'Beguiling ... Limpidly written, effortlessly learned' William Boyd, TLS, Books of the YearIn November 1838 Frédéric Chopin, George Sand and her two children sailed to Majorca to escape the Parisian w
The first popular book on the science of the individual, in which Todd Rose draws upon the very latest findings in the fields of psychology and sociology to show how, when we focus on individual findi
Born to a plebeian family in 63 BC, Augustus went on to become the heir to Julius Caesar and the founder of the Roman Empire. In this monumental biography, translated into English for the first time b
In Zero Zero Zero, Roberto Saviano maps the international cocaine trade. He investigates the evolution of cocaine trafficking, from Mexican drug cartels to money laundering through Wall Street and the
'Masterfully opens up a little explored realm: how the quest for religion and spirituality drives hundreds of millions of Chinese' Pankaj Mishra 'A fascinating odyssey ... a nuanced group portrait of
The dominant view in economics is that money and government should play only a minor role in economic life. Money, it is claimed, is nothing more than a medium of exchange; and economic outcomes are b
The British in this book lived in India from shortly after the reign of Elizabeth I until well into the reign of Elizabeth II. Who were they? What drove these men and women to risk their lives on long
'Nothing so fully displays the grandeur of his mind as his immense and rare collections ... perhaps the fullest and most curious in the world', National Gazette, 1753 Hans Sloane (1660-1753) was the g
George IV spent most of his life waiting to become king, first a pleasure-loving and rebellious Prince of Wales during the 60-year reign of his father, George III, and for 10 years as Prince Regent, w
Edward I (1272-1307) is one of the most commanding of all English rulers. He fought in southwest France, in Wales, In Scotland and in northern France, he ruled with ruthlessness and confidence, undoin
In 1461 Edward Earl of March, a handsome 18-year old of massive charisma and ability, usurped the English throne from his vacant Lancastrian predecessor Henry VI. Ten years on, following outbreaks of
Richard II (1377-1399) came to the throne as a child, following the long, domineering, martial reign of his grandfather Edward III. He suffered from the disastrous combination of a most exalted sense
In 1570, after numerous plots and assassination attempts against her, Elizabeth I of England was excommunicated by the Pope. It was the beginning not only of the well-known identification of England w
Most of the time, the maths in our everyday lives works quietly behind the scenes. Until someone forgets to carry a '1' and a bridge collapses, a plane drops out of the sky or a building rocks when it
In his new intervention on cultural theory, Eagleton argues that the age of "high" theory has come to a close, and offers a candid assessment of its gains and losses, claiming that it has been silent
Why don't flight attendants get tipped? If you were a terrorist, how would you attack? And why does KFC always run out of fried chicken? Over the past decade, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner ha
Known as 'the anarchy', the reign of Stephen (1135-1141) saw England plunged into a civil war that illuminated the fatal flaw in the powerful Norman monarchy, that without clear rules ordering success
Explains how the author found a radical solution to his need for freedom, one as ancient as the experiences of the hermits of old Russia: he decided to lock himself alone in a cabin in the middle taig
Explores New York from high to low, tracing the invisible threads that bind a handful of ambitious urban hustlers, from a Harvard-educated socialite running a high-end escort service to a Harlem crack
