret organisation, the Sealed Knot. He is amused rather than otherwise that they would
think him stupid enough to join them and thinks it may be entertaining to tell them so to their faces. On
arriving at Sir Richard Willys’s chambers at Gray’s Inn, however, he finds that the invitation was never
intended for him – to his horror, Grey is warmly greeted as a royalist conspirator sent over from Brussels to
murder Oliver Cromwell. It soon becomes clear that the man he has been mistaken for is his own father, a
long-time royalist exile. The question is how he can prevent the murder without betraying his father.
L.C. Tyler’s first John Grey historical mystery was A CRUEL NECESSITY (Constable, 2014). Tyler juggles his characters, story wit and
clever one liners with perfect balance – The Times; A cracking pace, lively dialogue, wickedly witty one-liners salted with sophistication
. . . Why would we not want more of John Grey? – The Bookbag.
L. C. Tyler was raised in Essex and studied geography at Oxford. He has worked for the British Council in Malaysia, Sudan, Thailand and
Denmark, before turning to full time writing.
17
* THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF KAIJU by Sean Wallace
Science Fiction | 608pp | Robinson | January 2016
A truly mammoth collection of monster tales
Giant monsters whose every roar and footstep shakes the earth, whose simple stroll through a city wreaks havoc: KAIJU! And even
though humankind has never really seen such monsters - we tremble at the thought of them and love to shiver as their screen
versions make mayhem: the beast from twenty-thousand fathoms, Godzilla demolishing Tokyo, the massive creature in Cloverfield
destroying New York, all of Earth warring with the colossal monsters in Pacific Rim. Now, for the first time, a definitive anthology that
gathers a wide range of larger-than-life short fiction with creatures that run a gargantuan gamut: the stealthy gabbleduck of Neal
Asher's Polity universe; Gary McMahon's huge sea-born terror; An Owomoyela's incredibly tall alien invaders; Frank Wu's city-razing,
eighty-foot-high, fire-breathing lizard; Lavie Tidhar's titanic ship-devouring monstrosity; a really big Midwest US smackdown related
by Jeremiah Tolbert . . . and many more mega-monster stories to feed your need for killer kaiju! With an introduction by Robert Hood,
co-editor of the groundbreaking, Ditmar Award-winning Daikaiju: Giant Monster Tales and host of Undead Backbrain, the premier
website for matters relating to giant monsters.
Sean Wallace is the founder and editor for Prime Books, which won a World Fantasy Award in 2006. In the past he was co-editor of
Fantasy Magazine, and Hugo Award winning and two-time World Fantasy nominee for Clarkesworld magazine; the editor of the
following anthologies: Best New Fantasy, Horror: The Best of the Year, Jabberwocky, Japanese Dreams, THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF
STEAMPUNK and THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF WARRIORS AND WIZARDRY.
* MAY DAY MURDER by Julie Wassmer
Crime & Mystery | 320pp | Constable | April 2016
It’s springtime and Whitstable is emerging from hibernation. While neither the restaurant nor detective
agency is too busy, Pearl resolves to spend some time at the family allotment. But her best friend, Nathan,
has persuaded one of his favourite actresses to open the May Day festivities at Whitstable Castle and
involves Pearl in his plans… Like Pearl, Faye Marlowe is a Whitstable native but having left the town more
than two decades ago, the star has been living in the South of France since her agent’s phone stopped
ringing. Charming but “sensitive”, she arrives with a small entourage comprising a devoted personal
assistant, maid and chauffeur, and though her presence in the town causes a stir, Pearl’s mother Dolly
remains unimpressed: choosing to remember Faye Marlow when she was plain old Frankie Murray, the
daughter of a local whelk merchant… Nathan soon realises he has made a mistake with this invitation and
his doubts are confirmed when Faye is nowhere to be found on the morning of May Day. As ‘Jack in the Green’ puts on his impressive
costume to lead the parade, the actress’s dead body is discovered - tethered to a maypole on the Castle grounds…
Julie Wassmer is a professional television drama writer, working on various series including ITV’s London’s Burning, C5’s Family
Affairs and BBC’s EastEnders - which she worked on for twenty years. Her autobiography, MORE THAN JUST COINCIDENCE, was
Mumsnet Book of the Year 2011.
THE WHITSTABLE PEARL MYSTERY by Julie Wassmer
Crime | 320pp | Constable | March 2015
An intriguing debut mystery novel combining seafood, murder and a multitasking heroine in a
gorgeous seaside location.
Pearl Nolan always wanted to be a detective but life, and a teenage pregnancy, got in the way of a police
career and instead she built up a successful seafood restaurant in her coastal home town of Whitstable famous for its native oysters. Now, at thirty nine, and with son Charlie away at university, Pearl finds
herself suffering from empty nest syndrome . . . until she discovers the drowned body of local oyster
fisherman Vinnie Rowe, weighted down with an anchor chain, on the eve of Whitstable's annual oyster
festival. Is it a tragic accident, suicide - or murder? Pearl seizes the opportunity to prove her detection skills
and discover the truth but she soon finds herself in conflict with Canterbury city police detective, Chief
Inspector Mike McGuire. Then another body is discovered - and Pearl finds herself trawling the past for clues, triggering memories of
another emotional summer more than twenty years ago . . .
18
MURDER-ON-SEA by Julie Wassmer
Crime | 320pp | Constable | October 2015
The second novel in the Pearl Nolan trilogy, with a Christmas twist.
The festive month is kicking off in style and Pearl is rushed off her feet with her restaurant, The Whitstable
Pearl. She's also busy planning her own family Christmas and providing mulled wine for a charity church
fundraiser when Christmas cards begin arriving all over town - filled with spiteful messages from an
anonymous writer. Pearl's curiosity is piqued but having pledged not to take on a case at her detective
agency before Christmas, she reluctantly agrees that Canterbury's DCI Mike McGuire should take over;
poisoned pen cards are after all a matter for the police. And with only the church fundraiser now between
Pearl and Christmas, she invites McGuire along as her guest. The event appears to be a great success; St
Alfred's church hall is packed and Pearl happily finds herself standing close to McGuire beneath some
mistletoe . . . but then a guest suddenly collapses. Too much of Pearl's delicious mulled wine - or could it
be something more sinister? The last thing Pearl expects for Christmas is murder but soon the bodies are piling up. Can Pearl possibly
solve the mystery in time to make 25th December an unforgettable day - or will the murderer contrive to ensure her goose is well and
truly cooked before then?
* BLIND by Cath Weeks
Thriller/Suspense | 352pp | Piatkus | March 2016
Impressive debut domestic thriller about a blind baby from an author with huge bestseller potential
Twyla Green, resourceful, optimistic, has just had her first child. It’s what she and her husband, Dylan, have always wished for.
However, Charlie is blind. For the first time in her adult life Twyla feels tested. She cherishes her son, showering him with love and
boundless affection, but there’s a part of her that aches for him to see – for him to be as perfect as other babies. So Twyla throws
herself into motherhood whilst fervently searching for a cure for Charlie’s blindness, when she hears of a high-risk operation that
could restore her son’s vision forever. But is it a risk worth taking? BLIND is an emotionally turbulent psychological suspense about
how hard we battle for our children and how blind we can be to the dark secrets of those closest to us. It’s a story that delves into the
very heart of our dangerous yearning for perfection.
Cath Weeks has been writing since she was a child, having won a national writing competition at nineteen which spurred her on. She
lives in Bath with her family. As the mother of sons, she is passionate about not forcing boys to choose between being booky or
sporty, but in helping them to be both.
* CRONGTON KNIGHTS
by Alex Wheatle
YA | 304pp | Atom | March 2016
Since the death of his mother, McKay’s life has been understandably difficult. Living on the South Crongton council estate has its
problems. McKay’s father has been working all hours of the day and night to try and stop the bailiffs from breaking down their door.
His stubborn and volatile brother, Nesta, is continually inviting all sorts of trouble. And now, having been persuaded by one of his best
friends to go on a supposedly heroic mission to impress a girl, McKay finds himself in the arse end of nowhere, in the middle of the
night, having to deal with a friend’s lecherous ex-boyfriend, power tripping hood-rats and a notoriously violent gangster who has a
vendetta against his brother. How McKay, a food loving, generally genial but sensitive youngster has found himself in this situation, he
is not quite sure. But through one mad-cap night of adventure and danger, he finds out who his true friends are and what it means to
stick with your family.
Praise for Wheatle’s previous work: What a gripping tale of family and friends, love and loyalty . . . Lemar's voice is so strong and I
loved the humour in it too – (LICCLE BIT) Malorie Blackman; This is a brave, brutal story told with a shocking immediacy – (THE SEVEN
SISTERS) Daily Mail; Often brutal but always compassionate – (THE DIRTY SOUTH) Kirkus.
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Shena MacKay
Virago is delighted to announce the acquisition of Shena Mackay’s autobiography, MISSING DATES, and her entire backlist of several novels.
Shena Mackay left school at the age of sixteen after winning a poetry competition in the Daily Mirror. Her first book, published in 1964 but written
when she was still a teenager, consists of two novellas, DUST FALLS ON EUGENE SCHLUMBERGER and TODDLER ON THE RUN. Her first novel, THE
MUSIC UPSTAIRS, is set in London in the early 1960s. Next was OLD CROW (1967).
There was a break in her writing between the novel AN ADVENT CALENDAR (1971), and the story collection, BABIES IN RHINESTONES (1983).
Her next, A BOWL OF CHERRIES, was published by Harvester Press on the recommendation of the novelist Iris Murdoch.
More recent novels include the black comedy REDHILL ROCOCO (1986), winner of the Fawcett Society Book Prize; DUNEDIN (1992), which won a
Scottish Arts Council Book Award; and the acclaimed THE ORCHARD ON FIRE (1995) which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1996. THE
ARTIST’S WIDOW (1998) is a satirical portrait of the contemporary London art world, and HELIGOLAND (2003) is the story of one woman's search
for Utopia.
Virago will also publish five story collections, BABIES IN RHINESTONES (1983), DREAMS OF DEAD WOMEN’S HANDBAGS (1987), THE
LAUGHING ACADEMY (1993), THE WORLD’S SMALLEST UNICORN (1999), and THE ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAY (2008). These will collectively be
titled DANCING ON THE OUTSKIRTS.
Shena Mackay lives in London. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and also Honorary Visiting Professor to the MA in Writing at
Middlesex University.
Sinister, hilarious – The Guardian (on THE ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAY); A marvel of precise, evocative detail and almost sensual intensity…
poignant and true… subtle and compassionate – Publishers Weekly (on ORCHARD ON FIRE); Consistently beautiful writing – The Guardian (on
HELIGOLAND); Brilliant and touching – The Independent (on DUNEDIN).
Shena Mackay notices a London that passes most writers by. She sees not only the vagrants, gabbling eccentrics, litter and dog shit that other
novelists have brought to our jaded attention, but the flora and fauna, the weird buildings of Brixton, the rented rooms that register decay and failure
through open front doors, the mothers at bus stops relieving their boredom by slapping their toddlers. Pigeons, starlings, thrushes, blackbirds are
observed, too - and a pair of black swans in St James's Park. Her London is not a convenient backdrop - it is the capital itself, vividly and freshly set
down in glancing detail – The Independent
[Thanks to The City Light Booksellers and Publishers blog for the following text] Shena Mackay started writing at the meeting point between kitchen
sink and the swinging sixties; when the gritty dirt-under-the-nails realities of the working class experience were bubbling to the forefront of British
music, literature and art, and crashing into otherworldly Chelsea art dealers from aristocratic backgrounds. She was born in Edinburgh, but was
brought up in in London. “Things were difficult at home. My parents had an unhappy marriage. So I used to play truant. If we had the money we
would catch the train into central London and wander around Soho.” She wanted to be a writer early on, won the Daily Mirror poetry competition,
for which the prize was £25. ‘It was a huge amount of money, but because I was leaving school, I had to buy these boring clothes for my job as an
office junior; it had to be squandered on pleated skirts and cardigans.’
That job (and life) didn’t work out as planned, and Mackay ended up working at an antique shop on Chancery Lane,
which changed the course of her life. Frank Marcus, a playwright best known for THE KILLING OF SISTER
GEORGE, was the store manager, and not only encouraged her to write, but found her an agent who got her first
two works published. This literary antique shop was owned by the art critic David Sylvester’s parents. Mackay had
an affair with him and a daughter by him. She and Sylvester hung out occasionally at the Colony Room club in Soho
with the likes of Jasper Johns, Francis Bacon, Giacometti, and Lucian Freud. ‘Yes, I did meet them, but I was a
young girl and they were middle-aged.’ After the sensation caused by the publication of her first book, Mackay
became a go-to spokesperson for young literary pre-swinging London, and appeared on many television shows and
in newspaper reports.
Her writing however did not encapsulate any sort of glamorous young scene; instead she wrote about the small
despairs of being a modern yet alienated woman, out of place and stuck in seedy, gloomy bed-sits and dead end
jobs - explorations of the banalities of life that end up being quietly powerful. Her first novel, THE MUSIC
UPSTAIRS, was written in the Kensington library when she was living in bed-sitland in Earls Court amongst the
bohemian, the dispossessed and the restless. In an afterword to the 1988 edition, she recalls ‘the realisation that
there was no going back from grubby candlewick bedspreads, suitcases on the tops of wardrobes, slot-meters for
the old-style gas, which one of our fellow residents was able to feed with enough pennies to kill himself.’
Awards
2003 - Whitbread Novel Award, Heligoland, shortlist
2003 - Orange Prize for Fiction, Heligoland, shortlist
1996 - Booker Prize for Fiction, The Orchard on Fire, shortlist
1994 - Scottish Arts Council Book Award, Dunedin
1987 - Fawcett Society Book Prize, Redhill Rococo
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NON-FICTION
A BRIEF HISTORY OF MATHEMATICAL THOUGHT by Luke Heaton
Robinson | 336 pp | science| April 2015
An informal guide to the evolution of mathematical language and its profound influence on our
lives
Mathematics is a product of human culture which has developed along with our attempts to comprehend
the world around us. In A BRIEF HISTORY OF MATHEMATICAL THOUGHT, Luke Heaton explores how the
language of mathematics has evolved over time, enabling new technologies and shaping the way people
think. From stone-age rituals to algebra, calculus, and the concept of computation, Heaton shows the
enormous influence of mathematics on science, philosophy and the broader human story. The book traces
the fascinating history of mathematical practice, focusing on the impact of key conceptual innovations. Its
structure of thirteen chapters split between four sections is dictated by a combination of historical and
thematic considerations.
Dr Luke Heaton graduated with first class honours in Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh before going on to take an MSc in
Mathematics and the Logical Foundations of Computer Science at the University of Oxford. After spending a year making
mathematically inspired art, he gained a BA in Architecture at the University of Westminster, before working as an architectural
assistant at One20. He then returned to Oxford, completing a DPhil in Mathematical Biology. He is currently employed by the
University of Oxford as a postgraduate research assistant in the Department of Plant Sciences.
HOW A LITTLE PLANNING BEATS A LOT OF FIREFIGHTING by Fergus O’Connell
Business planning | 176pp | Robinson |May 2015
Use simple planning skills to transform your productivity
Has anyone ever told you that you needed to ‘work smarter not harder’? Or that ‘you’ve got to do more
with less’? And was your initial reaction that you were doing everything you could and you didn’t know
what more you could do? Well, you can do much more with less. And it is possible to work smarter not
harder. All you need to know are Fergus’s Ten Steps – the key to simple, minimum-effort planning.
Fergus O’Connell is the author of thirteen business books. The first of these, 'How to Run Successful Projects
- the Silver Bullet', has become both a bestseller and a classic and has been constantly in print for over
twenty years. His book on common sense entitled 'Simply Brilliant' (Pearson)- also a bestseller and now in
its fourth edition - was runner-up in the WH Smith Book Awards 2002. His books have been translated into twenty languages
21
CLOSET QUEENS by Michael Bloch
History / gay studies / biography | Little, Brown | May 2015 | 336pp
Homosexual double lives from Oscar Wilde to New Labour
Scandals of a sexual nature have always hit the headlines and grabbed the nation’s attention, but they are
by no means a modern occurrence. At a time when homosexuality was illegal, there were men who led
double lives, outwardly conforming to the require-ments of ‘respectable’ society while leading illicit,
clandestine and often thrilling queer sex-lives. Drawing on life in Britain and abroad, Michael Bloch also
looks at Ireland, the United States, and the ‘Dominions’. Beginning in the 1890s with the trial of Oscar
Wilde, a shocking national scandal (and the first of innumerable prosecutions for the insidious new offence
of ‘gross indecency’) which both changed public perceptions of homosexuality and drove it deep
underground, and ending in the 1990s when homosexuality became not only as lawful as heterosexuality,
but socially acceptable, CLOSET QUEENS will concentrate on the upper levels of society, whose members
possessed the wealth, leisure and savoir-faire to contrive elaborate double existences, and who, in the event of exposure, risked not
just harsh criminal penalties but social and professional ruin.
Written with Michael Bloch’s trademark wit, eye for anecdote and impeccable research, this enthralling book will expose, entertain
and enlighten readers about a forgotten world of secrecy and ‘abominations’.
Born in 1953, Michael Bloch read law at St John's College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar by Inner Temple. He worked for
Maître Suzanne Blum, the Paris lawyer of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and wrote six books about the couple. He edited the
diaries of James Lees-Milne, the National Trust's rescuer of country houses, and wrote his biography. His other biographical subjects
include Hitler's Foreign Minister, Ribbentrop, and Frederick Matthias Alexander, founder of the Alexander technique.
GURKHA by Colour-Sergeant Kailash Khebang Limbu
Memoir | 352pp | Little, Brown | May 2015
Better to die than live a coward: my life in the Gurkhas
In the summer of 2006, Colour-Sargeant Kailash Khebang's platoon was sent to relieve and occupy a
police compound in the town of Now Zad in Helmand. He was told to prepare for a forty-eight hour
operation. In the end, he and his men were under siege for thirty-one days - one of the longest such
sieges in the whole of the Afghan campaign. Kailash Khebang recalls the terrifying and exciting details of
those thirty-one days - in which they killed an estimated one hundred Taliban fighters - and intersperses
them with the story of his own life as a villager from the Himalayas. He grew up in a place without roads
or electricity and didn't see a car until he was fifteen. Kailash's descriptions of Gurkha training and rituals including how to use the lethal Kukri knife - are eye-opening and fascinating. They combine with the story
of his time in Helmand to create a unique account of one man's life as a Gurkha.
Colour-Sargeant Kailash Khebang is a serving Gurkha soldier and war hero. He has several confirmed Taliban kills to his name, a
Mention in Despatches (though his Commanding Officer believes it should have been a Military Cross), two children and a disarming
sense of humour. His fondest wish, as long as he can remember, has been to go to war and fight. He is based in Aldershot, Hampshire.
LIVING IN THE SOUND OF THE WIND by Jason Wilson
Natural History/Biography | 320pp | Constable | June 2015
A Life of W. H. Hudson: Naturalist and Writer from the River Plate
W. H. Hudson was brought up on the pampas, where he learnt from gauchos about frontier life. After
moving to London in 1874, Hudson lived in extreme poverty. Like his friend Joseph Conrad, Hudson was an
exile, adapting to England. He never returned to Argentina. Wilson unravels Hudson’s English dream, his
natural history rambles, and his work to protect birds. He remains both a complex witness to his homeland
before mass immigration and to his England of the mind, before the urban sprawl.
Jason Wilson, Emeritus Professor at University College London, has written books on Octavio Paz, Jorge Luis
Borges, Pablo Neruda, Alexander von Humboldt and travel companions on Latin America, the Andes and
Buenos Aires. He spends his time between London and Buenos Aires.
22
IT’S ONE FOR THE MONEY by Clinton Heylin
Music | 480pp | Constable | June 2015
A cross between HOLLYWOOD BABYLON and THE HITMEN, IT’S ONE FOR THE MONEY rips the lid off
Pop’s own Pandora box and explicates just what it is that makes the world of sound go round – song
publishing
Song publishing is the one constant in the carousel of recorded music now spanning the past century, and
has been the way that song-credits and publishing revenue have caused ructions and recriminations, and
inspired writers by making them poor and lawyers rich. Whether it be Procul Harum going to court to
decide who really wrote ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ or the Moody Blues wanting their fair share of ‘Nights of
White Satin’, when the song-credits get divvied up, a parting of the ways citing ‘musical differences’ is
almost inevitable. So here are some choice examples of poplore held up to the light, some familiar to
music fans others not, designed to prove that Dylan knew of what he wrote when he suggested, ‘Money
doesn’t talk, it swears’. Between them, they provide the unvarnished story of popular song from the days jukeboxes and radio
replaced wax cylinders and piano rolls to the era of digital downloads, legal and illegal.
Praise for IT’S ONE FOR THE MONEY: The book is fabulously well researched – Independent; Clinton Heylin tells all on the megahits
that were pilfered from their owners – The Guardian; A convincing slice of alternative history, but also with a terrific guide to the
evolution of the popular song… well worth reading – New Statesman; Meticulous – The Sunday Times.
Clinton Heylin is the author of biographies of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen, and histories of American and British
punk (FROM THE VELVETS TO THE VOIDOIDS and BABYLON’S BURNING), he has tackled every aspect of pop music and culture in a
twenty five-year career as a full-time author/historian.
THE REAL MEAL REVOLUTION by Professor Tim Noakes, Sally-Ann Creed, Jonno
Proudfoot and David Grier
Cookery/Health| 304pp | Robinson | June 2015
Part myth-busting, controversial demolition of conventional high-carb dietary wisdom of
the past few decades, part mouth-watering cookbook
THE REAL MEAL REVOLUTION’s goal is to change your life by teaching you how to take charge of your
weight and your health through the way you eat. More energy, fewer (or no) cravings, no hunger,
weight loss, much better health in every respect, better blood glucose and insulin readings,
enhanced athletic performance, increased mental focus, better sleeping habits. THE REAL MEAL
REVOLUTION is the winner of the 2014 Nielsen Booksellers Choice Award. This award is bestowed
upon an author for a book he or she has written that booksellers most enjoyed selling throughout
the year.
23
SAVING SAFA: Rescuing a Little Girl from FGM by Waris Dirie
Memoir / gender studies / current affairs / politics | 288pp | Virago | July 2015
From the bestselling author of Desert Flower: the true story of saving a young girl from FGM
Waris Dirie, the Somalia nomad who became a supermodel, and an anti-FGM activist, first came to the
world's attention with the publication of her autobiography, DESERT FLOWER. The book was
subsequently made into a film and little Safa Nour, from one of the slums of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa,
was chosen to play the young Waris. The book and the film record many extraordinary things - from
facing down a tiger, to being discovered by a famous photographer in London - but it also tells the grim
story of female circumcision, an ordeal that the young Waris had to endure.
SAVING SAFA opens with a letter from Safa, now aged seven, who explains that she is worried that she
will undergo FGM in spite of the contract her parents have signed with Dirie's Desert Flower Foundation
stating that they will never have their daughter cut. Waris drops everything and flies to Djibouti where she meets Safa's father and
mother who thinks her daughter should be cut to stop the community ostracising them. Waris brings them to Paris and to Vienna,
they learn about the foundation and Safa's father finally comes round to the idea of working for the foundation as well.
As Safa was saved from FGM through a contract with her parents, the Foundation believes a thousand other girls can be saved
through providing their families with aid in return for a promise not to mutilate their daughters
Waris Dirie is an internationally renowned model and was the face of Revlon skin-care products. In 1997 she was appointed by the UN
as special ambassador against FGM.
THE FLOWER APPRECIATION SOCIETY by Anna Day and Ellie Jauncey
Flower arranging / crafts | 288 pp | Sphere| July 2015
A beautiful, fully illustrated recipe book of flowers for anyone who wants to know more about
how to make gorgeous floral arrangements for their home or an event without breaking the
bank
Anna Day and Ellie Jauncey are not your average florists. Friends first and business partners later, they
formed The Flower Appreciation Society when they realised they shared a love of all things floral and a
frustration with the formal arrangements preferred by many traditional florists. The bouquets and
accessories they create in their London studio are relaxed, natural and breathtakingly beautiful – and packed full of seasonal blooms
from local markets. In this, their first book, they will take readers on an incredible, meandering journey through an A to Z of blooms –
from Anemones to Zinnias and everything in between.
If you’re a bride-to-be considering doing your own wedding flowers or have ever wondered why your tulips just won’t stand up
straight, The Flower Appreciation Society has all the tips, tricks and wonderfully creative ideas you could ask for. The book will include
Anemones and Anatomy, Bouquets and Bees, Colours and Corsages, Delphiniums and Daisies, Edible flowers and Events, Foliage and
Forget-me-Nots, Garlands and Gardens, Headbands and Hydrangea, Insects and Irises, Jasmine and Jam jars, Kit and Kitsch, Lilacs and
Latin, Mother’s Day and Markets, Narcissus and Nature, Old wives’ tales and Orchids, Peonies and Posies, Quick tips and Questions,
Roses and Romance, Scents and Seasonality, Tulips and Thyme, Urban legends and Unloved blooms, Vases and Valentines, Weddings
and Wild flowers . . . And Xylem, Yarrow and Zinnia
Anna Day is an illustrator and Ellie Jauncey has a degree in textiles. The seeds of The Flower Appreciation Society were sown when
they worked in their local pub and soon realised how much they had in common. They began making arrangements for the pub and
quickly branched out into weddings and other events – working from kitchen tables, car boots and the pub’s function room. Three
whirlwind years later, they work in a studio in Hackney, London, and their beautifully wild floral designs can be seen at weddings and
events across the country. They have worked with brands including Anthropologie, Toast and Marc Jacobs and their flowers have
been seen in Miss Vogue and Marie Claire. You can find out more at www.theflowerappreciationsociety.co.uk; Twitter:
@flowersociety / Instagram: @flowersociety
24
* VERY BRITISH PROBLEMS ABROAD by Rob Temple
Humour | 288pp | Sphere | September 2015
Very British Problems goes on holiday!
In his new mildly-amusing-if-you-like-that-sort-of-thing book, Rob Temple tackles classic 'Brits abroad' dilemmas,
including the impossibility of finding decent cup of tea, queuing anarchy at popular tourist spots and the
awfulness of a middle-aged British man in socks and sandals. With witty illustrations, quizzes and plenty of Rob's
trademark observations on the peculiarities of the British, this is bound to be another huge success.
Rob Temple is an award-winning features editor and the founder of @soverybritish.
MR KEY’S SHORTER POTTED BRIEF, BRIEF LIVES by Frank Key
Humour | 240pp | Constable | October 2015
Absurdly Abbreviated Lives of the The Great Figures Of History
Gibson, Willie (Irish, 2nd Baron Ashbourne, 1868–1942). An enthusiastic Gaelic nationalist, Gibson was
rumoured to keep a tortoise in his sporran.
Stein, Gertrude (American writer, 1874 – 1946). Stein liked to write while looking at cows. She and Alice B
Toklas would drive around until they found a suitable spot, then Stein would sit on a campstool armed
with pad and pencil, while Toklas coaxed a cow into her line of vision.
Nixon, Richard Milhous (American politician and Potus, 1913 – 1994) Nixon’s favourite pastime was
mashing potatoes.
Jansson, Tove (Finnish writer and illustrator, 1914–2001). When staying at her Finnish island retreat, it was Tove Jansson’s practice to
get out of bed at four o’ clock in the morning and stand stock still, pretending to be a tree, while a squirrel ran up and down her frozen
limbs.
Lennon, John (British musician, 1940–1980). According to Bernard Levin (q.v.), “there is nothing wrong with John Lennon that could
not be cured by standing him upside down and shaking him gently until whatever is inside his head falls out”.
Frank Key is the legendary proprietor of Hooting Yard, a surreal humour website, and author of numerous books,
including BEFUDDLED BY CORMORANTS. He currently writes the regular KEY’S CUPBOARD column for the Dabbler website.
* RANDOM: THE ASDF BOOK by Tom Ridgewell
Humour | 120pp | Sphere | October 2015
We have recently embarked on our second foray into brave new YouTube world, with the
acquisition of two books by Tom Ridgewell, aka Tomska
Tomska has an amazing 3.5 million subscribers to his channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/TomSka)
and has made his name by creating very creative, very funny (and often very dark) sketches, vlogs and
animations. Tomska has a loyal and dedicated audience, and his channel, like PewDiePie’s, is about far
more than just pranks, daily vlogs and computer games. The book will be based on one of Tomska’s most
popular series - the ASDF movies. Collectively, these short animations have been viewed 375 MILLION
times. It will feature all new cartoons featuring some of the most popular characters, catchphrases and
running jokes from the series.
25
* HORRORSCOPES: AN ASTROLOGICAL ALMANAC by Jonathan O’Brien
Humour | 192pp | Constable | October 2015
A hilarious, tongue-in-cheek and detailed weekly astrological guide to the year ahead, packed full of celebrity readings and
other fun extras
HORRORSCOPES will tell you everything you need to know about what will happen to you in the year ahead, and we can reveal now, it's
not all good news. In fact, none of it is. The moral? Blame it on the planets - let's face it, Saturn's a bastard. This hilarious, tongue-in-cheek
and detailed weekly guide to next year is interspersed with celebrity readings - find out what will be the hardest challenge David Cameron
will face next year (hint: it involves Game of Thrones) and what embarrassing social faux pas will befall Harry Styles - and is packed full of
other fun extras, including when to play and not play Monopoly (not June) and those all-important lottery numbers. There's something for
member of all signs of the Zodiac and beyond in this rude, witty and bang-up-to-date handbook which is a must-read if you want to know
what will happen to you in the year ahead (just don't set your expectations too high).
Jonathan O’Brien has written for Waterstones, BBC One, Two, Three, ITV and Channel 4. His work online has been featured in the
Guardian, the Telegraph and Buzzfeed, amongst others. He currently works as a bookseller in London.
RENDEZVOUS AT THE RUSSIAN TEA ROOMS by Paul Willetts
History | 496pp | Constable | October 2015
An engrossing WW2 espionage thriller
RENDEZVOUS AT THE RUSSIAN TEA ROOMS provides the first comprehensive account of what was once
hailed by a leading American newspaper as the greatest spy story of World War II. This dramatic yet littleknown saga, replete with telephone taps, kidnappings, and police surveillance, centres on the furtive
escapades of Tyler Kent, a handsome, womanising 28-year-old Ivy League graduate, who doubles as a US
Embassy code clerk and Soviet agent. Against the backdrop of London high society during the so-called
Phoney War, Kent’s life intersects with the lives of the book’s two other memorably flamboyant
protagonists. One of those is Maxwell Knight, an urbane, endearingly eccentric MI5 spyhunter. The other is
Anna Wolkoff, a White Russian fashion designer and Nazi spy whose outfits are worn by the Duchess of
Windsor and whose parents are friends of the British royal family. Wolkoff belongs to a fascist secret
society called the Right Club, which aims to overthrow the British government. Her romantic entanglement with Tyler Kent gives her
access to a secret correspondence between President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, a correspondence that has the potential to
transform the outcome of the war.
Paul Willetts made his literary debut in 2003 with FEAR AND LOATHING IN FITZROVIA, a biography of the bohemian writer and
dandy, Julian Maclaren-Ross. His second book was NORTH SOHO 999: A TRUE STORY OF GANGS AND GUN-CRIME IN 1940s
SOHO, a narrative non-fiction police procedural. He is also the author of MEMBERS ONLY, a life of Paul Raymond, which was adapted
into THE LOOK OF LOVE, starring Steve Coogan. He has written for The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The
Independent on Sunday, The Spectator, History Today, and The TLS.
26
*ON INTELLIGENCE by John Hughes Wilson
Military History | 528pp | Constable | October 2015
From one of the country's foremost experts on military history, an insider view of some of the
greatest intelligence blunders of recent history.
This book is a professional military-intelligence officer's and a controversial insider's view of some of the
greatest intelligence blunders of recent history. It includes the serious developments in government misuse
of intelligence in the recent war with Iraq. Colonel John Hughes-Wilson analyses not just the events that
conspire to cause disaster, but why crucial intelligence is so often ignored, misunderstood or spun by
politicians and seasoned generals alike. This book analyses how Hitler's intelligence staff misled him in a bid
to outfox their Nazi Party rivals; the bureaucratic bungling behind Pearl Harbor; how in-fighting within
American intelligence ensured they were taken off guard by the Viet Cong's 1968 Tet Offensive; how over confidence, political
interference and deception facilitated Egypt and Syria's 1973 surprise attack on Israel; why a handful of marines and a London taxicab
were all Britain had to defend the Falklands; the mistaken intelligence that allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power until the
second Iraq War of 2003; the truth behind the US failure to run a terrorist warning system before the 9/11 WTC bombing; and how
governments are increasingly pressurising intelligence agencies to 'spin' the party-political line.
Colonel John Hughes-Wilson, the past President of the International Guild of Battlefield Guides, is one of Britain’s leading military
historians, and a well-reviewed author and commentator and on a wide range of intelligence and military historical subjects. He
lectures for a number of international, governmental and academic organisations.
STRONGER TOGETHER by Simon Hartley
Business and Management |240pp | Piatkus | October 2015
A book on building world class teams from sports psychology consultant and performance
coach Simon Hartley
What do world-class teams do that others don't? How do those teams think, make decisions and respond
to challenges? Stronger Together will help readers to understand what differentiates world class teams
from the rest. Using these insights, readers can apply the same key principles when leading their own
teams. To illustrate how world-class teams operate and how they're led, Simon Hartley will draw on
examples of teamwork from a very diverse range of disciplines, from The Red Arrows to SAS Units, a
Formula One Pit Crew, Americas Cup crews, World Champion sports teams and more. He will use case
studies from his work with elite professional, international and Olympic sports teams, plus executive
leadership teams from businesses.
Simon Hartley is a globally respected sport psychology consultant and performance coach. He helps athletes and business people to
get their mental game right. For almost twenty years, Hartley has worked with gold medallists, world record holders, top five worldranked professional athletes and championship winning teams. He has worked at the highest level of sport, including spells in
Premiership football, Premiership rugby union, First Class County Cricket, Super League, golf, tennis, motor sport and with Team GB
Olympians.
* CRAP KITCHEN by Geoff Tibballs
Humour | 208pp | Robinson | November 2015
The worst cookbook ever, packed with truly bizarre and utterly disgusting recipes from all over the world
Ever since humankind produced its first foodie, the culinary world has dished up some staggering confections which could best be
described as 'acquired tastes': dishes such as Virgin Boy Eggs (eggs soaked in the urine of prepubescent boys); live octopus, which
clutches at the diner's tongue and throat as it is swallowed; and Beard Beer, made from the yeast found in facial hair.
Geoff Tibballs has worked as a journalist and press officer, but is now a full-time writer and editor. He lists his hobbies as sport, eating,
drinking, and avoiding housework, and lives in Nottingham with his wife and daughters. He is the author of a number of bestselling
books, including THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF JOKES and CRAZY SH*T OLD PEOPLE SAY.
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* COLOUR ME BAD: STRESS OUT, COLOUR IN, DEFACE, OBLITERATE by Ilya
Colouring/Painting | 96pp | 90 b&w line drawings | Robinson | November 2015
A colouring-in book with a difference, compiled using the work of a number of contemporary artists and illustrators. Rather than
detailed bucolic scenes in which colourers might lose themselves, these pages offer images enabling us to face our deepest fears and
overcome them either though painstakingly colouring them in or perhaps obliterating them with angry scrawls.
I CALL MYSELF A FEMINIST edited by Victoria Pepe, Rachel Holmes, Amy Annette, Martha
Mosse and Alice Stride
Feminism | 336pp | Virago | November 2015
Following the success of FIFTY SHADES OF FEMINISM (nearly 10,000 hardback and ebooks
sold) comes a collection by twenty-five girls and women under thirty
Here are some of the brightest, funniest, bravest young women including: Laura Bates (of Everyday
Sexism), Emeli Sande (singer at the 2012 Olympics), Reni Eddo-Lodge (award-winning journalist), Yas
Necarti (eighteen-year-old activist against Page 3), Meltem Avcil (campaigner for the end the detention of
women asylum seekers) - and other writers, performers, politicians and writers. Punchy, bold, urgent. A
book for our times.
* THE BACON JAM COOKBOOK by James Bundle and Chris O’Connor
Cookery | Robinson | 160pp | November 2015
Eat 17 is an independently owned small group of eateries and convenience stores based in east London. It was started by two
brothers in their early twenties who, with only £5,000, transformed a rundown off-license in Walthamstow into a multi-million pound
retail revolution and world-class brand. This cookery book is based on their Bacon Jam, which is stoked in shops across the UK.
* 95 AND LOVING IT! by Dr Charles Eugster
Health and Fitness | 288pp | Sphere | January 2016
A guide to living an active and fulfilling life, both mentally and physically, after passing a certain age
COWBOY SONG by Graeme Thomson
Memoir | 400pp | Constable | February 2016
The first serious, in-depth biography of Phil Lynott, the founding member, principal songwriter and lead vocalist of Thin
Lizzy, to tie-in with the thirty year anniversary of his death
Thin Lizzy, the hugely successful, influential and enduring Irish rock band was formed in Dublin in 1969 and split up in 1983. During the
band’s lifetime they sold more than fifteen million albums worldwide, with Live and Dangerous widely acknowledged as the greatest
live album ever made. The band’s lead singer, Lynott, was a complex man, and not naturally extroverted. The thirtieth anniversary of
his death is the ideal opportunity for the life and music of Ireland’s first rock star to be given the serious, in-depth consideration it
merits.
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CULLODEN by Trevor Royle
History | 480pp | Little, Brown | February 2016
The battle that forged the British Empire, 1746
Of all the civil wars fought on British soil the ‘45 Jacobite rebellion sparked the bitterest memories. Not only was the government
army led by the Duke of Cumberland, a king’s son who gained notoriety as ‘the butcher’ for the savage way in which his troops visited
reprisals on the Scottish highlands in the aftermath of the fighting, but Culloden was the beginning of the end of the traditional
Highland way of life. The contentious issues - the clearances, the despoliation of Gaelic culture, the acts of proscription which put
paid to the wearing of tartan, and the heady sentimentality of the Jacobite cause centered on the romantic figure of Bonnie Prince
Charlie – caused Culloden to become more myth than reality. Over the years it has produced a tartanised sentimentality for those
who want their history cut and dried, and is often described - quite wrongly - as a battle between brave Scots and heartless English.
Royle’s brilliant new history of the battle looks behind these myths to argue that Culloden’s lasting outcome was that it changed the
way that the British Army looked at itself and pointed the way to the efficient professional force it became by the end of the
eighteenth century. Soldiers of the seventeen regiments of the government army who served at Culloden went on to Europe,
America and India as Britain began the long march towards world power.
Royle is the author of CIVIL WAR and THE WARS OF THE ROSES, among other critically acclaimed works of narrative history. He is
well-known for his books on war and imperialism, and is a former defence and foreign affairs specialist for Scotland on Sunday.
THE ALIENS ARE COMING! by Ben Miller
Science | 320pp | Sphere | February 2016
What are we going to say to aliens when they pick up the ‘phone?
We, the people of Earth, are closer than ever to making contact with Aliens. But what are we going to say when they pick up the
‘phone? That may seem like a fanciful question, but thanks to recent advances in science it is becoming a pressing one. We now
know that bacteria made an appearance very soon after the Earth formed, implying that living things are common in the Galaxy. The
new Kepler Space Telescope has shown us that there are many Earth-like planets orbiting the stars around us, giving that life many
potential places to evolve and grow. And our technology is rapidly improving to the point where – if alien civilisations exist – we will
be able to detect them, and maybe even have a chat. In this book Ben Miller charts his attempt to become the Earth’s very own ‘Alien
Ambassador’, attached to the UN, with a clear vision of how to manage alien affairs. He tours Russia, China, and the US to see the
latest space programs and learn as much as he can about the history of alien communication, from the devastation of the Plains
Indians at the hands of the Frontiersmen, to the latest advances in the Search For Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence or SETI.
Ben Miller is one half of Armstrong and Miller - the UK's most popular TV comedy duo. He is also an ex-semiconductor physicist, and
studied to postgrad level at Cambridge. He is the author of IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE (Sphere 2012)
* NOT FROM HERE by Helen Stevenson
Autobiography | 208pp | Virago |March 2016
A beautifully written portrait of motherhood, and of Stevenson’s experiences of being a mother to a sick child
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THE VISITOR’S BOOK: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF DICKY AND DENIS by Jon Lys-Turner with Digby Warde-Aldam
Biography | 352pp |Constable | March 2016
The artists Dicky Chopping and Denis Wirth-Miller were, from their first meeting in 1937 to the former’s death in 2008, the Zeligs of
the British art world. Though they stubbornly guarded their privacy, they hoarded correspondence, diaries and artwork. Taken as a
whole, this archive represents nothing short of a missing link in twentieth-century art history. As a cohabiting gay couple in 1930s
London, Dicky and Denis were anomalies in a strictly conformist society. They were a long-term couple who resented the
decriminalisation of homosexuality. They were dependent on each other but staggeringly promiscuous. They were pacifists who beat
each other senseless with alarming regularity. The story of their life together is as interesting as that of any of their more famous
friends.
John Lys-Turner first met Dicky Chopping in 1981, shortly after beginning his Masters degree at the Royal College of Art. They
developed a close friendship that would last until the latter's death in 2008.
Digby Warde-Aldam is a freelance writer based in London. He covers many different subjects for publications including Apollo
magazine and the Spectator, but has a particular interest in the history of Soho and twentieth century British art.
RED PLANET by Luke Bainbridge
Sport | 320pp | Constable | April 2016
A unique insight in to the global cult of Manchester United, and the myths, romance,
hypocrisy, dreams, fears, money, debt, celebrity, egos, bitterness, and betrayal behind the
world’s biggest club
The story of Manchester United’s rise to glory is one of the greatest sporting stories ever told. It’s a story
that has attracted romantic dreamers, idealists and purists from all corners of the Red Planet to invest
their own hopes and dreams in this greatest of football clubs. But there is another great story to be told
about Manchester United. The remarkable story of how this club became the most valuable sports brand
in the world. It’s the story of how a football club from the north of England came to dominate the world
and see it as a Red Planet. The story of a club that faced bankruptcy several times in its history until it was
rescued by charitable benefactors – and once, bizarrely, by a dog – but is now owned by a man who has never stepped inside Old
Trafford yet bleeds millions out of the club every year. The club whose accountant was once refused money at the bank when he went
to withdraw the players’ weekly wages, but now pays million to its top players. It is also a story that on a human level is infused with
romance and tragedy, ecstasy and bitterness, brotherhood and betrayal. A story about the battle for the soul of a football club. A
battle some will fight to the death; whatever it takes to keep the red flag flying high. A battle that some, conversely, think has already
been lost.
Luke Bainbridge is an award-winning author and journalist. He was one of the founding editors of the Observer Music Monthly and ghostwriter of Shaun Ryder’s autobiography, The Sunday Times bestseller TWISTING MY MELON, as well as the follow-up WHAT PLANET
AM I ON? A life-long, match-going Manchester United supporter, he has spent the last twenty years writing predominantly about music,
Manchester United and the city of Manchester.
* GRILLSTOCK: THE BAR-B-Q BOOK by Jon Finch and Ben Merrington
Cookery | 224pp | Sphere | April 2016
From the creators of Grillstock comes the ultimate in barbecue cooking
If you've eaten in our Smokehouses, hung out at our Festivals, or just flicked through our website, you know that at Grillstock we are
passionate about what we do. We live and breathe the meat and fire. And we want to share that passion in as many ways as possible.
Enter GRILLSTOCK: THE BAR-B-Q BOOK. Stacked with more than 100 recipes - including Grillstock secrets that are just too damn
special to keep to ourselves - the book includes favourites from the Smokehouse menus, feasts that make us weep with meaty
pleasure, and succulent offerings from some truly awesome Competition guys. There's even a whole hog. This is Grillstock at home.
Prepare to be King of the Grill in your own back yard.
When Jon Finch and Ben Merrington met they discovered a shared passion for barbecue, music and festivals. They staged their first
Grillstock festival in 2010 and now run in Bristol, Manchester and London. In 2012 they opened their first Grillshack smokehouse
restaurant, and now have restaurants across the UK.
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* EUROVISION’S 100 CRAZIEST MOMENTS
by Geoff Tibballs
Humour | 208pp | Robinson | April 2016
For sixty years the Eurovision Song Contest has existed in a parallel universe where a song about the construction of a hydro-electric
power station is considered cutting-edge pop, where half a dozen warbling Russian grannies are considered Saturday night
entertainment, where a tune repeating the word ‘la’ 138 times is considered a winner, and where Australia is considered part of
Europe. Eurovision beguiles and bemuses 200 million viewers globally each year. This book captures some of that magic in a suitably
light-hearted fashion.
* HOW TO CATCH BIG PIKE by Paul Gustafson
Fishing | 256pp | Robinson | April 2016
An inspirational and illustrated guide to catching specimen pike in rivers, lochs and lakes from an author who has
caught more than his fair share
This is a new, updated version and the third edition of a book originally published in 1997 (HOW TO CATCH BIGGER PIKE) and most
notably contains recent and hitherto unpublished developments in the science of how pike sense their prey. It includes the latest
developments in tackle and lures; new chapters - including one on pike fishing in Ireland; and covers every known method of catching
pike in the UK, Ireland, Europe and America. Paintings and drawings by the late, world renowned, fish artist John Searle join photos on
specimens, tackle and waters to make this the book on pike fishing - second to none as the world`s leading fish historian, Fred Buller
OBE, writes in his foreword. Fred Buller also contributes a new chapter on locating world record pike.
In thirty-five years of pike fishing, author Paul Gustafson has landed close to one hundred pike of 20lb and over, from fishing in Britain
and across Europe. He is angling consultant for fishing tackle giants Abu Garcia and previously the American firm Berkely. He is the
author and producer of two successful videos on pike fishing. An occasional columnist for four major angling magazines, Gustafson
appears regularly on Sky TV. He is joined by contributing angling writers and pike fishermen Fred Buller, Al Rawlings, Pete Climo, Gord
Burton, Mick Willis, Bob Church, and by photographer Greg Meenahan.
* BREAKDOWN: SHELL SHOCK ON THE SOMME by Taylor Downing
History | 448pp | Little, Brown | April 2016
By the beginning of August 1916, nearly 200,000 British soldiers had already been killed or wounded during the first month of fighting
th
along the Somme. The chief of staff of the 4 Army called all his divisional commanders together to ‘comment on recent operations’.
The high command of the British Army was starting to panic. An increasingly large number of men seemed to have lost the will to
fight. Entire battalions had to be withdrawn from the Front. Much of this was down to what was loosely described as ‘shell shock’,
what today would be called battle trauma. The commanders who came together in early August came up with a range of explanations
as to what was going wrong. But they were united in one thing. Strict discipline had to be maintained. A hard line had to be taken.
Officers and doctors who were soft on ‘shell shock’ were themselves to be discouraged and to be dealt with severely. Commanders
had to take a stand to prevent shell shock, as one general put it, from ‘becoming contagious’. Breakdown tells the story of some of
these instances when men refused to fight.
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ECONOMICAL WITH THE TRUTH by Evan Davis
Popular economics | 304pp | Little, Brown | April 2016
How we fool are fooled in public life (and how we fool ourselves), and why it’s so dangerous
Low level dishonesty is rife in the form of exaggeration, selective use of facts, economy with the truth, careful drafting – there are so
many ways of giving a more favourable impression than the details justify. And there are times when we supplement these strategies
with outright lies. Broadcasters do it, hyping news stories when there is little else interesting to report. From rhetoric, to shorttermism and psychology the book will examine the times in both public and private life when dishonesty might be the right strategy,
and when it will never pay off.
Evan Davis has degrees in economics from Oxford and Harvard. He is a well-known television and radio presenter, most notably for
the Radio 4 Today programme. For the six-and-a-half years before working on the Today programme, Davis was the BBC's Economics
Editor, the most senior economics reporter in the corporation. Davis has written MADE IN BRITAIN (2012, Little, Brown), and one
on economics.
ROCK YOUR PRESENTATION by Nigel Barlow
Business | 288pp | Piatkus | April 2016
Nearly all of us have to pitch or present our ideas, whether in a formal setting to a hundred jaded sales people, in a lecture theatre or
classroom, putting over our thoughts to a team of four colleagues, or even selling a concept one-on-one to our boss. In all these
situations we can choose between delivering a message that sounds like muzak, or one that wakes the listener up. In short, a
presentation that ‘rocks up’ the content. Most presentations and pitches could benefit from being ‘rocked up’ – becoming more
dynamic and memorable, in way that arouse the passion of the audience. By applying the ideas in ROCK IT UP the reader will be able
to deliver much better, livelier and emotionally engaging talks which leave their audience with the kind of high you get from being in a
crowd at a great concert.
* SIMPLIFY by Richard Koch and Greg Lockwood
Business | 288pp | Piatkus | April 2016
The author of THE 80-20 MANAGER teaches how ordinary individuals can use the principle of simplifying to create new
businesses
Part One, Great Simplifiers, describes a dozen stand-out cases of successful simplifying, which will convince you of the power of Koch
and Lockwood’s argument. Part Two, How to Simplify, helps you decide which of the two simplifying strategies is better for you and
your firm, and then gives a template for each strategy. Part Three – provocatively entitled Save The Dinosaurs? – examines the threat
to established market leaders from simplifiers and how leading firms can stay on top. Part Four looks at the financial rewards that
have been gained by simplifiers in their fields, as examined independently by OC&C Strategy Consultants. OC&C selected and analysed
twelve cases, six of each type of simplifying. The authors then seek to explain why these companies were so successful and how the
case studies resemble, or differ from, each other.
Richard Koch is the bestselling author of THE 80/20 MANAGER. He is also a highly successful entrepreneur and investor, whose
ventures have included Filofax, Plymouth Gin, Belgo and Betfair. He was formerly a partner of Bain & Company and co-founder of LEK
Consulting.
* CHRIST'S SAMURAI: THE TRUE STORY OF THE SHIMABARA REBELLION by Jonathan Clements
History | 288pp | Robinson | April 2016
The Shimbara Rebellion is well documented in Japanese sources but largely unexamined by popular historians. It pits samurai
traditionalists against peasant revolutionaries who believed in a Kingdom of Heaven, led by a child whom they believed to be the new
messiah. CHRIST’S SAMURAI is the story of the awful cataclysm that led to tens of thousands of Japanese being killed in an attempt to
purge the Christian religion from Japan. It ends with the story of the Hidden Christians, who are also the subject of Silence.
Jonathan Clements is the author of many books on East Asian history, including biographies of Empress Wu, Admiral Togo, the
statesman Prince Saionji and Coxinga, the Japanese-born 'pirate king'.
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* DON’T LET MY PAST BE YOUR FUTURE by Matthew Hamilton
Memoir | 160pp | Constable | May 2016
This is a memoir about surviving during difficult times with one’s dignity and optimism for humanity and its future intact. It is a
survival guide for today’s generations who need hope from someone who has seen Britain face both the Great Depression and Second
World War. It is manifesto for the left to rebuild itself with integrity after its shattering defeat in the 2015 General Election. In many
ways it is homage to the boundless grace and resilience of the human spirit to overcome poverty, war, oppression, economic and
social justice and build a more perfect society. But overall it is a book about today that uses example from both the author’s youth and
the culturally charged 1960s decade to fight back against austerity in your own personal world.
Harry Leslie Smith is a survivor of the Great Depression, a second world war RAF veteran and, at ninety-two, an activist for the poor
and for the preservation of social democracy. His Guardian articles have been shared over 60,000 times on Facebook and have
attracted huge comment and debate. He has authored numerous books about Britain during the Great Depression, the Second World
War and post-war austerity.
* ONCE A SAINT by Ian Ogilvy
Memoir | 320pp | Constable | May 2016
According to the Daily Mail, Ian Ogilvy was ‘the undisputed star of 1970s TV as the dashing Simon Templar in Return Of The Saint’ but
he’s not known just for his work on TV. There's been a multitude of films such as Witchfinder General (1968), No Sex Please: We’re
British (1973) and Death Becomes Her (1993) to complement his work on over sixty TV shows. ONCE A SAINT is an amusing and
unvarnished story: a tremendously endearing tale from a working actor. He’s not a ‘nation’s favourite’ but he tells a good story and
there’s a resilient interest in The Saint and Witchfinder General. He also deals with his corpsing dreadfully (and thereby ending his
stage career) in a way that opens your heart to him.
* CAN I EAT THAT by Jenefer Roberts
Cookery | 224pp | Robinson | May 2016
A nutritional guide through the dietary maze for type 2 diabetics
* LUDICROUS LAWS OF OLD LONDON by Nigel Cawthorne
Humour | 272pp | Robinson | June 2016
London abounds with all manner of ludicrous laws. Despite the efforts of the Law Commission there are medieval laws that are still in
force. For example, did you know that in the City of London it is illegal for barbers to practice surgery or surgeons to cut hair, but both
are permitted to work as dentists? It is also still illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour.
In a similar vein to Cawthorne’s previous title STRANGE LAWS OF OLD ENGLAND (over 75,000 copies sold) LUDICROUS LAWS OF
OLD LONDON unearths an extraordinary collection of the most bizarre and arcane laws that have been enacted over the centuries.
This amusing book is perfect for anyone interested in the eccentric history of the city.
Nigel Cawthorne has written over 150 books, including STRANGE LAWS OF OLD ENGLAND and OUTRAGED OF TUNBRIDGE
WELLS. He is a Freeman of the City of London.
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* THE REAL MEAL REVOLUTION: RAISING SUPERHEROES by Professor Tim Noakes, Jonno Proudfoot and Bridget
Surtees
Cookery/Health | 352pp | Robinson | June 2016
A follow up to THE REAL MEAL REVOLUTION, this is both a guide and cookery book for LCHF (Low-Carbohydrate, High-Fat) eating,
known in South Africa as ‘Banting’, for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and children of all ages.
* TEN WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR CHILDREN’S HAPPINESS AND WELLBEING by Alexia Barrable and Jennifer Barnett
Parenting | 208pp | Robinson | August 2016
A guide for parents to help them increase their children’s happiness and wellbeing
Divided into ten short chapters, each of which discusses as single manageable activity or habit that is proven to increase happiness.
For each concept, the authors provide: the best available scientific evidence from the educational, health and psychological literatures
supporting the concept; and practical, easy-to-read suggestions for implementation in the home.
* TATTOO by Lal Hardy
Body Art | 256pp | Robinson | August 2016
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THE RIVIERA SET by Mary Lovell
History / Biography | Little, Brown | August 2016 | 320pp + 16pp colour pics
Glamour and excess in the French Riviera in the mid twentieth century
In 1932, the American former actress, society hostess and successful businesswoman, Maxine Elliot, bought a piece of land on the sea
between Cannes and Juan-les-Pin for a villa. It was built almost regardless of coast and the only access was along a private road ending
in a narrow bridge and a steep hill down to the promontory where the villa perched on the rocks directly above the sea, providing
great privacy.
This villa on the French Riviera was called the Chateau de l’Horizon, and it would provide a secluded backdrop during the next three
decades for an indulgent and glamorous lifestyle - arguably unsurpassed. During her lifetime, and then during the life of the Prince Aly
Khan, the chateau afforded an HQ to which world leaders and the rich and famous gravitated in an almost ruthless search for pleasure
and amusement. Winston Churchill, the Duke of Windsor ,Wallis Simpson, Lloyd George, Gloria Vanderbilt, Lord Beaverbrook, J.P.
Morgan, H.H. Aga Khan, Rita Hayworth, Noel Coward, Pamela Harriman, Greta Garbo, Yvonne de Carlo, Fred Astaire, Charlie Chaplin,
Judy Garland, Douglas Fairbanks, Maurice Chevalier , Prince Rainier & Grace Kelly, Mohammed Al Fayed, Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed,
Nancy Mitford, Debo Devonshire, King Edward VII, Lady Diana Cooper, Princess Daisy Fellowes comprised the Riviera Set.
Mary Lovell, bestselling author of THE MITFORD GIRLS, has a wonderful eye for character and anecdote and is one of the preeminent social historians of the 1940s and 1950s. In THE RIVIERA SET she will use the extraordinary Chateau to paint a picture of
those who lived and partied there. It will be a book chock full of stories of glamour and excess and will re-create a time and place now
long-forgotten – as well as bring fresh life to characters both familiar and unfamiliar.
* UNTITLED ON UTOPIAS by Andrew Simms
Environmental Economics | 320pp | Little, Brown | August 2016
* THE SERIAL KILLER FILES by Paul Simpson
True Crime | 352pp |Robinson | September 2016
A serial killer has been defined as a person who murders three or more people over a period of more than thirty days, with a ‘cooling
off’ period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification. They’ve been around
for a very long. THE SERIAL KILLER FILES examines a selection of the most interesting cases, and in the process tries to dispel some
of the myths around the subject. Serial killers aren’t all dysfunctional loners. Robert Yates killed seventeen prostitutes but had a happy
family life. They’re not all motivated by sex: anger, thrill, financial gain, and attention-seeking have all played their part. They don’t all
travel widely: many, such as Steven Wright, the Ipswich killer, stick to one ‘comfort zone’. They’re not all white males: Chinese,
African-American and Mexican serial killers have all been captured in the US in the past few years. They don’t keep killing until they
die or are caught: many, such as Jeffrey Gorton, kill for a time then stop; and nor do they ‘want to be caught’, although many will feel
as if they’re uncatchable.
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QUEERING THE PITCH by Martin Aston
Popular Culture | 384pp | 16pp picture section (b/w and colour) | Constable | September 2016
The very first history of gay popular music.
Popular music’s gay DNA is inarguable, from Elvis in eye shadow and Little Richard’s ‘Tutti Frutti’ to The Velvet Underground’s
subversive rock’n’roll and Bowie’s ambisexual alien Ziggy Stardust; from disco diva Sylvester and Frankie Says ‘Relax’ to Frankie
Knuckles; from Boy George to Morrissey’s ‘fourth sex’; from k.d. lang’s female Elvis to Kurt Cobain in a dress, from Noughties lesbian
icon Beth Ditto to Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ manifesto. Just as much, post-war music wouldn’t be the same without its equally
adventurous gay movers and shakers, for example managers such as The Beatles’ Brian Epstein. But if collected essays and/or features
have addressed gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender singers, songwriters, musicians and songs, no book has yet comprehensively
and authoritatively drawn together all the threads to explore this as an unfolding, historical narrative: to tell the story of how music
‘came out’, from the days when homosexuals were deeply in the closet, but the love that once dared not speak its name sings it, and
on daytime radio to boot. This story will reveal which songs have been coded messages about sexuality, and which proudly declared
the truth, including examples of heterosexual songwriters and singers who chose to address same-sex issues, from Rod Stewart’s ‘The
Killing of Georgie’ – the first UK number one with a gay theme – to Suede’s ‘Animal Nitrate’. The narrative will unfold against a
backdrop of historic social and political shifts, as LGBT rights pushed for visibility and equality, from the closet of the Fifties to the
struggle and setbacks of the Sixties, the liberation of the Seventies, the mainstream invasion and AIDS crisis of the Eighties, the
advances of the Nineties and the more immersed scene of the Noughties. These artists have indeed changed the world as we know it.
Queering the Pitch is a story for a wide audience, not just the LGBT community but a broad spectrum of music lovers who are
fascinated by these characters, events, stories and songs. It is also a very timely tale, given the prominence of same-sex issues such as
marriage equality, alongside the retrogressive steps in places such as Russia and parts of Africa, where songs encapsulating the
gay/lesbian experience mirror those of the Sixties, signifying how the journey from illegality and bigotry to freedom is still far from
over.
Martin Aston is the author of the acclaimed FACING THE OTHER WAY: THE STORY OF 4AD, published in 2013 by HarperCollins.
Compiled from 120 new interviews, it was voted a Book of the Year by NME, Times Literary Supplement, Spin, the Daily Telegraph and
Rough Trade Shops.
* FROM THE OLD COUNTRY: LETTERS TO AMERICA by Jane Miller
Autobiography | 224pp | Virago | September 2016
An illuminating collection of monthly columns written over the years by Jane Miller for an American magazine
For the past four years Jane Miller, author of Crazy Age: Thoughts on Being Old, has been writing a column for an American magazine
called In These Times. Her beautifully observed pieces about life, politics and Britain open a window to her American readers of a
world very different from their own.
Jane Miller lives in London, and has never met anyone connected to the magazine; all the time she has been contributing pieces, she
and her editor at In These Times have kept up a lively email correspondence, and - having explored the Chicago street in which they
work on Google Street View - she imagines her editor and his young assistants bicycling efficiently along the wide road, braced for a
day's fact-checking, assembling the magazine and then 'putting it to bed'.
From the Old Country: Letters to America is a celebration of the new connections possible in the modern world, and a collection of
small windows on these last four years, at home and abroad. Through her emails across the Atlantic - warm and thoughtful, witty and
sharp - Miller gives us an 84 Charing Cross Road for the twenty-first century.
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* FISHING STORIES by Cameron Pierce
Fishing/Sport | 352pp |Robinson | September 2016
An anthology compiling new and classic essays and articles about fish and fishing
This book contains hard-to-find gems like ‘The Most Expensive Fish in Central Europe’ by Ota Pavel and surprises for even the most
avid angler, including an in-depth interview with pro fishing legend Bill Dance. The anthology will be a must-read for fishermen, but
also appeal to a broader readership through a diverse selection of major and award-winning authors, including Ernest Hemingway,
Thomas McGuane, Henry Hughes (Oregon Book Award winner), and Weston Ochse (Bram Stoker Award winner). From the
extraordinary discovery of a living coelacanth to Hemingway’s adventures in Cuba, this anthology compiles the world’s greatest fishing
stories.
Cameron Pierce is the Wonderland Book Award-winning author of twelve books, including the critically acclaimed fishing collection
OUR LOVE WILL GO THE WAY OF THE SALMON. His work has been reviewed and featured on Comedy Central, The Guardian, and
Coast Weekend. He was also the author of the column FISHING AND BEER, where he interviewed acclaimed angler Bill Dance and
John Lurie of Fishing with John. Pierce is the head editor of Lazy Fascist Press and has edited four anthologies, including the groundbreaking volumes The Best Bizarro Fiction of the Decade and 40 Likely to Die Before 40: An Introduction to Alt Lit, both of which have
been taught in college courses throughout the world. Pierce has also been the Mellon scholar-in-residence at Rhodes University in
South Africa. He lives with his wife in Astoria, Oregon, home of the Fisher Poets Festival.
THE END OF THE WORLD by Rupert Everett
Memoir | 288pp | Little, Brown | September 2016
A memoir from the supremely talented and acerbically witty actor
THE END OF THE WORLD follows Rupert Everett on his journeys through the past and present, something he did with great skill and
elegance in VANISHED YEARS (Winner of the Sheridan Morley prize 2012). The general theme is about how much things have
changed in his lifetime, and how the world of his youth no longer exists. As always, there are plenty of wicked and wonderful stories
and encounters throughout.
Everett is the author of best-selling memoir RED CARPETS AND OTHER BANANA SKINS (Little, Brown 2006).
A supremely gifted writer … We know Everett can do Wildean wit … but he has an even greater unexpected gift for conveying
landscape and atmosphere- Lynn Barber, The Sunday Times
* SAFETY IN NUMBERS: MATHS WITHOUT FEAR by Liz Strachan
Popular Mathematics | 176pp | Constable | September 2016
* THE EVERYDAY GUIDE TO OLIVE OIL by Judy Ridgway
Cooking | 192pp |Robinson | October 2016
How to get the best out of olive oil, in the kitchen and for health
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* THE WORLD’S 100 WEIRDEST MUSEUMS by Geoff Tibballs
Museum/Humour | 224pp |Robinson | October 2016
Encompasses such delights as The Museum of Witchcraft in Cornwall, The Museum of Bad Art in Massachusetts and the
French Fry Museum in Bruges
When we think of the world's great museums, we tend to think of the Louvre, the Guggenheim or the Victoria and Albert. We do not
immediately think of the Dog Collar Museum, the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum, the Museum of Broken Relationships or Barney
Smith's Toilet Seat Art Museum. Yet scattered across the globe are museums dedicated to every conceivable subject, from bananas to
Bigfoot, lawnmowers to leprechauns, teapots to tapeworms, mustard to moist towelettes, and pencils to penises. This book lists the
world's 100 weirdest museums in order of quirkiness, encompassing such delights as The Museum of Witchcraft in Cornwall, a
museum in Kentucky that houses 800 ventriloquists' dolls, the Museum of Bad Art in Massachusetts, the Paris Sewer Museum, the
French Fry Museum in Bruges, the Museum of Contraception and Abortion in Vienna and the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum in
Tennessee. Each entry includes the address, contact and admission details, so the next time you are in Berlin there is no excuse for
missing out on a visit to the Currywurst Museum, the world's leading museum dedicated to sausages in hot ketchup.
Geoff Tibballs has worked as a journalist and press officer, but is now a full-time writer and editor.
* MAD, BAD AND DANGEROUS TO KNOW by Karl Shaw
History/Humour | 304pp |Robinson | October 2016
A brief history of the stories of madness, murder, misery, greed and profligacy surrounding British and European Aristocracy.
Structured on the same lines as ROYAL BABYLON: THE ALARMING HISTORY OF EUROPEAN ROYALTY, which has been a huge
success.
Karl Shaw was a journalist for several years before working in the advertising industry and in marketing (at one time for the country’s
largest manufacturer of stool sample jars). He currently lives in North Staffordshire, England.
* MOLLY KEANE MEMOIR by Sarah Phipps
Biography |352pp | Virago | October 2016
Biography of the Irish novelist and playwright
* TEARS HEAL by Kate Orson
Parenting/Babies | 288pp |Piatkus | October 2016
TEAR'S HEAL - PARENTING'S BEST KEPT SECRET, is a completely new approach to parenting which is based on listening, and
allowing children to express their emotions so that they can return to their natural, good, co-operative selves. One of the most
challenging things parents of babies and young children have to deal with are tears. When babies cry, parents shhh, or rock them to
try to get them to stop. When toddlers’ tantrum parents may distract them, attempt to reason with them, or ignore their crying in the
hope it won’t last long. It seems natural to judge the success of parenting by how much children cry. TEARS HEAL will allow readers to
discover parenting’s biggest paradigm shift, the way they respond to their children’s tears. Here, parents will learn how to transform
their parenting by moving away from stopping feelings, towards listening instead. TEARS HEAL - PARENTING'S BEST KEPT SECRET is
warm, and full of empathy for the hard work, and struggles that parents go through. It also has a strong leaning towards helping
parents with their own emotions, as they deal with their children's challenging moments. It explains why we find children's feelings
hard to handle, because our feelings weren't fully listened to when we were children, and shows how we can nurture and support
ourselves so that we can be the parents we want to be.
Author Kate Orson trained as a Parenting by Connection instructor with an organisation called Hand to Hand Parenting and as well as
teaching she offers consultations both on line and in person.
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A TEEN’S GUIDE TO MODERN MANNERS by Simon Norman
Poetry/Humour | 96pp | Corsair | October 2016
Comic cautionary poetry for teens.
A humorous, contemporary collection of cautionary tales in the tradition of Hilaire Belloc and Roald Dahl, A TEEN’S GUIDE TO
MODERN MANNERS is a book for teenagers written by a teenager. The collection is composed by twelve poems and 8000 words of
iambic tetrameter to be accompanied by illustrations.
There’s little that’s been written yet
Concerning teenage etiquette,
So as a sort of useful guide
A dozen cases lie inside
Of teenagers who lost their way
And suffered for it, sad to say;
You’ll read about the tragic fate
Of Pete, who couldn’t get a date,
And Jen, whose hopes and dreams were quashed,
And James, who staunchly never washed.
This book could be, and no mistake,
The best investment that you make,
So quickly – pluck it from the shelf!
Or suffer some such fate yourself…
Sam Norman was born in 1995 and educated at Eton College, where he won the Senior Poetry Prize twice, edited the school
newspaper and successfully self-published a novella. He has been longlisted in National Theatre Playwriting Competition, won the
Happenstance Limerick Competition, and also triumphed in the Stephen Spender Prize for Poetry in Translation. He is on a Gap Year at
the moment, and will start studying at Magdalen College, Oxford, in October 2015. Norman started writing the guide when he was
only 16 years old in an attempt to placate his Maths teacher, who had set a piece of homework that he could not even come close to
understanding.
* THE NEW BOOK OF SNOBS by D.J. Taylor
History | 288pp | Constable | October 2016
Thackeray’s biographer updates The Book of Snobs (1848) for the twenty-first century
* GREEN ISLANDS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF BRITISH NATURE by John Lewis-Stempel
Natural history | 352pp | Robinson | November 2016
A collection of the best ‘new nature writing’ and the best of the old, too.
* UNTITLED IAN WRIGHT by Ian Wright with Lloyd Bradley
Autobiography | 320pp | Constable | November 2016
The former England and Arsenal striker tells all
A BODY OF BECKETT by Lisa Dwan
Theatre | 224pp |Virago | January 2017
A book about Samuel Beckett and the unique demands his plays make on actors, by the actor who performed three of his most
demanding plays, Not I, Footfalls and Rockaby, at the Royal Court and Southbank Centre.
39
COROMANDEL by Charles Allen
History | 352pp | 30-40 pics b/w | Little, Brown | January 2017
A fascinating exploration of the roots of Indian history by the acclaimed author of ASHOKA
Coromandel was the name given by European traders to India's south-eastern seaboard, a corruption of the Tamil Cholamandalam,
after the temple-building Chola kings who ruled the southern peninsula for centuries prior to the Islamic invasions. Indian history
tends to focus on Northern India, but COROMANDEL will journey south, exploring the less well-known, often neglected and very
different history and identity of the oldest India in the pre-Aryan Dravidian south. Highly acclaimed historian Charles Allen explores
the astonishing Buddhist and Jain civilisations that flourished all along India's eastern seaboard before Hinduism became the
established religion. In COROMANDEL, Allen continues his investigation into early Indian history, begun in ASHOKA. At each point in
his journey through the Indian south he meets local historians, gurus, politicians and other colourful personalities, and with their help
uncovers some extraordinary stories about the past. This is a traveller's tale, and as Allen moves through contemporary India, he
discovers as much about the present as he does about the past.
Charles Allen is the author of a number of bestselling books about India and the colonial experience elsewhere. A traveller, historian
and master storyteller he is one of the great chroniclers of India.
Praise for ASHOKA
Like an explorer in a jungle, stripping away the foliage from a long-forgotten city, Charles Allen brings to light the most extraordinary
ruler in Indian history – Tom Holland
A labour of love and notable scholarship, Charles Allen's Ashoka is a fitting testament to a forgotten epic of discovery . . . All who relish
India's antiquity should read this book – John Keay
ECONOMICS FOR ADVANCED LEVEL DINNER PARTIES by Evan Davis
Popular Economics | 304 pp | Little, Brown | January 2017
Economics for beginners
This book on popular economics will be for lay readers who want to learn more about the subject of economics but who do not want
the full complexity of it. It will be for those who want some of the basic insights of the subject set out in all their magnificent
simplicity. Economics is best viewed as a toolkit of concepts and ideas that allows you to think about all sorts of everyday issues with
great clarity. This book will take some of these ideas and explain and illustrate them. For example: Would you rather have a million
pounds, or £50,000 a year for life? Is it best to rent or buy? Life has everyday expenses and it has big one-off costs. People get very
confused about how to compare one against the other. Economics can tell you how to do so. The book will also show ways of thinking
about costs and benefits in a systematic way, such as the economics of time allocation, the number of children you should have and
how educated you should be. Bold, insightful and provocative this will be a stunning addition to the significant market for popular
economics books.
Davis has degrees in economics from Oxford and Harvard. He is a well-known television and radio presenter, most notably for the
Radio 4 Today programme before which he was the BBC's Economics Editor, the most senior economics reporter in the corporation.
He is the author of MADE IN BRITAIN (2012), and ECONOMICAL WITH THE TRUTH (2013).
40
* HOW TO RAISE A FEMINIST by Allison Powell and Victoria Ralfs
Feminism/Parenting |192pp | Robinson | February 2017
A parenting guide for the twenty-first century
A parenting guide for the 21st Century, this is an edgy, engaging, go-to guide for parents who want to bring up their children - of both
sexes - to be bold, adventurous, and risk-taking but also to be decent, courteous, and respectful members of the community. For
`feminist` we can read confident, appropriately assertive and thoughtfully challenging. This book is a vigorous reflection on some of
the hard-earned lessons in equality of the twentieth century, and a how-to parenting guide for the 21st Century. It looks at how to
safeguard children without clipping their wings, so that they become confident but respectful members of the community.
Allison Vale has authored and co-authored more than a dozen published titles, including popular history, and she has written historical
features for The Independent. She is a theatre reviewer, educational consultant and trainer specialising in the inclusion of children
with SEN in mainstream schools.
Victoria Ralfs is recognised nationally as a leader in the field of Sexuality and Relationships Education training for teachers and other
professionals, specialising in the provision of an SRE curriculum to learning disabled students. She has written and trained extensively
in the field.
MALCOM MCLAREN: THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY by Paul Gorman
Biography | 448pp | Constable | February 2017
The authorised biography of the figurehead of the punk movement
The authorised biography of Malcolm McLaren, cultural iconoclast and enduring figurehead of the punk movement. Paul Gorman has
unparalleled access to McLaren’s inner circle, and the book will feature contributions from Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Marc
Jacobs, David Bailey, Boy George, Johnny Rotten, Chrissie Hynde and Dame Vivienne Westwood. Introduction by Alan Moore;
foreword by Steven Spielberg.
Paul Gorman is a writer specialising in visual culture. His books include STRAIGHT WITH BOY GEORGE; THE LOOK: AVENTURES IN
TOCK & POP FASHION (foreword by Malcolm McLaren; introduction Sir Paul Smith); REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL (foreword Peter
Saville; introduction Billy Bragg); and LEGACY: THE STORY OF THE FACE (to be published 2015).
* A BRIEF HISTORY OF ATLANTIS: PLATO’S IDEAL STATE by Steve Kershaw
Classical history | 288pp | Robinson | March 2017
The Atlantis story remains one of the most haunting and enigmatic tales from antiquity, and one that still resonates very deeply with
the modern imagination. But where did Atlantis come from, what was it like, and where did it go to? Atlantis was first introduced by
the Greek philosopher Plato in two dialogues the Timaios and Kritias, written in the fourth century B.C. As he philosophises about the
origins of life, the Universe and humanity, the great thinker puts forward a stunning description of Atlantis, an island paradise with an
ideal society. But the Atlanteans degenerate and become imperialist aggressors: they fight against antediluvian Athens, which
heroically repels their mighty forces, before a cataclysmic natural disaster destroys the warring states. His tale of a great empire that
sank beneath the waves has sparked thousands of years of debate over whether Atlantis really existed. But did Plato mean his tale as
history, or just as a parable to help illustrate his philosophy?
The book is broken down into two main sections. Firstly are the translations and commentaries of Plato’s original texts and, secondly,
a look at the reception of the myth from then to now.
Dr Steve Kershaw (BA (Hons); PhD) has spent a great deal of time in the world of the Ancient Greeks, both intellectually and physically.
He has been a Classics tutor for some twenty-five years, operating at all levels from complete beginner to Masters degree. He
currently operates out of the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, creating and teaching undergraduate courses
for the weekly class programme, the Masters in Literature and Art, summer schools, and online. Dr Kershaw has just been
commissioned to write Oxford University’s new online course on ‘The Minoans and Mycenaeans’, which will include investigations
into the Atlantis tale in relation to the impact of the Late Bronze Age eruption of the Santorini volcano on Minoan civilisation.
41
APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION by Paul Rees
Music | 448pp | Constable | March 2017
From Fleetwood Mac to Guns N' Roses - California's Last Great Decade of Decadence
APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION tells the story of Sunset Strip through its most glorious years and the musical explosion it detonated. The
third classic age of Californian rock was shameless, outrageous, hedonistic and entirely celebratory. Just as Brian Wilson of the Beach
Boys created the sense of Los Angeles as a sun-dappled surfers’ paradise, so keys acts such as Van Halen, Motley Crue and Guns
N’Roses packaged up and sold the sense of Sunset Strip being impossibly glamorous and aspirational: a cartoon fun-fair bathed in hot
sun, shaded by palm trees and where one could cavort with bleached-blonde beauties around kidney-shaped swimming pools. They
also conveyed the suggestion of the Strip being a place humming with decadence and danger – the sniff of cocaine and the promise of
exotic thrills when the sun set and the Strip was basked in neon. These acts were irrevocably associated with the West Hollywood
artery: in tandem with a look, they also gave Sunset Strip an instantly identifiable sound.
Paul Rees has been a professional music journalist and writer since 1991, and has edited both KERRANG! and Q. He has written two
previous books: ROBERT PLANT: A LIFE, (published in the UK and US by HarperCollins), and THE THREE DEGREES: THE MEN WHO
CHANGED FOOTBALL FOREVER, the story of three trailblazing black footballers in 1970s Britain, published by Constable in 2014.
* MANAGEMENT STARTS WITH YOU by Alan Hester
Business and Management |192pp | Robinson | March 2017
This book is for the newly promoted manager, or those already in management who are questioning their performance in the role and
looking for guidance and insight. The book assumes that most of us do no naturally understand how to behave as managers but are
able to learn and deliver if the right frame of mind is adopted. The key is to learn how to manage oneself, including learning how to
identify the effects of fear on one’s own behaviour.
* SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SCHOOL OF DETECTION by Simon Clark
Crime/Mystery | 352pp |Robinson | April 2017
Sherlock Holmes teaches a piquant assortment of students the science of detection in an anthology of all-new stories
by a dazzling array of writers
Simon Clark has written twenty-six novels, several of which have been historical fiction. His stories have appeared in newspapers,
magazines, books and have been broadcast on Radio 4. He’s also penned Holmes tales, including ‘The Adventure of the Fallen Star’ for
THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF NEW SHERLOCK HOLMES ADVENTURES. He’s well-steeped in this legendary detective and has recently
edited THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ABROAD.
A LITTLE BOOK OF LATIN FOR GARDENERS by Peter Parker
Language/horticulture | 176pp | Little, Brown | April 2017
LATIN FOR GARDENERS is a delightful chapbook which will help – but not alarm – any gardener who would like to learn
a little more about the often entertaining and enjoyably esoteric way that plants are named
Few people these days would regard not knowing Latin as any sort of deprivation. Even those still obliged to learn the Classics at
school tend to see it as a form of endurance rather than something that will usefully broaden their minds. Latin does, however, still
live and have one very particular function, used by millions of people with no Classical education at all. It remains the lingua franca of
the international gardening community, who will expertly describe plants’ leaves as cordate (heart-shaped), reniform (kidney-shaped)
or fenestrate (with windows or holes – see picture). In LATIN FOR GARDENERS, Peter Parker looks at the roots of this enduring
linguistic quirk, and germinates a deeper understanding of how to tell your Aesculus hippocastanum (horse chestnut) from your
Quercus robur (common oak).
Peter Parker is the author of THE OLD LIE: The Great War and the Public School Ethos, and is an associate editor of THE OXFORD
DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY. He writes for a variety of newspapers and magazines and lives in London.
42
SCIENCE VS SUPERSTITION by Derek Wilson
Scientific History | 304pp |Robinson | May 2017
1450-1750: Mystics, sceptics, truth-seekers and charlatans
Between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, Europe changed out of all recognition and particularly transformative were the
ardent quest for knowledge and the astounding discoveries and inventions which resulted from it. The movement of blood round the
body; the movement of the earth round the sun; the velocity of falling objects (and, indeed, why objects fall) – these and numerous
th
other mysteries had been solved by scholars in earnest pursuit of scientia. By the mid-17 century ‘science mania’ had set in; the
quest for knowledge had become a pursuit of cultured gentlemen. In 1663 The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural
Knowledge received its charter. Three years later the French Academy of Sciences was founded. Most other European capitals were
not slow to follow suit. In 1725 we encounter the first use of the word ‘science’ meaning ‘a branch of study concerned either with a
connected body of demonstrated truths or with observed facts systematically classified’. Yet, it was only nine years since the last
witch had been executed in Britain – a reminder that, although the relationship of people to their environment was changing
profoundly, deep-rooted fears and attitudes remained strong.
This is a multi-faceted story of heroes and villains, mystics and sceptics, earnest seekers of truth and charlatans. The narrative bristles
with the names of remarkable scholars, many famous, some now obscure. The capacity for illustration is considerable.
Derek Wilson is an historian and expert on the Tudor period, having already published acclaimed non-fiction books on Tudor England
and Henry VIII.
* FUNK IS ITS OWN REWARD by Lloyd Bradley
Music | 480pp | Constable | October 2017
The story of Funk is spectacular, silly, sexy, militant, profligate, pioneering, disciplined, improvisational, imaginative and never ever
boring. A bit like the music itself. Second to Jazz, Funk is black America’s most significant and recognizable cultural invention. It
remains hugely popular in the UK and Europe, Australia and Japan. Like Jamaica’s reggae it put a people’s freedom of expression
squarely into popular culture. Like reggae it accelerated an internally driven cultural modernization. Like reggae it is inseparable from
the environment and socio-political situations it from which came. And like reggae, Funk deserves to be explored, contextualized and
celebrated in its own big book.
FUNK IS ITS OWN REWARD will be Bass Culture for black music of the 1970s, telling its stories, its triumphs and excesses as an
adventure in music and attitude. Like Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, it will be an intimate portrait of a moment in time that changed things
forever.
Lloyd Bradley is the author of Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital, which was published last year to wide
acclaim. It was a Radio 4 Book of the Week and a Financial Times, NME and Daily Telegraph Music Book of the Year.
* FAST TIMES AND EXCELLENT ADVENTURES by James King
Film | 352pp | Constable
43
PSYCHOLOGY ________________________________________
The Overcoming Series is a perennially popular series of psychology books. All use CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
techniques to treat long-standing and disabling conditions. Titles in the series are constantly in print, and constantly
revised and updated. Fifteen of them have been adopted the Books on Prescription programme - the UK Department
of Health’s list of books for doctors, nurses, medical and psychiatric practitioners to recommend to their patients, and
indeed for such practitioners to develop their knowledge. All titles are written by prominent professional experts in
their fields. Below is a selection of forthcoming new and revised titles:
OVERCOMING WORRY AND GENERALISED ANXIETY DISORDER (2nd edition) by Kevin Meares
and Mark Freeston
Psychology | 464pp | Robinson | May 2015
Up to forty-four in every 1000 adults suffer from a condition known as Generalised Anxiety Disorder. This is
much more than the normal worrying we all do - it can be a debilitating disorder leading to significant personal
and social problems and sometimes financial loss. Using established and proven CBT techniques, expert
clinicians Kevin Meares and Mark Freeston help readers to understand that it is their propensity to worry, not
the multitude of problems they worry about, that is the root of the problem. The user-friendly, step-by-step
approach explains why they worry, how to recognise what feeds it and develop effective methods of dealing
with it. With each step the authors introduce new ideas that add to the picture of worry, and use
questionnaires, exercises and tasks to help the reader understand and then challenge unhelpful habits and beliefs.
Dr Kevin Meares is a clinical psychologist and cognitive therapist with nine years of clinical experience. He works at the Newcastle
Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies Centre. Professor Mark Freeston is Director of Research and Training at the Newcastle Cognitive
and Behavioural Therapies Centre, and holds honorary chairs of Clinical Psychology at the universities of Durham and Newcastle.
OVERCOMING SOCIAL ANXIETY AND SHYNESS (2nd edition) by Gillian Butler
Psychology | 256pp | Robinson | June 2016
Everyone sometimes feels foolish, embarrassed, judged or criticised, but this becomes a problem when it
undermines their confidence and prevents them doing what they want to do. This easy-to-use guide, full of
real-life examples, is for those who suffer from all degrees of social anxiety and shyness, for their families and
friends, and for the professionals who help them: psychologists, doctors and others. Explains the many forms
and causes of social anxiety. Contains a complete self-help program and work sheets. Is based on clinically
proven techniques of cognitive therapy.
Gillian Butler is a consultant clinical psychologist and Fellow of the British Psychological Society, who practises
in the Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare Trust.
OVERCOMING ANGER AND IRRITABILITY (2nd edition) by William Davies
Psychology | 304pp | Robinson | June 2016
This is a self-help manual for those who find that they are spoiling the lives of both themselves and those
around them with their almost constant irritability and flashes of bad temper. It speaks to those who often find
themselves saying and doing things they later regret. It will help the reader understand why such behaviour
occurs and what can be done to prevent it. Like all the Overcoming guides it takes a positive approach for
which the long-term goal in this case is lasting ‘good temper’ and also looks at how best to handle situations
which would tax even the most good-natured person!
Dr William Davies is a practising chartered clinical psychologist, consultant psychologist at the BUPA Hospital,
Leicester, and Academic Director of APT, The Association for Psychological Therapies.
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OVERCOMING LOW SELF-ESTEEM (2nd edition) by Melanie Fennell
Self-help | 352pp | Robinson | June 2016
OVERCOMING LOW SELF-ESTEEM is a classic of self-help literature, winning acclaim for its practical and userfriendly approach and now recommended on the National Health Service’s self-help scheme known as Books
on Prescription. This book will aid readers to understand their condition and with this knowledge enable them
to break out of the vicious circle of negative self-image, learn the art of self-acceptance and alter their lives for
the better. Explains the nature of low self-esteem and self-destructive thinking. Contains a complete self-help
programme and monitoring sheets. Is based on clinically proven techniques of cognitive therapy.
Dr Melanie Fennell is Director of the Oxford Diploma/MSc in Advanced Cognitive Therapy Studies which runs
from the Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre, which she founded, in collaboration with Oxford University. She is also a clinical research
associate in the Oxford University Department of Psychiatry.
OVERCOMING PANIC (2nd edition) by Vijaya Manicavasagar and Derrick Silove
Self-help | 224pp | Robinson | August 2016
A new edition of the best-selling OVERCOMING PANIC, which gives guidance on combatting panic and associated disorders. Part of
the Books on Prescription reading list and the market-leading title on this subject.
Vijaya Manicavasagar is the author of OVERCOMING PANIC and the OVERCOMING PANIC AND AGORAPHOBIA SELF-HELP COURSE,
along with Derrick Silove. She is Senior Clinical Psychologist and Associate Professor at the Black Dog Institute, School of Psychiatry at
the University of New South Wales in Australia. As the Director of Psychological Services at the Black Dog Institute, she's responsible
for developing and implementing a range of education programs for training mental health professionals in the diagnosis and the use
of CBT for anxiety and depressive disorders. She has specialized in the development of cognitive behaviour therapy programmes and
co-authored several treatment manuals
Professor Silove is the author of OVERCOMING PANIC and the OVERCOMING PANIC AND AGORAPHOBIA SELF-HELP COURSE, along
with Vijaya Manicavasagar. He is a clinical psychiatrist and Director of the Centre for Population Mental Health Research and the
Psychiatry Research and Teaching Unit at the School of Psychiatry, the University of New South Wales. He has worked for many years
in the area of anxiety and traumatic stress, his main area of clinical work, research, service development and teaching.
OVERCOMING HOARDING by Satwant Singh, Margaret Hooper and Colin Jones
Psychology | 384pp | Robinson | November 2015
Using cognitive behavioural principles, OVERCOMING HOARDING will help sufferers, their friends and
family learn to cope with this debilitating condition. The book includes chapters on defining hoarding, how
to know if it is a problem, ways to reduce the factors that maintain the problems and positive ways and
techniques to help address the hoarding. Re-engaging in life and managing setbacks are also included
together with advice on help for family and friends. OVERCOMING HOARDING is written by three CBT
therapists involved in the UK’s only clinical group devoted to hoarding.
Satwant Singh is a Nurse Consultant, Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and Mental Health and Clinical Lead.
He has been facilitating the UK's only treatment group - The London Hoarding Treatment Group - since
2005. Singh is regarded as a leading expert in hoarding in the UK and is frequently contacted by the media,
statutory organisations, universities and conferences both in UK and internationally.
Margaret Hooper is a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and Counselling Psychologist. She has been involved in co-facilitating the
London Hoarding Treatment Group alongside Satwant since 2005. She is currently working as a CBT therapist in the NHS with a
specialist CBT service treating individuals with long term health conditions.
Colin Jones is a senior lecturer and researcher in advanced clinical practice at a large UK university. Jones has been involved in
numerous research projects in Japan, South East Asia, Europe and the UK, most recently within the area of hoarding. Together with
Satwant Singh, he is developing photo-elicitation methods designed specifically for hoarding research.
45
THE COMPASSIONATE MIND WORKBOOK by Elaine Beaumont and Chris Irons
Psychology | 208pp | Robinson | July 2016
A companion volume to the bestselling The Compassionate Mind, taking a practical workbook approach to compassion-focused
therapy and guiding readers through step-by-step exercises
* AN INTRODUCTION TO COPING WITH BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER by Lee Brosan
Self-Help | 128pp | Robinson | January 2017
A CBT guide for those suffering from borderline personality disorder
THE COMPASSIONATE MIND APPROACH TO POSTNATAL DEPRESSION by Michelle Cree
Psychology | 416pp | Robinson | August 2015
New title for the Compassionate Mind series from a leading authority on postnatal depression
It is well-known that having a baby can be a time of joy but also one of anxiety and even depression for
new mothers. Indeed it is very common for new mothers to experience a short period of distress following
childbirth, often referred to as 'baby blues'. Usually this passes quite quickly, however for more than one
in ten women, this distressing experience can be more prolonged. This practical self-help book based on
Compassion Focused Therapy will help women to recognise some of the symptoms and, where
appropriate, to normalise them, thereby alleviating their distress. It will also guide mothers-to-be and new
mothers through the maze of confusing feelings that can arise. Not only will this book cover the basic
experiences and symptoms associated with anxiety and depression and childbirth, an evolutionary model
of why this occurs, and an outline of the basic Compassionate Mind model, it will guide the reader through
a series of exercises that they can use for themselves to develop their compassionate mind and work on
their difficulties.
Michelle Cree is Consultant Clinical Psychologist in the Derbyshire Childbearing and Mental Health Service, and Mother and Baby Unit,
where she has worked for the past twelve years. She uses Compassion Focused Therapy with all of her clients and travels the country
presenting talks on and delivering workshops on CFT. She has also been commissioned by the Department of Health to deliver master
classes to Family Nurses on using the Compassionate Mind Approach.
THE COMPLETE CBT GUIDE FOR DEPRESSION AND LOW MOOD by L.Brosnan and D.Westbrook
Psychology | 640pp | Robinson | June 2015
A comprehensive self-help guide for people with depression and low mood that also gives
invaluable advice for families and other supporters
Depression and low mood affect a significant portion of the general public. Sadly, those with depression often
experience other problems such as low self-esteem, relationship problems and sleeping problems. Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an extremely effective treatment for depression and low mood and is used widely
in the NHS. The companion book to the popular Complete CBT Guide for Anxiety, this practical self-help book
contains essential information about the nature of depression and covers a range of topics including insomnia,
relationships, bipolar disorder and postnatal depression. It also provides information on some of the latest
treatments such as Mindfulness, Behavioural Activation and Compassion-Focused Therapy. The chapters on individual techniques or
problem areas are written by the leading experts in that field.
Lee Brosan is the author of Overcoming Stress, many titles in the Introduction to Coping With… series and co-author of The CBT
Handbook for Anxiety. She is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust and Trust
Lead for the Development of Psychological Therapies. She is also Honorary Lecturer at the University of East Anglia.
David Westbrook, who sadly died in April 2013, was the founder and director of the Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre at Warneford
Hospital. He was co-editor of The Oxford Guide to Behavioural Experiments in Cognitive Therapy and co-author of An Introduction to
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: Skills and Applications.
46
HOW TO BEAT DEPRESSION ONE STEP AT A TIME by Marie Chellingsworth and Paul
Farrand
Psychology | 256pp | Robinson | July 2015
The IAPT programme (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies), initiated in 2006, offers both highintensity and low-intensity therapy. There are currently no self-help materials catering for low-intensity
patients. This is the first in a new series of short self-help books for low intensity patients, covering
topics such as OCD; generalised anxiety; and panic and agoraphobia. Based upon an evidence based
cognitive behavioural therapy approach, this book is written in a friendly, engaging (and jargon-free)
style and encourages interactive reading through tables, illustrations and worksheets. Real life case
studies illustrate the use of each intervention and demonstrate how a patient can work through an issue.
Dr Marie Chellingsworth is IAPT Lead, Course Director of Postgraduate certificate in Psychological
Therapies, University of Nottingham. Dr Paul Farrand is a Senior Teaching Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of
Exeter, specialising in clinical education and training in evidence-based psychological interventions.
* UNCOUPLING by Sara Davison
Self-Help | 288pp |Piatkus | September 2016
Sara Davison is the UK’s premier divorce coach. Current wisdom is that a divorce coach is the person you call at the same time as you
instruct a lawyer: you need someone impartial at your elbow, to see you through the emotional and practical implications of serious
relationship break-up, and someone who can help see you through, which in some cases may be even more important than the
elusive goal of getting even. Sara helps her clients make sure that justice is done for themselves, let alone whatever their legal
advisors instruct in relation to third parties.
Divorce and break-up is a fact of life for many of us today: it’s as though it has ceased to be a guilty secret and accepted as a process
that must be worked through, but for which we still lack constructive tools. This is the book that can become as constant a reference
point as Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking – an evergreen Highway Code, if you like, for managing the difficult process of
separation but coming out intact, and one which applies a mindful approach to one of life’s most stressful experiences. The book
combines Sara’s extensive training in life coaching techniques and success in cutting edge work with those who are themselves
‘uncoupling’, as well as her own personal experience.
Sara’s website is at http://saradavison.com/ where you can read more about her work and get a sense of her dynamic and
professional personality.
* GET YOUR LIFE BACK by Fiona Kennedy and David Pearson
Self-Help | 288pp | Robinson
A new self-help title blending the very best techniques from a range of evidence-based therapies, including CBT, ACT, DBT,
compassion and mindfulness from two experienced clinicians.
* FROM A DARK PLACE by Tony Husband
Psychology/Humour | 80pp | Robinson | February 2017
A new illustrated title from the acclaimed cartoonist Tony Husband, looking at the father-son relationship during his son’s battle with
heroin addiction.
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THE UPSIDE OF DOWNTIME by Dr Sandi Mann
Popular psychology | 240pp | Robinson | March 2016
Despite the ever-increasing ways in which to entertain ourselves today, we appear to be more bored at school, at work and at play
than ever before. In the tradition of successful titles such as QUIET, WILLPOWER and BLINK, this thought-provoking book challenges
the way we view and interact with the world around us. THE UPSIDE OF DOWNTIME explores the evidence for the boredom epidemic
that is sweeping society in a world that constantly craves stimulation. It unleashes the power and value of boredom in enhancing
creativity, thoughtfulness, reflection and problem-solving ability in business, education and parenting and argues for embracing, not
fearing, ennui.
Dr Sandi Mann is a Senior Psychology Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire. She has researched extensively into boredom
and written and presented her findings in a range of academic outlets.
* HOW TO BECOME A MORNING PERSON by Militza Maury
Popular psychology | 240pp | Piatkus | May 2016
The inspirational guide to taking charge of your time by creating a routine you can't wait to wake up to.
In January 2015, Militza Maury, the editor of a healthy-living website, decided to launch a free twenty-eight-day email course called
'How to Become a Morning Person'. More than 25,000 people from all around the world signed up to learn practical techniques,
healthy habits and smart goal-setting that allowed them to make the most of their time in the morning. HOW TO BECOME A
MORNING PERSON the book will bring the best lessons from the course to form a complete guide for anyone who is feeling
overwhelmed, starved for time and stuck in bad patterns. From creating bedtime routines and sleeping, eating and exercising better,
to setting goals and finding your motivation, the book has transformative power.
Militza Maury is the editor and founder of an eco-lifestyle website, Little Green Dot (littlegreendot.com). It helps busy urban people
live a more happy, healthy and green life. To date, it has reached more than a million people from cities all over the world. HOW TO
BECOME A MORNING PERSON is her first book.
ACTivate YOUR LIFE by Joe Oliver, Jon Hill and Eric Morris
Psychology | 480pp | Robinson | March 2015
A clear introduction to ACT for clinicians and lay readers to help them develop new skills and
effectively change their behaviour.
ACTivate YOUR LIFE focuses on helping people to be more open, connected and engaged with their lives,
demonstrating how Acceptance Commitment Therapy can be used to tackle a range of problems such as
low self-esteem, anxiety, anger and depression, as well as providing skills for life enhancement and selfdevelopment. Readers are encouraged to consider what matters to them and will learn techniques to set
life directions based on meaningful values. Readers will also be introduced to mindfulness and learn how to
use it in everyday life to connect with their actions, experiences and the people around them. The ACT
approach also teaches that it's a normal part of being human to have thoughts and feelings that are
unpleasant and the most important thing is to respond effectively when these kinds of experiences arise. The book is aimed at anyone
wanting to enhance their life skills, and character stories are used to demonstrate the spectrum of how they might be employed.
Joe Oliver is a clinical psychologist and Director for Contextual Consulting, a London-based consultancy offering ACT focused training,
supervision and psychological therapy. He has also worked within the UK National Health Service for over ten years and holds a
position within a North London NHS Trust.
Jon Hill is a corporate trainer and executive coach. He works with companies to help them develop leaders and employees who are
healthy, resilient and psychologically flexible.
Eric Morris is a clinical psychologist and researcher based in Melbourne, Australia. He has extensive experience in providing contextual
cognitive behaviour therapies (including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) to individuals and groups, along with training and
supervising therapists
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WHOSE LIFE IS IT ANYWAY? by Linda Papadopulous
Self-Help | 256pp | Piatkus | October 2014
Combining social commentary and insight with practical support, this book is a must-read for
women in their twenties
Life is full of opportunity for twenty-something-year-olds, but it's also far more pressured than ever
before. Whether it's the proliferation or the homogeneity of images of beauty and success that wallpaper
our world, we know what a beautiful woman looks like - and we know what a perfect life looks like too. We
live in a world that floods us with expectations about everything - from what we should weigh to what we
should wear to how often we should be having sex and how much money we should be making. As a
consequence, we begin to feel that we need to tick all these boxes in order to have the ‘Perfect Life'. When
we inevitably fall short, we feel anxious - we feel that we are failing and have the sense we are losing
control. As a result, increasing numbers of young women are battling with issues such as anxiety, low self-esteem, bullying,
perfectionism, toxic friendships and relationships, pressure to succeed or conform, and poor body image. At an age when life should
be exciting, fun and relatively care-free, more and more young women are adrift and struggling.
Dr Linda Papadopoulos understands the issues and has the experience to guide and support young women to help get their lives back
on track so they can feel happier, more confident, more in control. WHOSE LIFE IS IT ANYWAY? offers valuable insight and practical
self-help to empower women to throw off the burden of expectation and start leading the lives they want to lead.
Dr Linda Papadopoulos is one of the most well-known and respected Psychologists working in the UK today. As well as an
accomplished academic career, she is also an active researcher and has published widely in peer-reviewed academic journals. Her
work has informed government policy: in 2010 she headed up a highly acclaimed independent review for the Home Office on the
effects of sexualisation on young people. Over the past decade, Dr Papadopoulos has become one of the most well recognised faces
on TV. She is the resident psychologist for Cosmopolitan UK where her very popular monthly advice column has been running for 12
years.
TEENAGE DEPRESSION: A CBT GUIDE FOR PARENTS by Shirley Reynolds and Monika
Parkinson
Psychology | 416pp | Robinson | September 2015
An indispensable guide for parents of a depressed teenager
Depression is one of the most common mental health problems and is estimated to affect around 15% of
people at some point during their life. For many people depression is a life-long disorder which starts
during the teenage years –around 10% of teenagers are estimated to have an episode of depression and
many more experience persistent low mood. This companion book to AM I DEPRESSED AND WHAT CAN
I DO ABOUT IT? follows essentially the same structure and makes use of the same case studies, but
looks at the issues from the parents’ point of view, and incorporates additional strategies for parents.
From ‘what to look out for’, through what the evidence says about different forms of treatment, to family
communication and relapse prevention. Each section includes troubleshooting boxes.
Professor Shirley Reynolds is the Director of the Charlie Waller Institute at the University of Reading, where she conducts research
into depression in young people. Dr Monika Parkinson works clinically with children, young people and families. She has been involved
in several large-scale treatment research trials
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AM I DEPRESSED AND WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT IT? by Shirley Reynolds and Monika Parkinson
Psychology | 384pp | Robinson | September 2015
An age-appropriate self-help guide for teenagers to help overcome low moods
Created especially for young people from thirteen to seventeen who experience low moods and
depression, and for their families, friends and health professionals, this is an understandable, engaging
and age-appropriate self-help guide based on current research and best practice as recommended by
NICE, IAPT treatment pathways and Books on Prescription, all of which promote CBT. It adopts a clear
narrative approach with graphic elements and incorporates case studies and interactive exercises to help
overcome low mood.
Professor Shirley Reynolds is the Director of the Charlie Waller Institute at the University of Reading,
where she conducts research into depression in young people. Dr Monika Parkinson works clinically with
children, young people and families. She has been involved in several large-scale treatment research trials.
* SUPERHERO THERAPY by Janina Scarlet, illustrated by Dean Trippe
Self-help | 96pp |Robinson | July 2016
A dynamic new illustrated introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) using
relatable examples drawn from the world of comics, sci-fi and fantasy. Written by Dr Janina
Scarlet, a clinical psychologist based in the USA who is the leading advocate of superhero
therapy, a new technique that helps people to recover from common psychological and
emotional problems such as anxiety, depression and trauma by showing how their concerns are mirrored in the stories of
extraordinary superheroes from fiction. Illustrated by talented comic book artist Dean Trippe, this book tells the tale of a group of
fantastical cadets enlisted at the Superhero Training Academy (inspired both by fictional characters and real-life people who have
benefited from this therapy), learning to overcome their troubles using the techniques of ACT. This will appeal to readers with a geeky
side to their nature, or anyone just seeking to find their inner superhero.
STUFF THAT SUCKS by Ben Sedley
Psychology/Self-help | 96pp |Robinson | October 2015
STUFF THAT SUCKS draws on the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and presents
them in ways that are validating, developmentally appropriate and eye-catching, creating a short and
beautifully designed book. All metaphors and explanations in the book have been used effectively with
young people in clinical practice.
Ben Sedley is a clinical psychologist and ACT therapist with over ten years’ experience working with
children and adolescents facing mental health difficultie
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* SACK, CRACK & BACK (& BRAIN) by Robert Wells
Popular Psychology | 192pp |Robinson | February 2017
A graphic memoir by a professional comic book artist about his chronic ill health and associated psychological problems
* STRESSPAC by Jim White
Psychology | 208pp |Robinson | March 2017
A book for those who want to control the five most common mental health problems: anxiety, depression, panic, insomnia and low
self-esteem and confidence. These conditions are described using the low-stigma term ‘stress’ and sufferers will learn straightforward, self-help CBT skills for managing each of these problems and reducing stress. This approach is combined with positive
psychology and mindfulness to help build wellbeing.
Jim White is an internationally-recognised expert in CBT and common mental health problems. He devised the large-class Stress
Control approach over twenty years ago, which is now available globally. White has published over forty articles in peer-reviewed
journals and has written two influential books on stress management, Stress Pac and Treating Anxiety and Stress. White now works as
Director of Stress Control Ltd but worked for over thirty years as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with the NHS.
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